节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-03-25
难易度:Low
关键字:perform, communication, self-expression, gesture, mime, Roman Empire
Have you ever seen someone on the street performing but not using any words?
They're acting something out with their hands, with their body, with their face,
but they're not saying anything.
If you have, you saw a mime.
I don't think I've actually ever seen a mime, so I'm glad that today we're
talking about mimes and the art of mime.
And there's still more to learn about this art form in this part of today's
reading.
The Art of Mime.
Mime through the ages.
Mime is one of the earliest forms of self-expression.
As languages were developing, humans still used their bodies to speak.
Mime first became an art form in ancient Greece.
Silent actors performed everyday scenes using gestures.
These plays often taught a lesson about values.
When the Romans conquered Greece, they took the art of mime back to Italy.
There they made it their own.
Even after the fall of the Roman Empire, mime survived.
(Music).
Well, it looks like mime has certainly been around for a long time and gone
through a lot of changes.
In this section we have "Mime through the ages." And we see that mime is one of
the earliest forms of self-expression.
And "self-expression" is one our Word Bank words, so we would like to express
its meaning.
Self-expression is you want to tell people how you feel, what you are doing
yourself and express that, show them what you mean.
Nathanael, how might you use this word "self-expression"?
Well, self-expression, you might think of the phrase express yourself.
And one way that people do that is with their appearance.
Uh, what they wear, their hair style, they can choose these things.
And it is one way that they can express themselves.
It's one kind of self-expression.
That's very true.
Gabe, do you like to express yourself?
Well, yes, I do like to express myself.
I think another way of self-expression is by the kinds of things that you listen
to, the kinds of things that you talk about as well.
But people can tell something about you by the kind of music that you listen to.
That's one way that other people can know about yourself, your self-expression.
Of course, there are different ways to express yourself.
And I think that self-expression is very crucial.
It's important to be able to express yourself.
That's right.
And we see that mime was a very early form of self-expression, a way to
communicate with other people.
In the article we see: As languages were developing, humans still used their
bodies to speak.
So if you mime, then that is a way of speaking.
You can tell people what you mean by your actions.
Uh, how does the article continue, Nathanael?
It says mime first became an art form in ancient Greece.
Ancient Greece, ancient civilization that we often talk about in history a very
long time ago.
So we know that mime has been around a long time.
That's right.
And Gabe, would you like to continue for us?
Of course.
Silent actors performed everyday scenes using gestures.
So silent actors, they didn't have any lines.
They were silent, and they performed everyday scenes.
And everyday scenes, that just talks about common things you might see or
experience in day-to-day life.
Like what happens at home or what happens at school, in the classroom, at the
office, these are everyday things.
That's right.
And in this sentence we had another word from our Word Bank, the word "gesture."
Now a gesture is a kind of action,
a motion that you use to express yourself usually.
And a gesture... I usually think of hand gestures.
I use my hands a lot when I talk if I'm not holding a clipboard.
Nathanael, what kind of gestures might you use?
Well, you might gesture for someone to cross the street.
Ah, you can also use this as a verb as I have, too, gesture.
Gesture someone across the street.
Or you can say use a gesture to bring someone across the street.
How else might you use this word, Gabe?
Well, I was just thinking about asking if you have clear hand gestures.
Sometimes actions do speak louder than words.
And it's important to know that what you mean to communicate is what you're
actually communicating with your hands.
Do you have good hand gestures?
Maybe you can practice that with a couple of friends.
Don't say anything.
You can be silent actors, and you can just use your gestures and guess what each
other is trying to communicate.
That's right.
Well, these silent actors were performing, so these plays often taught a lesson
about values.
So they were trying to teach something that was important, something that was
valuable and a good lesson for people to think about.
What might be a good value that they taught, Nathanael?
Maybe they taught something about being kind to other people and how that makes
for good relationships.
There's a lot of... possible values that they might have taught.
Absolutely. And we see that when the Romans conquered Greece, they took the art
of mime back to Italy.
So it sounds like mime was actually very popular.
Even when the Romans conquered another country, they wanted to keep that art
form.
Well, how do we continue, Gabe?
Well, we find out what the Romans did.
Even after... actually we find out that they made it their own.
The Romans made the art form their own.
They made mime their own.
And I like that sentence.
We want to talk about that for a little bit: to make something your own.
How could you use that phrase?
When you make something your own, that means someone else created it or
originated it,
but then you do in such a way that it really seems like it's coming from you.
How could you use that phrase, Carolyn?
Well, a lot of recipes I find online have things that maybe I don't really want
to eat or I kind of want to reduce the sugar.
So I change the recipe a little bit, and I make my own.
Excellent. That's one great way.
I'm a musician.
I play drums in a band.
And we sometimes do covers of other songs or other groups, but we do it in a way
that we make it our own.
We make the song have an original sound.
How else could you use that phrase, Nathanael?
Well, if you're talking about plays, some of them are quite old or have been
around for a while.
But they keep getting performed.
And each time that someone else performs them, hopefully they would make it
their own.
Make the play their own so it's something new and fresh.
And that's what the Romans did with the art of mime.
And we see that even after the fall of the Roman Empire, mime survived.
So it was still around.
Well, let's go see Michelle in the Language Lab and see what she has for us
today.
OK.
(Chinese).
And it's time to go back to our teachers.
Today we've been learning about the art of mime and this form of communication.
And I wonder other ways that we can express ourselves other than through
gestures.
Gabe, can you think of other ways of self-expression?
Well, I was also thinking about speech, um, and the way that you speak.
Sometimes you can say something directly.
But also something that people use is sarcasm.
They say something to mean the opposite.
And that's one way of expressing yourself so that you don't really sound mean,
but you're still kind of mean.
You still get your point across.
Another way I express myself is by playing drums.
I love to play drums.
You can kind of tell how I'm feeling by how I play the drums.
That's right.
And do you ever express yourself there, Nathanael?
No. No. I like to keep everything to myself and not tell anyone anything about
myself.
Uh oh, sarcasm, sarcasm.
I think Nathanael is being a little bit sarcastic.
Well, I hope that you will join us again tomorrow to learn some more about the
Art of Mime here on Studio Classroom.
Bye-bye.