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 PRINCIPLES OF MIMICS

The language of pantomime is expressive, rich in various intonations. The most subtle of
them are conveyed with the help offacial expressions.Mimicry is one of the most important
means of expression when creating a pantomime character. It is through it that the actor
conveys to the viewer the most complex shades of feelings, the course of the character's
internal monologues, the course of his thoughts - all that is difficult to convey in words.

The memories of the famous Russian actor Varlamov, who had expressive facial
expressions, are interesting. Varlamov knew how to "speak with his ears, the tip of his nose,
and his fingers, thanks to barely noticeable movements and turns."

Once, while visiting, Varlamov became the object

of playful jabs from his friend. Varlamov closed his eyes
in apparent despair and impatience, froze in a pose
with his head raised up and began to wiggle his ears.
This created the illusion that he was thus fending off
his friend's annoying comments. Then, Varlamov slyly
moved the tip of his nose to the right and then to the
left.
Then, raising one eyebrow, the other, he did something with his forehead, so that a smile
flashed on his thick lips. With these barely noticeable movements, he discredited the ironic
attacks with his facial expressions more eloquently than words.” *
* K. Stanislavsky: The Actor's Work on Himself, Part 2, p. 43.

Varlamov was a dramatic actor. From this example we see how absolutely
necessary the mastery of facial expressions is for an actor, for whom acting without
words is the essence of creativity!

Scientists have explained the origin of many facial expressions. Anatomists have
studied and described in detail the shape, position, and work of the facial muscles.
Studying them will help the mime understand the laws of physiology with which his
work must correspond, and will also help him consciously control his work.

With the help of exercises, the facial muscles become mobile and obedient,
capable of reproducing emotional states.
 FACE

The expressive possibilities inherent in the face

mean as much to the work of a mime as polished
speech does to the practice of a dramatic actor.

The face of a mime is a small stereo screen on which the viewer

must accurately read everything that the creator of the
pantomime image says. In the repertoire of Marcel Marceau
there is an interesting mimic etude: Roller Blinds (or Blinds). The
artist first puts his hand to his face in such a movement that he
closes his eyes, then lowers his hand - the "curtain" down, and
the audience sees the tragic expression of his physiognomy. The
"curtain" rises again - the face acquires a "neutral" expression,
the previous one is as if "washed away", the "curtain" is lowered -
a new expression. This is followed by a whole series of mimic
portrait silhouettes. "Roller Blinds (or Blinds)" by Marceau is a
demonstration of high mimicry technique.

Lips
The variety of shades can be conveyed with an open mouth: ksudden
surprise, horror, hidden suffering, admirationt etc. Tightly pursed lips can make
to suppress pride, secrecy, stubbornness, cruelty... And how many shades of
smiles, emoticons, delicate smiles under the mustache!...
The orbicularis and labialis muscles of the mouth are easy to train. Special
facial exercises help develop the expressiveness of the lips, make them flexible and
obedient.

EYES
No part of a person's face can express their inner states with such
completeness and power as the eyes.
The eyes of a mime are a reflection of his thoughts and feelings. The expression of the
artist's eyes allows the audience to understand the subtlest shades of the psychological
experiences of his character. Therefore, a mime, as a rule, should not hide his eyes from the
audience. When we talk about the eyes, we mean not only the eyeball, but also the eyelids and
eyebrows. They are the complex that forms the human gaze.
 "EYE CURTAIN" (curtains)

Shakespeare called the upper eyelids the “veil of the eyes.” The “veil” plays a
smaller role in facial expressions than, say, the eyebrows, but it is not the least. By
narrowing one eyelid in a particular way, we want to convey something playful, sly,
or meaningful.
We are talking about"sleepy eyes."When the muscles that control
the closing and opening of the "eye curtain"
get tired, it drops to half of the eyeball and the
eyes look "sleepy", "lazy". In everyday life, some
people deliberately lower their upper eyelids
when they want to showfatigue, indifference,
feigned sympathy or flirtatious boredom. Pduring
this movement
At the same time, the muscles of the neck and head relax. Mime artists
use "sleepy eyes" as one of their means of expression.

EYEBROWS

They can be moved in different ways. For example, together

and separately. They rise sharply or slowly creep upwards. They move
in whole arcs or only their outer ends. Eyebrows canto wonder, to ask
questions, to express reproach, to worry. One or another emphasized
eyebrow shape sometimes conditionally expresses specific character
traits: thick and dark, fused eyebrowsand indicate the severity of a
tough character;"little house" - mental breakdown, tragedy,
nervousness, suffering. Thin, high brow ridges are characteristic of
an expressive face.naive surprise.Mimes of the classical school,
usually appearing with a bleached face, cover their own eyebrows
with mastic or soap and draw two thin semicircles high above them,
which gives their faces an expression of constant surprise.

