Mime & Motion Capture
Mime Artist | Motion Capture Performer
My interest and education of the art of Mime began as an undergraduate student in the BFA in Theatre (Performance) program at the University at Buffalo under the study of Vincent O'Neill. Professor O'Neill is a graduate of Marcel Marceau's competitive three-year training program in Paris, France. With Professor O'Neill I not only learned several of Marceau's basic techniques, but also the endless possibilities that mime has to offer in any style or genre of performance.
Following my graduation, I began teaching workshops to local performers and students in Buffalo, NY.
I continued my training as a mime artist at The Ohio State University under the close mentorship of Jeanine Thompson. Professor Thompson was one of Marceau's close friend's and student from 1985 until his passing in 2007. Professor Thompson was named by Marceau as one of only three American legacy holders of his teaching and technique. With Professor Thompson I examined the technique, composition, and pedagogy of mime at an advanced level.
Here is a piece I conceived, created, and performed in Professor Thompson's Mime and Motion Capture class.
I continued exploring the possibilities of mime performance and pedagogy in Ohio State's Advanced Computing Center for Art and Design (ACCAD).
While there I worked with Professor Thompson, Vita Berezina-Blackburn, and MFA in Design graduate, Tori Campbell.
In the Mime and Motion Capture course, we examined Marcel Marceau’s archive hosted at the OSU Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute. Materials included Marceau's motion capture of his signature movements. During our Mime class, we learned Marceau’s At The Bar adagio from his motion capture data and video tape. We were them motion captured performing the adagio, interacted with the Marceau’s data through VR, and examined our motion capture data alongside Marceau’s data, enabling a much deeper understanding of our individual distinctions and similarities.
The first video shows me performing the At the Bar adagio in the motion capture suit at ACCAD.
The second video shows my motion capture data compared to Marceau's data. The avatar on the far left is me. The avatar in the middle is Marceau. The avatar on the far right is me again after having interacted with Marceau's data through VR.