Mime, as a teaching tool

Swiss exponent shows teachers’ trainers how effective the technique is

Mime artiste Markus Schmid at a lecture demonstration organised at the Mar Theophilus Training College in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.— Photo: S. Gopakumar

Actions do speak louder than words, and that’s what Markus Schmid, the mime maestro from Switzerland demonstrated, using the universal language of mime, to teachers of the Mar Theophilus Training College, Nalanchira, here on Monday.

Interacting with the audience as part of a workshop on ‘Developmental Dramatics in Education’, organised by the Creative Club of the college in collaboration with Helen O’Grady International, who brought Mr. Schmid to India, the mime artiste had the teachers, who train future teachers, in awe as he, through deft moves, explained the use of breath, movement, and most importantly, the body, in teaching.

A touch of history

Beginning by taking the teachers through the history and techniques of classical mime, interspersed with striking examples, Mr. Schmid dwelt upon how teachers could use body language as a form of communication, mime and sensory integration techniques for effective teaching, and even mime and gestures as a language development tool.

Pointing out that mime was very expressive, and hence could be taken advantage of as an effective medium for communication and to teach through actions, Mr. Schmid also touched upon creating original and inspiring ways to deliver the curriculum.

The teachers were exhorted to break barriers of self expression, discovering hitherto unknown facets of their expressions, and to thereby unleash their creativity through improvisation.

Sunil Krishnan, Director, Helen O’Grady International, introduced Mr. Schmid to the audience. K.Y. Benedict, Laji Varghese and Joju John from the college too addressed the workshop.

The mime artiste, who has been a regular visitor to various parts of the country over the years along with his wife Maria Gomez and their travelling production troupe ‘Andrayas’, had handled similar interactive sessions and art workshops in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram recently, apart from performing ‘ENKI – The Water Singer’, a mime trio show on water conservation.