There are an infinite number of different perspectives, such as ironic,

evaluative, anxious, etc.
These are looks, in the language of painters, with pure tones. It is relatively
easy to get acquainted with them. But the mime can also express many
halftones, shades of the look. For example, a stormy curiosity, masked by
indifference. It would seem that the actor does not pay attention to some object
at all, but at a certain moment he throws it a cursory glance.
Or, conversely, a false interest. Someone seems to be tense with attention, but as
soon as it seems to him that he is not being watched, his bored look immediately
betrays absolute indifference.

The study of works of fine art – painting, graphics, sculpture – can be of

invaluable service to mime.

!Masters of the brush and chisel accurately capture and convey all possible
expressions of the human face in a wide variety of emotional states.

!Recognizing facial expressions during everyday observations of life is very

useful, but difficult, because in life facial expressions are often
instantaneous, fleeting. In fine art, every facial expression seems to freeze in
place, it can be examined in detail, studied.

However, no look on stage will move or convince the viewer unless it is

caused by a feeling flowing from within, heated by emotion, or generated
by thought.

UPPER FACIAL MUSCLE TRAINING

Facial gymnastics and facial muscle training are best donein front
of the mirror.We have already mentioned the elasticity inherent in facial
muscles, as well as their susceptibility to physical exertion.

FRONTAL MUSCLE TRAINING

● !We start with active contraction of the frontal muscles.

Vigorously raise your eyebrows up. The eyebrows will
return to their normal position when you relax the
muscles.

When our muscles become mobile enough thanks to exercises, we can move on to
training."pain muscles" (muscles that create frowning eyebrows) and "threat
muscles" (triangular)As we remember, these muscles, when contracted, pull the
eyebrows down and partially towards the bridge of the nose; when these muscles are
relaxed, the eyebrows return to their original position.
 ● !The exercise consists of repeated and energetic, gradually
acceleratedreductions (raised)y/lowering of eyebrows.

!Then you must combine the movements of the frontal muscles with the movements of
pain and threat. By successively contracting these muscles, we must vigorously raise our
eyebrows up and vigorously lower them.It should be remembered that we train certain
muscle groups, while other muscles remain calm.

It is also important to remember the supporting role of the

cranial fascia in the work of this muscle group. You can also
train the movement of the cranial fascia itself, which covers its
upper part (which in turn is strongly fused with the occipital
muscles):
● We put our hands on the crown of our heads and
energetically, With the help of the frontal and occipital
muscles, the "threat" muscles, we force the skull fascia to
move forward and backward.
By diligently training the cranial fascia, we can make it
more mobile and strong. Then it will more effectively
help the frontal muscles, and those, in turn,will give your
eyebrows more mobility and expression.

● We complicate the task: we try to achieve separate movements of the left

and right eyebrows.Liftingleft eyebrow, we must ensure thatthe right
one reached the bridge of the nose.When the left is enough trained,
you need to try to achieve a similar result with the right.

When your eyebrows completely obey us (this requires

more time and will), you can proceed to an even more
difficult exercise:
● quickly raise first one eyebrow, then the
other, independently of each other,
subordinating them to your will.
Exercise "arc of tragedy" (eyebrows "house"). This exercise requires
special attention:
● By shortening the "pain muscles",connect your eyebrows on
the bridge of the nose, pull the inner ends of the
eyebrows up.It is important here that the movement of
internal the ends of the eyebrows passedexactly on the
central line vertical line of the forehead.Must be acquired
skills for "fixing" this facial expression.

EYE MUSCLE TRAINING

As we mentioned, these muscles are very small and weak. First of all, they need to
be strengthened.Even just by moving our eyelids faster and faster, we can give
them more strength and elasticity. Then you need to learn to lower your eyelids
one by one. You need to exclude the eyebrows from this movement, make sure
that only one eye is closed (and the eyelid of the other remains motionless), and do
not involve the masticatory and temporal muscles, so that grimaces are not
formed.

The following exercise is very useful for training the eye muscles:
● in the time when one eye is closed, you
need to blink another's eyelid (also
without the participation of the "lateral"
muscles).Then do the same with the other
eye, then with both eyes in turnThis
exercise is actually difficult, so don't be
discouraged if you can't do it right away.

MUSCLES OF THE LOWER FACIAL PART

Next, we will get acquainted with the muscles located below the eye line. These muscles
are also actively involved in facial expressions.

