Mime In Storytelling

I came across this article about the art of storytelling in dance by Peter Brendenhoff.

Ballet Scene | The Magic of Mime

October 1st, 2011
Adding depth and meaning to movement by speaking with the body

By Peter Brandenhoff

When you go to the ballet today, you probably pay most attention to the choreography and the way it is danced. But ballets that tell stories often need some help in explaining all the twists and turns to the audience, and that's where mime comes in.

To say "I love you," cradle the heart with both hands. (Photo courtesy Peter Brandenhoff)
Though what dancers do in terms of movement is amazing, it is still very difficult to tell very detailed stories only through choreography. It is a bit strange to imagine The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, or La Sylphide without mime. In fact, some of the most important characters in the classical story ballets are mime roles with little or no dancing at all. But even the roles that dance (Odette/Odile, the Sylph, Swanhilda) have to use mime, and when the mime is as good as the dancing, the performance becomes truly magical. One of my favorites is the Sylph in Bournonville's La Sylphide. Throughout that ballet, all of the characters have to act and mime a lot—but they also have to dance very difficult variations and group dances. 
Mime's history
Mime began in ancient Greece, but we are not going to go that far back in time to find the beginnings of ballet mime. It is not clear exactly when ballet mime was born, but it most likely came from commedia dell'arte. The commedia dell'arte performers wore masks and used a lot of mime gestures and body language in addition to words and acrobatics. But unlike those actors, the dancers, of course, did not speak, and ballet mime developed into its own form.
A "cousin" of ballet mime is the pantomime, the white-faced mime who walks in place, tries to get out of an invisible box, or juggles invisible balls. Though ballet mime and pantomime are mostly very different, they do share some gestures and approaches, as we will see later.
In the early days of ballet, dancers wore masks just as the commedia dell'arte actors did, and it is probably safe to assume that the dancers' mime was not very different from the actors'. But when the dancer Jean-Georges Noverre decided to take off the mask and reveal the face, mime began to change. Gestures that had been big became subtler, because now the audience could see facial expressions as well.
Up until the 20th century, mime was a big part of ballet. Most ballets did not have as much dancing as we are used to today. Much if not most of the story was told using mime. One example that remains today is the scene in The Sleeping Beauty when the evil godmother, Carabosse, puts a curse on the baby princess, condemning her to die when she pricks herself on the spindle. But the Lilac Fairy reverses the curse so that instead of dying, the princess will sleep for 100 years.
While the role of Carabosse involves mostly miming and the Lilac Fairy mostly dancing, the Sylph in La Sylphide must do both. A great example of mime being incorporated with dancing is the scene in the first act, when the Sylph tells James how she has watched him grow up and has loved him always, but is now so sad that he is marrying another woman.
It is hard to say, "I've watched you grow up" with steps, so the Sylph does that with mime: she gestures to James, then to her eyes, and with her hand she shows three different heights—waist, chest, shoulder—symbolizing growing up. She shows her sadness by running her fingers down her cheeks and covering her face with her arm as she turns her back to James and the audience. But when she suddenly becomes happy again, she turns on pointe, bourrées very fast in place—which shows elation—and begins to dance.
Doing mime well
The most important rule of ballet mime is to look natural. This can be hard for dancers, especially because they know they are onstage and are supposed to point their feet and stand in beautiful positions when not dancing. But in mime they often have to drop the dancer stance. Sometimes mime calls for them to be as grotesque and ugly as possible, other times silly or clumsy. This is one of the features that ballet mime and pantomime have in common.
If your students feel uncomfortable or awkward or ugly doing mime, it sometimes helps to study pantomimes. Pantomimes use their bodies in very different ways than dancers are taught to, often making very grotesque poses that dancers are told to avoid.
Mime is essentially acting without words, just as dance is describing emotions without words. So the second most important rule is: listen! Even if no words are spoken, it is crucial to each mime scene that each person gets to "speak" without interruption. Of course there are times when the mime dialogue calls for one person to interrupt the other, but unless it is specified in the choreography it should not be done.
Explain to your students that when another dancer "speaks," they should look at that person and "listen." Because mime is silent, it is even more important not to begin a gesture before the other person has finished. The reason for that is to make sure the audience registers the meaning of the gesture and has time to look from one dancer to the other.
That brings us to the third major rule: distance. Mime uses the arms and hands, supported by facial and bodily expressions. If the people "speaking" are too close together, it can be hard for the audience to separate the moves. Think of it as a pas de deux in which the partners never get to touch.
Even the roles that dance (Odette/Odile, the Sylph, Swanhilda) have to use mime, and when the mime is as good as the dancing, the performance becomes truly magical.
Common gestures
