Mime is the "Art of Silence" that uses stylized gestures and movements of the body to communicate thoughts and feelings by capturing and molding them in time and space. Some key terms in mime include counter-point, which refers to moving away from an object before approaching it; coloration, which augments a thought through progressively increasing the speed, intensity, or size of a movement or emotion; and equilibrium, which is the center of balance of the body that can be forward, central, backward, or to either side. Mime uses gestures to communicate thoughts through sculpting space, body, rhythm, and movement to recreate objects or actions in empty space through techniques like isolations, rotations, and transfers of weight.

1. Mime - Glossary of Terms
Counter-Point --- the movement away from an object before going toward it
Counter-Weight --- a movement or position which indicates the weight necessary to move or
displace the object in space
Coloration --- the augmentation of a thought without the destruction of the thought. A
progressive increase in a movement’s or an emotion’s speed, intensity, or size
Equilibrium --- the center of balance of your body; can be forward, central, backward, or to
either side
Focus --- the focusing on the imagined object in space
Gesture --- any act or action which communicates a thought
Illusion --- the recreation of an object or action in empty space, through the sculpting of space,
body, rhythm or movement
Inclinations --- to lead or bend, tilting forward, backward or to one side
Isolations --- the ability to incline, rotate, freeze, or move each part of the body independently

2. Mime --- the “Art of Silence.” The communication of thought through the stylized gestures and
movements of the body. The use of gestures which communicate the essence of thought and
feeling, capturing them in time and space, molding them, then releasing them to the beholder.
Object Identification --- the ability of the mime to show the nature and essence of objects
through body positioning, rhythm, and quality of movement
Plum Line --- the line created by an imaginary string pulling upward from the crown of one’s
head, causing one to be pulled upright
Fixed Point --- the isolation of a point in space-the measurement in time of the length and
energy of a movement
Rotation --- a horizontal turning of one of the five body parts to either side without moving any
other body parts
The Toc --- the muscle contraction which begins or ends most movements
Transfer of Weight --- how one gets from point “A” to point “B” and the weight movements in
between