"LAUGHTER MUSCLES", "CRYING MUSCLES" AND OTHERS

Beneath the cheekbones, where some people have what are called "dimples,"
are the cheek muscles. Their function is toraise corners of the mouth up.
Together with a group of other muscles, they function, when we laugh, and are
called"laughter muscles"On the lateral surfaces of the nose, the square
muscles of the upper lip are arranged in a half-open fan, consisting of three
parts. One of them, the so-called "angular head",
while crying this partraises the upper lip and wings of the nose, that's why it's called
"I cry with my muscles."

!It should be remembered that facial muscles rarely act independently. Complex facial expressions
are achieved through the interaction of several muscles. Among them, in addition to those already
mentioned, there are also triangular muscles of the mouth, located on both sides of the chin, the
name of which indicates their shape.
Triangular muscles underWhen crying, the corners of the mouth turn down.
In this regard, the description of the crying of the heroine of Kuprin's story Olesya is
characteristic: "Her dark face suddenly wrinkled... into a grimace of weeping: the corners of
her lips stretched out and dropped down, all the muscles of her face contracted and
trembled."** Translated by Zemovit Fedetsky.
Due to the ability of the triangular muscles to lowercorners of the mouth down, they are
also calledwith the muscles of contempt. The quadrangular muscle of the lower lip, located
in the middle of the chin, strongly pulls the lower lip downward, which gives the face an
expression of disgust. Therefore, the quadrangular muscle of the lower lip is called the
muscle of disgust.

LOWER FACIAL MUSCLES TRAINING

CHEEK MUSCLE TRAINING

Once again, we remind you: during laughter, these muscles, attached at one end
to the underside of the buccal arch, contract,
pulling the corners of the mouth up and to the sides. Training them
● you need to pull the corners of your mouth tightly
towards the upper part of the cheeks, while the teeth
should be exposed.Then you need practice separate
work on the corners of the mouth.

UPPER LIP MUSCLE TRAINING

Three parts of this muscle, when contracted, raise the middle part of
the upper lip.
● You should practice lifting your upper lip without the corners of your mouth.
Since the quadriceps muscle weaves some of its fibers into the skin of the wings of
the nose, during contraction of this musclethe wings of the nose rise slightly,
widening the nostrils.
 ● Activelifting the upper lip, you need Clench
your teeth and make sure your lower lip
remains still.
● Then alternately train the left and right halves of the
upper lip, alternately contracting the muscles located
on the left and right.(at When performing these
exercises, we mentally divide the lip into two parts).

TRAINING OF THE TRANSVERSE MUSCLES OF THE NOSE

We haven't mentioned these muscles yet, so let's start with a brief overview: they are located
on both sides of the bridge of the nose, and their shape resembles the fabric of a horse
saddle. These muscles are usually inactive, but their role in facial expressions is significant,
especially whenexpressions of contempt and disgust. The transverse muscles of the nose
need to be trained intensively and persistently.
● Having pursed our lips (not too tightly), we energetically pull the
nasolabial folds wrinkles upwards, gradually trying to lift them higher and
higher(the rest of the muscles remain stationary). This exercise requires special
concentration.
The points of application of force are located on the wings of the nose. When the
transverse muscles of the nose contract, a series of longitudinal wrinkles are formed on
its lateral surfaces.

TRAINING OF THE ORBITAL MUSCLE OF THE MOUTH

This muscle surrounds the mouth. When contracted, it changes the shape of the
lips: it pulls them forward.("puffed lips") or retracted ("wrinkled lips").

● First you need to practice intensive lip

stretching
forward ("rolling the lips into a
tube").
● we performpendulum-like movements, in
both sides, with lips drawn out, and
● finally circular movements alternately in both
directions.At the same time, it is necessary make
sure that the head remains still.
 Other lip exercises
● Having stretched our lips forward as much as
possible, we energetically open them like the open
petals of a flower.
● Having pursed our lips (not too tightly), we
energetically turn their corners left and right.
Compressed lips help express different shades of
pride.

TRAINING THE TRIANGULAR MUSCLE OF THE MOUTH This

muscle, when contracted, lowers the corners of the mouth.
● 3After closing the lips, turn their corners down.. Make sure
that the lower lip is not tucked in. Having achieved great mobility
of both corners of the mouth,we train separately lowering the
left and right corners.
The strong muscles of the neck, which begin at the chest and end at the corners of the
mouth and cheeks, also play a prominent role in this movement. We control the work of
these muscles by touching the throat with our fingers.

TRAINING THE QUADRITUDES MUSCLE OF THE LOWER LIP

Remember: when this muscle contracts, it moves down and turns the lower lip away.