Let's take a look at some of the most common actions and words expressed through mime.
I love you: Place your left hand under your left breast, as if you are holding something fragile in it. Gently place your right hand under it, to protect it.
If you want to say it with a bit more force, the left hand can be placed in a fist on your breast before the right hand cups it. Both are correct; one is just a little more tender, whereas the other is more like screaming it to the world. 
Pointing and directions: To say "you" to someone, the gesture usually starts the way you would move your arm through first position to second position. The difference here is that you want to keep your palm open and facing slightly up, and direct it toward the solar plexus of the person you are speaking to. As with a normal port de bras, you should not straighten elbows or stiffen anything. Think about dance and your mime will be beautiful. When the "you" is plural it is not necessary to acknowledge each person, but rather make a sweep of the arm toward everyone, making sure to make a definite stop by the last person included.
If the pointing is meant to be an accusation or unfriendly (think of Hilarion, in Giselle, telling the villagers that the sword belongs to Albrecht), you should actually point. This is one of the only gestures where it is not only allowed, but actually necessary, to straighten the arm. That makes the accusation very strong.
Dancing: Bring the arms in front of you as if to a first position, but let the hands circle around each other twice as you bring them up. Finish with them in a slightly open fifth position, following the hands with your eyes.
Go away: Sweep the arm away from you in a slightly upward motion. This move should be done a little higher than the move for "you" and can finish either with a flick of the wrist or more softly as an elancé. It is not necessary to say "you" first, though it makes it more direct.
Calling someone to you: This is basically the same as waving someone toward you in the street. Onstage it is important not to make the wave too big. The arm should not pass where you would hold it in fifth position; if it covers your face, the gesture becomes unclear. As you call, let the arm swoop, almost as if you were gathering something invisible (the people you are calling) and bringing them to you. 
Here: With the palm open to the audience point to the floor in front of you. If it is an invitation to "come here" the gesture has a bit of a sideways sweep to it.
Swearing an oath: Put your left hand on your heart and raise your right hand with the index finger and middle finger together. Push up and forward with the right hand while looking at it. You are making an oath and nothing else is more important, so if you look away it will make it seem like you are not as sincere as you should be. 
Drinking and eating: These gestures, pretending to hold a cup or a piece of food, are similar to pantomime. For drinking, the most common way is to hold your hand as if you were holding a glass. Take it to your mouth and pretend to drink. For eating, pretend to hold a piece of food and bring it toward your mouth, fingers first. Remember being natural? Don't let your fingers enter your mouth, just as you wouldn't put your hand in your mouth when actually eating.
Crying: Start with your palms facing out and index fingers in front of your eyes and gently draw them down, the way tears would run down your cheeks. I had a teacher who thought it was better to use two fingers on each hand, slightly apart, to show great sorrow because that would show that there were a lot of tears. 
To die or death: It is not clear where this gesture originated. Make your hands into fists as you move them in a circular sweep down from the outside in, finishing with your wrists crossed and your arms waist high. If you are telling someone that he or she will die, you look at the person you are talking to and, at the end of the gesture, raise your head a bit more. If you are sad about the upcoming death (for example, Giselle's mother), keep your gaze down at your crossed wrists for a moment before looking up.
Three essentials
One: Where the eyes look is even more important in mime than it is in dancing. The audience will look at your face when you "speak," so your gaze amplifies what you are saying.
Two: Whenever you are saying something very important, you should always be on two feet. If you wobble as you say, "I love you," the audience (and your beloved) will think you are not sure about what you are saying. Once you have delivered a line you can always go back to a more balletic stance while listening to the reply.
Three: Always remember to listen! 
Mime in today's dance world
Because the body plays such a big part in performing mime, it is not only in the old story ballets that mime is beneficial. Contemporary ballets that follow a story line may not use separate mime scenes as the old ballets do, but they still need the dancers to portray the characters and convey the story. The body can be used to support choreographic gestures in the same way it supports mime gestures. A very strong stance tells a different story than does standing on wobbly feet.
Even with ballets that have no story to them at all, mime is a good tool for dancers to have in their arsenal. By encouraging your students to play with mime, you can help them discover that there are more ways than just smiling to show happiness or joy.
As quoted in Anya Peterson Royce's book Movement and Meaning: Creativity and Interpretation in Ballet and Mime, the great pantomime Marcel Marceau once said: "Dancers fill space. Mimes sculpt space." I have always thought that dancers who take the time to learn mime and acting will not only fill the space they dance in, but will sculpt it in such a way that an audience could not imagine it any other way.