Thomas Leabhart (born 1944) is an American

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 ...

and corporeal mime teacher. Leabhart studied at the Ecole de Mime Etienne Decroux,

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 ...

under the instruction of master mime and teacher Etienne Decroux from 1968 to 1972. He currently performs and teaches regularly in France and has performed and taught workshops at the Museum of Design in Zürich, The Austrian Theatre Museum in Vienna, the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, the American Center in Montevideo, Movement Theatre International in Philadelphia, and many other venues. He is editor of ''Mime Journal'' and has authored over 35 articles. He is resident artist and professor of theatre at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of Los Angeles. It lies in the Pomona Valley at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had ...

, and continues to publish translations of Decroux's writings and methods in English. Leabhart is the most published writer on the subject of

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 ...

—chronicling its rise and development in the modern theatre and is closely associated with the International School of Theatre Anthropology (ISTA). He is also the author of one of the standard works on modern mime, ''Modern and Post-Modern Mime'' (Macmillan in London and St. Martin's Press, NYC). In it, Leabhart explains that modern mime, a major creative art form in recent years, has its roots in the work

Jacques Copeau Jacques Copeau (; 4 February 1879 – 20 October 1949) was a French Theatre, theatre director, producer, actor, and dramatist. Before he founded the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in Paris, he wrote theatre reviews for several Parisian journ ...

did at the Ecole de Vieux-Colombier in Paris in the 1920s. Copeau looked to remedy the 'ills of the theater' by turning to the golden ages of Greek theater,

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

Kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

, Elizabethan theatre and

Commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...

. In his classes (one of which, called 'corporeal mime,' inspired Etienne Decroux to develop the mime technique of the same name), Copeau emphasized the expressive potential of the actor's whole body, rather than the voice, hands and face (though his actors trained to use those, as well). Leabhart examines the contributions of Decroux,

Jean-Louis Barrault Jean-Louis Bernard Barrault (; 8 September 1910 – 22 January 1994) was a French actor, director and mime artist who worked on both screen and stage. Biography Barrault was born in Le Vésinet in France in 1910. His father was 'a Burgundi ...

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

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 ...

to the development of this new form.

Publications

Leabhart's ''Mime Journal''

Leabhart's ''Etienne Decroux'' (Routledge Performance Practitioners)

References

External links

Leabhart's page at Pomona College

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leabhart, Thomas 1944 births Living people American mimes Pomona College faculty