Jacques Lecoq by Julia Paynton

Jacques Lecoq
Born: 15th December 1921 in Paris, France
Death: 19th January 1999 in Paris, France age 77 of an apparent
cerebral haemorrhage

Lecoq was a French actor, mime, and acting teacher, specialising
particularly in Physical theatre, movement and mime. He went on to
start the drama school 'l'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques
Lecoq' in Paris and teach there from 1956 until his death.
He started his career in teaching physical education. By 1945 Lecoq
had formed a drama group with Gabriel Cousin, but soon went on to join
Jean Dasté's theatre company 'Comédiens de Grenoble' where he taught
physical training and body movement to the other actors. Here he became
interested in masks and looked at the ideas of Copeau, a renowned
actor, author, and theatre producer.
Lecoq moved to Italy in 1948 for eight years, staging pantomimes,
researching and experimenting with masks. He also developed into
working as a director and choreographer, and worked with people such as
Dario Fo, Franco Parenti, Luciano Berio, and Anna Magnani. He returned
to Paris and opened his own school in 1956, whilst also setting up his
own theatre company, working at the National Popular Theatre, and
working on television.
He also taught in the French school of fine arts from 1968 to 1988,
developing a teaching programme on architecture based on the human
body, movement and the 'dynamics of mime'. He founded the schools stage
design department in 1977. Lecoq was also a member of the Union of
Theatre of Europe often touring around the world giving speeches,
master classes, and lectures about his ideas and research in theatre.

Mime:
Lecoq was considered more as a renowned teacher of mime (or corporeal
expression as he often called it), rather than a performer. He taught
his students through strenuous physical and emotional exercises trying
to move them to discover "open mime" as he was not an admirer of the
usual French mime trends of the time which was "enclosed in it's own
silence". This is similar to BMT's view on mime, where they look
outside the conventional stereotype of silent, striped jumper, white
faced mime. Lecoq thought that mime wasn't an imitation, or a virtuoso
or genius technique; he taught that it needed to indeed be disciplined
and stylised, but it also could be spontaneous and playful, and "liberate the body".

Julia Paynton

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>hope this is useful, julia
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