«Speaking with the body is vital. In this very hectic world, the image has occupied an essential place within expression; And that is why we need the spectator not to stay in the movement for the sake of the movement, but in what it says: what he does, for what, why.
This is explained to Granma by Maritza Acosta, director of the company Teatro del Cuerpo Fusión, regarding the headquarters in the Tito Junco room, of the Bertolt Brecht Cultural Complex.
“It is vital that the pantomime develops in Cuba to be able to continue telling without words,” adds Acosta – also general and artistic director of the initiative – and insists on the importance of the fact that, in times when almost everyone spends their time looking at the mobile phone, someone stops, looks and thinks, thanks to this ancient performing art, not widely cultivated.
The event contributes to this purpose, which – as was announced at a press conference – will be dedicated to Poland, the maestro Henryk Tomaszewski and physical theatre; and which will be attended by 22 mimes from eight other foreign countries: Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
In addition to the pampering guests and those of the two professional groups on the Island –which is directed by Acosta and Mimo Clan, under the aegis of Omar Amador– the graduates of the Teatro Teaching Unit of the Fusion Corps will perform; which, for 20 years and attached to the National School of Art, has prepared about 50 artists, who train for three years and take 22 subjects.
A good mime, Maritza comments, “first has to be an artist and a good person, because you work with your soul and for others, it is a job of service. We are nothing without the public, the other, without the one who watches us.
“Then, in addition to having that vocation and that kindness, there are the skills.” Applicants (who can currently be both 9th and 12th grade graduates) undergo physical tests similar to those of dancers: joint conditions, muscle tones, etc.; and acting tests.
«A mime is an actor, he works from the inside out and cannot remain a mere drawing of an archetypal character; sensations and perceptions move,” illustrates the teacher.
The meeting, which is defined as scientific-artistic and theoretical-practical, includes conferences such as The body, emblem of cultural identity, and Presence of women in mime art; book presentations and talks.
