Silence is golden

For inspiration, Philippe Bizot casts his net far and wide. Jiang Dong / China Daily

Award-winning mime artist Philippe Bizot is on a mission to spread his silent craft around the world

Philippe Bizot doesn't say a word on stage, and yet he says everything. Using meaningful glances, rich and exaggerated facial expressions and delicate body movements, he creates thousands of scenes that make his audiences laugh, sigh, ponder and applaud. "Silence is my language, my music, and my song," the 58-year-old French mime artist says. "The art of pantomime is a universal language, the language of emotion."

The renowned artist has just finished his 40th anniversary world tour with a series of shows at Penghao Theater, Beijing. The shows included Forty Years of Silence, a compilation of some of the best work of his career, which consists of 13 short stories depicting life's sorrows, tenderness and delight, as well as Invisible Bridge, The Kid II, and You and Me, with Wang Xiaohuan and Zhang Jiahe, both students from the Central Academy of Drama in China.

"They are the very best performers in China," he says. "It's really nice working with them."

Bizot dreamed of performing in China when he was a child and first visited the country in 1984. "Chinese culture is very impressive. I have been fascinated by its painting, calligraphy and literature."

Since his first visit, Bizot has brought his mime to the country every two or three years. In 2005 he combined the arts of mime and a form of traditional Chinese opera called Kunju, to stage a performance with Chinese artists.

"The movement of Kunju is really delicate, and the combination of the two arts was quite pleasant," he says.

Bizot's fascination with mime began when he was eight. He was later mentored and encouraged by Jean-Louis Barrault, a master of mime acting and directing, and began to hone his skills while practicing the craft in Paris and Bordeaux. At 18 he took to the stage for the first time to great acclaim, and at 20 he won the International Mime Golden Award.

Bizot has dedicated his life to teaching and performing mime around the world.

"I have no teacher; I learn everything from life," he says.

As he travels he observes people, watching their movements and recording interesting situations that can inspire him for a new performance.

Bizot is particularly happy to see people with speaking and hearing difficulties in his audiences. He studies their use of body language in different countries and adopts it into his work. For example, his mime for sun is taken from Indian sign language.

He believes they have a profound understanding and appreciation of mime.

"People who have listening and speaking problems have the same rights to enjoy the charm of art," he says. "But there are not many theaters open to them, so I want them to feel the beauty of art in my theater."

His mimes include characters from all sections of society: the shy lover, the loving father, and the naughty student among them.

"My art comes from my audience, so I want to reward them 10 times over with my mime. I can be a man, a woman, a bird or a dog after I have dressed up. I become a mirror for people and reflect their feelings. No matter whether I'm in Africa or France, dressing up as a Chinese farmer or a Bolivian worker, sorrow and joy are universal for everyone," he says. "Mime is my life, for which my love surpasses everything."

The Chinese comedian Lai Xiao-sheng, who has been performing for about 20 years, says he has learned a lot from watching Bizot's work.

"His performances enlighten me about flaws in my own performance. For example, he stresses expression with his eyes, but when I perform, I sometimes avoid eye contact with the audience."

Apart from performing, Bizot has founded academies of mime in Bordeaux, Marseille, Bolivia, Lebanon, Pakistan and the US, which have taught thousands of students.

Between performances he has also found time to run several mime workshops in Beijing for Chinese fans of the silent craft.

Bizot says that in one show there are about 15,000 scenes that need to be created. If just one or two of these scenes fail, the show can be ruined, so extreme concentration is needed throughout a performance.

"The mime never pretends to do something. Instead he devotes his strength to serving the scene he is creating. If you want to tell the audience there is a cup in your hand, you have to feel that cup yourself. A mime's hands have to be very delicate. They should be able to create all the subjects that are needed in a show."

When mime actors begin, they often panic and add unnecessary aspects to their performance, he says. A perfect mime is not acting, but transforming into the characters and living within their context. The secret to achieving that ability is constant practice four or five hours a day.

"The play is life, so you don't act; you live in the life. You have to gradually adopt the images and characteristics of people's faces, hands and so on into your own mind."

Zeng Nuola, 26, a movie director, says she admires Bizot's ability to express emotions without words.

"He has very strong and special understanding of body language and silence, which is helpful for my own directing."

He You, 24, an architectural designer, found Bizot's workshop thought-provoking.

"He has many great ideas. He attaches great importance to life and nature and encourages us to mimic and experience life. His work makes you feel peaceful inside and encourages you to think."

Despite the passion that Bizot and his audience have for mime, it remains an art form that few practice. Bizot's ambition is to keep mime alive and thriving by forming a mime company with top performers from around the world.

chenyingqun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/23/2012 page28)