Author

Samuel Avital

Art, Testimonials

Part 6: Kinesthesia and the Mind/Body Split

According to psychologist Howard Gardner, (20) there are seven distinct types of intelligence: verbal, musical, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and two types of personal intelligence – self-awareness and social skill. Gardner’s scheme has been influential because it recognizes types of intelligence in addition…

Art, Testimonials

Part 5: The Sixth Sense

Ever since Aristotle first identified the five senses – sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, we’ve been used to thinking that we have just these five. Because the senses can be located in clearly recognizable organs of the body –…

Art, Testimonials

Part 4: The Workshop Laboratory

In these early years Le Centre Du Silence became Avital’s laboratory, where he could fully distill the teachings of the mime masters and develop his own unique methods. The work was improvisational and experimental, employing some prepared exercises along with anecdotes…

Mime

The Evolution of Mime

Mime has similar origins to both drama and the dance. When the storyteller was at a loss for words, gesture took over. Because of its character as an instinctive part of the makeup of a human being, mime must, of…

Art, Testimonials

Part 3: Teachers and Lessons

From Decroux, Avital acquired the grammar of movement. He learned to analyze minutely, the complex maneuvers of corporeal mime and then to reconstitute the analysis in movements of elegance and simplicity. Decroux’s approach was scientific, detail-oriented, and supremely focused, emphasizing…