WORLD MIME (Summer) ACADEMY
Belgrade, Serbia from June 30th to July 10th 2022
REPORT ON ACTIVITIES
1) LECTURES (Hosted by the Student City Cultural Centre and Pinocchio Puppets Theatre; organized by the WMO):
"Principles and Poetics of Etienne Decroux's Corporeal Mime" by prof.dr. George Mascarenhas (Federal University of Bahia, Brazil)
- Length: 2 hours
- Date: 01.07.2022.
"International Theatre Institute - Brief History and Importance" by Tobias Biancone, Director-General of the International Theatre Institute
- Length: 1 hour
- Date: 02.07.2022.
2) WORKSHOPS (Hosted by the Student City Cultural Centre and Pinocchio Puppets Theatre; organized by the WMO):
- Length: 4 x 10 hours
- Dates: 02-06.07.2022.
Audience: World Mime Academy (WMA) participants (22 persons) and guests (5-10 persons. The workshops were closed for the public. Only members of delegations could attend)
- A) CORPOREAL MIME (Basic Etienne Decroux Technique) by prof.dr.George Mascarenhas (Brazil)
- B) ACTING BODY (Acting + Basic Marcel Marceau Technique) by prof.Marko Stojanović (Serbia / World Mime Organisation)
- C) SHOW ON - SHOW OFF (Street mime & performing mix) by prof.Ofer Blum (Israel)
Additional WORKSHOP of "Mime Praxis" by Vladimir Cvejić (Serbia / World Mime Organisation) for a group that did not participate in the World Street Mime Festival in Vrnjačka Banja.
- Length: 3 hours
- Date: 08.07.2022.
Additional REHEARSAL with prof.dr.George Mascarenhas for the Final Presentation of Work:
- Length: 2 hours
- Date: 07.07.2022.
3) Final PRESENTATION of Work as part of the World Mime Festival:
Place: Student City Cultural Centre Summer Stage
- Length: 1.5 hours
- Date: 07.07.2022.
Audience: Members of the delegations and open to general public.
4) World Mime (OpenAir) Festival 02-09.07.2022. in Belgrade and Vrnjačka Banja:
- A) World Mime Festival (Hosted by the Student City Cultural Centre; organized by the WMO):
Place: Student City Cultural Centre Summer Stage and Puppet Theatre "Pinocchio"
- Dates: 02 & 04-07.07.2022.
Audience: Members of the delegations and open to general public
Participants: Danka Sekulović (Serbia), Dimitra Pappa (Greece), Ilker Kilicer (Turkey), Ivan Olmo (Puerto Rico), Ekaterina Varlakova (Russia), Randy King (Russia).
Note: The Festival was opened by Tobias Biancone, Director-General of the International Theatre Institute.
At the opening ceremony of the Festival on July 2nd young oud player Fares Nehlawi the Fujairah Fine Arts Academy (FFAA, UAE) student performed as well as young Serbian flautist Staša Zokić a student of the "Mokranjac" Secondary Music School. Ofer Blum from Israel performed two mime pieces.
Prof.dr. George Mascarenhas and Ofer Blum received the Special WMO Award for the Outstanding Contribution to the Art of Mime and prof. Ali Obaid, General Manager of the FFAA received the Certificate of Gratitude and Tobias Biancone Director-General of the International Theatre Institute received specially embroidered white mime gloves as the symbol of friendship and gratitude.
- B) World Street Mime Festival (Hosted by the Municipality of Vrnjačka Banja and the Vrnjačka Banja Tourist Organization; organized by the WMO):
Place: the Culture Square in Vrnjačka Banja
Dates: 08-09.07.2022.
Participants: Marko Stojanović (Serbia), Ofer Blum (Israel), Dimitra Pappa (Greece), Ilker Kilicer (Turkey), Randy King (Russia), Mohamed Meeky (UAE, Egypt), Iman Hamidou (UAE, Egypt), Saeed Alharsh (UAE), Sha'ban Rashid (UAE)
5) Specially guided VISITS TO MUSEUMS happened on 03.07.2022.:
- A) NATIONAL MUSEUM (relation to mime: to see how body movement and pose and facial expressions are captured by artists on the canvas)
- B) ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM (relation to Serbian folk dance: to see the historical costumes, shoes, props and how people were living in the past in Serbia)
6) SPECIAL MEETINGS with (general) managers of theatrical, film, music and educational institutions, productions and festivals in Belgrade arranged by Marko Stojanović for heads of delegations depending on their interest and ideas for potential bilateral cooperation.
7) COMMENTS AND THOUGHTS
The event was truly multinational and multicultural with participants, professors and guests from the UAE, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Japan, USA, Russia, Switzerland, Greece, Israel, Turkey and Serbia.
The program of the World Mime (Summer) Academy was very intensive even for the experienced professionals. During 6 days we had 3 to 4 workshops per day of hour and a half to two hours each and rehearsals for the final presentation, coming at the end to more than 40 hours of intensive work in one week.
On top of that in the evening of most days we had the World Mime (OpenAir) Festival, visits to museums and very little free time.
The tempo was exhausting for both participants and professors but the feedback that we had was very positive. Everyone was happy and enthusiastic and felt they have learned something new, redefined some knowledge and thoughts they had and accomplished something professionally.
This program was designed for adult professionals and those who want to become professionals. The work demanded full concentration, commitment and discipline and was very tiring both physically and mentally.