KS4 Drama Acting Skills: Movement, mime and gesture

Acting Skills:
Movement, mime
and gesture

Icons key: For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation
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Accompanying Web links Practical Extension

worksheet activities activities

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Learning objectives
Objectives

Explore the concepts and uses of movement,

mime and gesture in drama
Develop skills using mime, movement and
gesture
Develop confidence through the use of mime,
movement and gesture

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Movement, mime and gesture

Movement is the term used for

the physical action that takes
place on stage. This can be the
actions of an individual person
or of a group.

Mime is a technique used in drama where

meaning is conveyed purely through body
motions, and the actor remains silent.

Gesture refers to a movement made by a part

of the body, such as waving or pointing.

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Movement

A movement can convey many things. When you are on stage,

the way you walk, the posture you adopt, and the speed that
you move at all tell the audience about the character and the
mood of the scene.
Imagine a couple
strolling in a park.

Now imagine a
company of
soldiers marching.

What differences in movement would you see?

What might be the mood of each scene?
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Movement

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Mime

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Mime

Professional mime artists can make the audience see things

that arent really there. In order to mime successfully, you need
to have a detailed understanding of how your body moves
when performing a particular action.

You also need to communicate a number of physical

properties, such as size, shape, weight, and texture.

Choose an action, such as putting on a

tie or jacket. Practise doing this
movement for real a few times. Then try
miming it. Remember how the object
felt, and what your hands and body did.

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Gestures

Gestures are powerful forms of communication and

expression, and are used across the world in many
different cultures.
Kathakali theatre, which originates from
southern India, is a vibrant combination of
drama, dance, music, poetry, costume,
make-up and ritual.

Kathakali theatre uses gestures, or

mudras, for its storytelling. These are
usually hand gestures, although some
involve the entire body.
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Gestures

In Victorian melodrama,
exaggerated movements
conveyed meaning and
actors learnt stock
gestures to show different
emotional states.

These images show three different melodramatic gestures.

Can you guess which emotions they represent?
In pairs stand opposite each other. Person A
has an urgent message for person B.
However, there is a sound-proof window
between you, and B is unable to lip-read. Use
only gestures to get the message across.
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Movement, mime or gesture?

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Useful weblinks

Article on movement in acting

www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/may/09/jackie-snow-
movement-exercises-actors

Jacques LeCoq theatre school

www.ecole-jacqueslecoq.com/index_uk.htm

Frantic Assembly theatre company

www.franticassembly.co.uk

DV8 theatre company

http://dv8.co.uk/v1/index.html

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