● You must, sticking out your lower lip, turn it out down.Then
we do the same thing, but separatelywith the right and left ends
of the lips(involving the neck muscles). Having turned out the
lip, we make pendulum movements with it from side to side.

It should be emphasized once again that successful training of

facial muscles is impossible without conscious control and
perseverance. Regularity of classes is no less important.

MIMIC EXPRESSIONS ARE REFLEXES

Now that we have become acquainted with the facial apparatus, we must
definitely say, at least in general terms, what and how sets it in motion.
 In life, facial movements are mostly reflexive. Imagine that you see a
poisonous snake under your feet. Immediately, the thinnest endings of the
optic nerve, located in the back of the eyeball, will transmit a danger signal via
afferent nerves to the brain - to the visual area of the cerebral cortex.(I. P.
Pavlov called afferent nerves informative").
Irritants can comenNot only visual, but also auditory, olfactory; in a
word, through any sense organ.One or the other facial expression depends on
the intensity of the impression. Facial expression can also change under the
influence of someone's words, but in the silent art of pantomime this stimulus can
only be imagined. Sometimes a pantomime word is written: for example, the hero
learns from a telegram about the death of a close friend or from a newspaper
about the main prize. A person's reaction in such situations is already the sphere of
conditioned reflexes. Their formation belongs to the processes of higher nervous
activity.

... A wounded young man was captured.He woke up, warmed by the rays sun, "and the
spirit of life woke up in him." But the boy heard how "suddenly his chained legs rang."
And: "A tormenting thought will rub the chest of the young prisoner..." Under the
influence of these thoughts, the prisoner bowed his head to the rock. Thus, in one of
the episodes of "The Captive of the Caucasus" full of dramatic events, Pushkin spoke
about the thoughts and feelings of a young warrior who was captured by enemies.

This episode shows the complex interdependence between the emotional state of the hero and
his facial expressions. When the young man woke up from his fainting spell, he was not yet
aware of the full tragedy of his situation.
His face shone with joy, "the spirit of life awakened". But the rattle of the shackles
caused a conditioned reflex. Through the ear receptor - nerve fibers of excitation
were transmitted to the brain, which conducted the analysis. The prisoner realized
that he was in a hopeless situation, and this was reflected on his face. Further
changes in his facial expression were caused by memories.

Reflex stimuli caused by memories are not uncommon in human life,

and therefore in the work of mime. Events of the past, passing through
our inner contemplation, evoke emotions in us that lead to changes in
facial expressions.
In an actor's work, a dramatic situation may arise when the hero of the play
is forced to change his facial expression through an effort of will in order to
hide his true feelings.
This is what Pushkin's hero Angelo does, for example. A cruel tyrant, "a man
with a gloomy face and an unshakable will", for a while took "the burden of
supreme power" into his own hands. The real ruler, the old Duke, returns to the
capital. Crowds of people welcome him. And suddenly young Isabella throws
herself at the Duke's feet with a cry. Angelo, who is present next to her,
- knowing how much he had sinned against this girl and understanding what
punishment could await him,"pale and trembling, throws wild glances at Isabella
"... But he overcame himself.".

The mental state of this character changed four times in one moment.
When Angelo greeted the Duke, his face was full of dignity. Seeing Isabella,
he “turns pale and trembles”, then rage seizes him (“casts wild glances”);
and, finally, a mask of impenetrable calm (“possessed himself”). The tyrant’s
heightened consciousness told him that his agitated appearance would
betray him. Just as a driver who has noticed danger nearby quickly slams on
the brakes, Angelo changes his expression by an effort of will.

In physiology, this is called the process of inhibition. Stimuli that cause a change in
facial expression can also be associations associated with an object. Sometimes they can
cause a very complex emotion on the face, as, for example, in the hero of Remarque's
novel "Comrades in Arms":"I found myself in a very awkward situation: my eyes were
casting angry glances... and my mouth was trying to utter friendly words to the receiver;
from the crown of my head to my nose I was the embodiment of a thunderstorm, from my
nose to my chin —
on a sunny spring afternoon."

Based on drawings by a famous French cartoonist

Jean Eiffel in Leningrad The Mime studio staged
the pantomime "Adam and Eve."

The face of the performer of Eve must have conveyed

an extremely complex range of facial expressions. Here Eve
plucked the "forbidden fruit". In her hand
apple! Eve raises it to her lips. Her face expresses trembling impatience and at
the same time fear: if only someone would notice, because the apple was picked
secretly. And finally she bites it. Eve hastily chews the juicy pulp. Her face shows
the expectation of a miracle. And what of it? Visible
There is no effect: an apple is an apple. Was it worth the effort and
tricks to choose it?!
Her vision has dimmed. Disappointment is written on her face; all her features seem
to have shifted downwards. Finally, anger. Her jaws are still mechanically chewing on
a piece, but her angry gaze is already looking for a place to throw this much-
advertised fruit.
And suddenly - a pause. What's going on? What's happening in her chest, something
incomprehensible, extraordinary?

