Daniel Andrew Stein (born 1952) is an American modern performer of a type of physical theater known as

corporeal mime Corporeal mime is an aspect of physical theater whose objective is to place drama inside the moving human body, rather than to substitute gesture for speech as in Mime artist, pantomime. In this medium, the mime must apply to physical movement th ...

Early years

Born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, Stein studied under Dale Gutzman at

Whitefish Bay High School Whitefish Bay High School is a comprehensive public secondary school located in the village of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, United States. Enrollment is around 950 students, in grades 9 through 12. The school newspaper, the ''Tower Times'', and the ...

, in suburban Milwaukee. Stein appeared in productions of ''Peer Gynt'', ''Dracula'', ''The Great Sebastians'' and Gutzman’s own original musical ''Flash Gordon''. Stein also starred in Gutzman’s original musical tragedy ''The Gods'', a multimedia production based on the life of

Jean-Gaspard Deburau Jean-Gaspard Deburau (; born Jan Kašpar Dvořák; 31 July 1796 – 17 June 1846), sometimes erroneously called Debureau, was a Czech-French mime. He performed from 1816 to the year of his death at the Théâtre des Funambules, which was immor ...

, the 19th century French mime who performed in ''pantomime blanche'', so called because of the whiteface the artist wore. Stein also competed in high school

forensic Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

interpretive poetry reading competitions.

Professional career

Stein has taught throughout the world at institutions such as the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

of Drama, and The Institute of Dramatic Arts,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. He had his own school in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

for 15 years. In 2007-08, Stein was a Visiting Guest Artist in Dramatic Arts at

Centre College Centre College, formally Centre College of Kentucky, is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, United States. Chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819, the col ...

in Danville, Kentucky. From June 2009 until May 2016, he was the Director of Movement and Physical Theatre for th
Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Program
in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. "NEW WORKS", California Chronicle, February 27, 2009
Since March 2016, Stein has been a senior lecturer SOE and Director of the BFA Actor Training Program in the Department of Theater and Dance at

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

. Stein holds dual American and French citizenship.

Performance history

His first solo performance, ''Timepiece'', which deals with the passage of time in the life of a man, and how conflict and power, and subsequently, joy and love emerge from time's progression, has been widely viewed as ushering an era of movement performance into

. In ''Timepiece'', the objects on stage are translated from their everyday uses into idealistic symbols. A chair, for example, is no longer just to sit on, but rather also an image of support and strength. This performance is visual music with a beginning, middle and end. Barton Wimble of the

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

wrote of ''Timepiece'': "Perhaps a handful of times can a critic sit in a theatre and in the space of a mere hour see a performer change the entire course of an established art form, but that is precisely what happened when Daniel Stein opened the Dance Theatre Workshop's 'New Mime Series.'" Sylvie Drake of the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

hailed ''Timepiece'' as: "One of those rare revelatory experiences one waits for in the theatre."

Critical attitude

Stein has said this about " physical theater": "I think physical theater is much more visceral and audiences are affected much more viscerally than intellectually. The foundation of theater is a live, human experience, which is different from any other form of art that I know of. Painting, writing, music happen in a mostly interpretive way, which is to say that somebody sits down and writes something and then somebody else interprets it, often in front of a camera. Live theater, where real human beings are standing in front of real human beings, is about the fact that we have all set aside this hour; the sharing goes in both directions. The fact that it is a very physical, visceral form makes it a very different experience from almost anything else that we partake of in our lives. I don’t think we could do it the same way if we were doing literary-based theater."

Awards

Stein has received grants from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

, the United States/Japan Commission, the

Pew Charitable Trust The Pew Charitable Trusts is an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), founded in 1948. Pew's stated mission is to serve the public interest by "improving public policy, informing the public, and invigorating civic life". ...

and has been named a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow. Books that mention Stein’s performances include Modern and Post Modern Mime by

Thomas Leabhart Thomas Leabhart (born 1944) is an American corporeal mime and corporeal mime teacher. Leabhart studied at the Ecole de Mime Etienne Decroux, Paris under the instruction of master mime and teacher Etienne Decroux from 1968 to 1972. He currentl ...

(Modern Dramatists); From the Greek Mimes to

Marcel Marceau Marcel Marceau (; born Marcel Mangel; 22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French mime artist and actor most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown". He referred to mime as the "art of silence", performing professionally worldwide ...

and Beyond: Mimes, Actors, Pierrots and Clowns: A Chronicle of the Many Visages of Mime in the Theatre by Annette Bercut Lust (2002) (Scarecrow Press); and Le Theatre Du Geste by

Jacques Lecoq Jacques Lecoq (15 December 1921 – 19 January 1999) was a French stage actor and acting movement coach. He was best known for his teaching methods in physical theatre, movement, and mime which he taught at the school he founded in Paris known a ...

(Bordas – Paris).

References

External links

Daniel Stein Official Website
*

"MIME: DANIEL STEIN'S 'SCENES'", by Jack Anderson, The New York Times, October 1, 1981
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stein, Daniel 1952 births Living people People from Milwaukee American mimes Whitefish Bay High School alumni