Étienne Decroux facts for kids

Étienne Decroux (19 July 1898 in Paris, France – 12 March 1991 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France) was a French actor who studied at Jacques Copeau's École du Vieux-Colombier, where he saw the beginnings of what was to become his life's obsession–corporeal mime. During his long career as a film and theatre actor, he created many pieces, using the human body as the primary means of expression.

Career

Enrolled at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier Vieux-Colombier in 1923, as a student of Charles Dullin, Decroux began to envision a newly defined vision of mime and later developed an original, personal style of movement. His early "statuary mime" recalls Rodin's sculptures. Later, more plastic forms were called "mime corporeal" or corporeal mime. An intellectual and theoretician, his body training was based in part on what modern dancers call "isolations", in which body sections move in a prescribed sequence, and, in part, on the physics of compensation required to keep the body in balance when the center of gravity is shifted.

He wanted to enlist other students into a mime company, but the acting students were not very interested. When the Vieux Colombier closed in 1924, Decroux taught at the acting school of Charles Dullin, the Atelier. Jean-Louis Barrault also came to the school, and the two worked closely for two years, producing corporeal mime pieces individually and together.

Arriving in New York in or around 1957, M. Decroux held morning and evening classes at a studio on 8th Avenue and 55th Street. Students came and went, but eventually were required to commit to a full-time regime when rehearsing for performance as The Mime Theatre of Etienne Decroux. Pieces presented at The Cricket Theatre in the Village included "The Factory," "The Trees," "All The City Works," and "Evil Spirit." Students at the time included Sterling Jenson, Sunya Svenson, Marjorie Walker (née Oplatka) and Jewel Walker, who continued to teach the classes in New York for a time after Decroux returned to Paris.

Returning from the United States to Paris in 1962, he opened his school in Boulogne-Billancourt where he taught almost until his death. Many hundreds of students passed through his school, and a new generation of mimes continue his research.

The art form Decroux created along these years differs completely from what had previously been known as traditional pantomime.

Filmography

• Enfin voir Etienne Decroux bouger (2006)
• Art of Etienne Decroux, The (1961)
• Compagnons de Baal, Les (1968) TV
• Comme un cheveu sur la soupe (1957)

... a.k.a. Crazy in the Noodle (USA)

• La Bergère et le ramoneur (1953) (voice)

... a.k.a. The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird (USA)

• Occupe-toi d'Amélie (1949)

... a.k.a. Oh Amelia!

• Clochemerle (1948)

... a.k.a. Scandals of Clochemerle (USA)

• Capitaine Blomet (1947)
• Voyage surprise (1947)
• Petites annonces matrimoniales, Les (1947)
• Enfants du paradis, Les (1945)

... a.k.a. Children of Paradise (USA)

• Voyageur sans bagages, Le (1944)
• Le Corbeau (1943) (uncredited)

... a.k.a. The Raven

• Adieu Léonard (1943)
• The Stairs Without End (1943)
• Macao, l'enfer du jeu [fr] (1939/1942)

... a.k.a. Gambling Hell (USA)

• Le Dernier tournant (1939)

... a.k.a. The Last Turning

• Belle étoile (1938)
• Affaire Lafarge, L' (1937)

... a.k.a. The Lafarge Case (USA)

• Commissaire est bon enfant, le gendarme est sans pitié, Le (1935)
• Affaire est dans le sac, L' (1932)

... a.k.a. It's in the Bag

See also

In Spanish: Étienne Decroux para niños