Eva listens intently to what resonated, sang within her. The performer's
eyes reveal the intense work of thought. Her eyes listen, evaluate, want to
unravel and find out. Surprise is written on her face.

Then fear appears on her face: the inner melody has fallen silent.
Soon Eve realized that the miraculous apple has ceased to work.
Greedily, hastily she bites off the magical pulp again and bites, bites…
She listens to herself, and her face tells of an important
transformation that is taking place within her at this very moment: a
teenager has turned into a beautiful girl...

The entire episode lasts no more than two or three minutes, but what a
difficult task the performer faces, how expressive her facial expressions
are!

DEVELOPMENT OF MIMIC EXPRESSION

Mimicry, associated with the emotional experiences of the hero of pantomime,

cannot be squeezed into any templates, it always remains individual. That is why
mastering mimicry, training in mimicry expressiveness is so important. It is clear
that the role of vision and determinism in mimicry exercises is no less important
than in working with imaginary props.

!Let's work on sketches of stimuli that reach us through the

receptors of the five senses.
For example,I•saw: a baby bird on the road, a beautiful child, a good
friend, a person I personally don't like, a beautiful flower in the field, a
wolf, etc.;
• Heard: a nightingale, a cuckoo, an unexpected bell, the knock of an
approaching train, a cry for help, a policeman's whistle.

The following sketches can be made more complicated. For example:we are
watching We watch aerial acrobats perform in a circus, admiring the
skill and grace with which they fly from trapeze to trapeze. Suddenly,
one of them makes a mistake and falls. ...We cheer for a fierce football
match. Our team loses (wins)... We participate in international
motorcycle competitions, our rivals catch up with us, etc....

When devising sketches, one should pay attention to the fact that they
should be strictly mimic, and not require the use of gestures. When
performing sketches, we must be especially vigilant to avoid stereotyped
moves. They mask beliefs and visions.
Later, you can move on to more complex mimic sketches (the impulse
caused by a written word, a memory, the birth of a thought), as well as
sketches in which you need to express: pauses, emotional shades, and
transitions from one state to another.
The power of expression that mime can achieve can be
demonstrated with an example from work Marcel Marceau.
In the miniature "The Mask Maker" herepresents a
craftsman who enthusiastically carves different masks:

He puts on some of them and tries them on in front

of an imaginary mirror (all objects are born "from nothing"
by mime).
Bip (Marcel Marceau) has just created a
new mask. He pulled it over his face, like
gas mask. The audience saw the face of a fool, a smile from ear to ear, two slits of
sleepy eyes, an expression of maximum stupidity. At the same time, the artist's
traditionally bleached face helped create the illusion of the frozen texture of the mask.

The artist imagined himself parading at the carnival in a new mask. The
artist's powerful movements harmonize with the fool's face. Such a mask will
certainly make carnival lovers laugh! Well, enough is enough, it's time to take off
the mask. However, it's not so simple: the mask, as if mocking its creator,
refuses to take off. And here a miracle happens, a miracle of acting. Marceau's
face is frozen in the idiotic smile of the fool, but
Marcel Marceau in the film "The Mask Maker" (photo Monique Jacot) m
Asuka the Fool's, his feverish, chaotic movements, tragic, full of a desperate
attempt to get rid of the mask that seems to be forever attached to the human
face.

Maxim Gorky tells about the amazing circus performer Thea Alba,
whose performance he once watched. As a result of long training, she was
able to write ten numbers on the board at the same time with ten fingers,
armed with colored pencils. One can imagine what a colossal effort this
required!
The contrast between the sculptor's captivating gestures and the frozen,
laughing mask created by the actor's facial expressions is as striking as the ten
figures of Thea Alba. Bip's desperate struggle with the fool's mask, elevated by
Marcel Marceau to the rank of a philosophical generalization, ends with the
victory of the man who tears off the hated mask.

The mime's face is a very complex instrument. Mastering it is somewhat

similar to learning to play the violin. There are no tones and semitones
marked on its neck. However, the violinist, by precise touches of the strings,
extracts a wonderful melody from them. The face also has no visible scale of
tones. The accuracy and purity of the "mimic melody", its beauty largely
depends on our technique, on how we operate with "mimic scales", "tones"
and semitones, how well we know how to master the instrument, the
plasticity of the face.