To the Dance of Heart and Soul with the body

It was almost missed by the “busy lie”. Thank goodness, God made it happen by his  kindness. 

I didn’t expect much when I went there. with  this Familiar topic, familiar classmates, I just make it as a chance to relax.

I was the last person that went into the classroom. The teacher came in and went out. I found my seat, opened my computer

as usual.

After a while, the students went into the classroom bit by bit,and there came the teacher. Gray and fluffy hair covered his

head, yes,coverd. The first impression that came to my mind is ” Einstein”, with not so gray and fluffy hair.

He was in a  cotton  white  shirt, a sweater on his shoulder.( It was strange that till the class was over, I noticed it was purple, just like the romantic violet color of France) He sat down

with no word, looked  all of  us with his eyes move quickly. I smiled to him as I did in the past. But no answer.  He was

a pretty odd old man, I guess.

Class began with his assistant from China。 I remembered what she introduced about the teacher: “the master of the first

generation of pantomime is Chaplin，Marcel Marceau was the master of the second generation. The third master of pantomime is Philippe Bizot……”

 After the training, I searched some material of him.

” Philippe Bizot, has been in pantomime for 30 years. He was born in Bordeaux,deeply influenced by Marcel Marceau and

Jean- LouisBarrault.  He got the International prize of pantomime when he was only20 in1974.

After that, he was invited all over the world to perform and teach the skill of pantomime, including the adults, children disable people, and the people who got infantile autism. He sets up lots of college of pantomime.

He is a real artist being known by the world.

He has the temperament of artist which looks lonely and elegant.

 He said：“body language is kind of an attitude, and the best key for the public communication. Also it is the most effective and beautiful way of communication.”

“Everybody has his own color and music, you are unique.”

“When your personality comes out, speech will be better.”

The comment he gave us just as correct as a professional killer.

He said：“you have something good living inside, but can’t show it.”“You hide yourself by talking. ”“Only silence can hold your idea and information.”“ It’s like a secret, but all the people hear it. ”“let the content of your speech fly in the sky.”“ Yes, this is it.”

But he is gentle, nice and full of love.

Passing an information to all the people, just like giving a present. Let the theme be  in the space,  and the door is open to the listeners always.” You let me see a twelve-year-old child.”

Pantomime is the art of silent and lonely. When he began to smooth out his body, he began to show his inside lonely world. He was showing his past, including the memory of childhood, the nap time in the sunshine, the un-mature love dating of youth.

In the atmosphere of memory, there is no language, only  the picture of action left, just as watching the rebroadcast in the dark un-sleep-able midnight.

It’s the feeling of silent communicating. He flies alone all over the world, acting to different people who speak different language.  He performed in the biggest theatre of the world, harvesting flowers and the applause of the audience. when the light turns off, he packed  silently, to another place, perhaps street, or  factory. He performs for  people from different level, men, women, old, young, workers……  

He accompanies the deaf children, helping children recovering from infantile autism. He  goes to the hospital being with the children who’s leaving the world.

He had accompanied a blind girl with infantile autism. “it’s the worst situation. ”He said. “the only communication this girl had with the world is sitting in the room, tearing the newspaper bit to bit. There are masses of newspaper being tore in her room. I sat opposite to her, tearing paper with her. A week passed, I don’t know what I could do besides that. The sadness spreads on his face. “ I took out my cigarette tinfoil after the newspaper used off. The sound of the tinfoil made the girl stop her action, listening. This is the way  I found communicating with her.

Bizot asked us to close our eyes, he was going to take us into the forest.

 “Sha-sha-sha-sha”I felt my feet were on the thick leaves of the autumn forest, soft and elastic, my feet stepped deeply into it, just like exploring the hill in my childhood, into the deep forest. It was very quiet in around, you can’t hear a bird , only sound of the foot-steps, sha-sha-sha, made me nervous, afraid but curious ,wanted to keep going.

Bizot made us  explore the forest with the newspaper kneading.

 “ I would be leaving in 6 months. then what can I do？the girl’s mother asked. ”I said：“buying her a little dog。 I don’t know why I suggest this  but I said it. What we find is it’s the right suggestion. The dog won’t care you are normal or with infantile autism, it will touch you with it’s body, licking your face with soft and wet tongue. ”Bizot smile warmly. “a dog’s one week for her, better than my 6 months.”

Bizot loves beauty and elegance, just as the traditional French do. He described language as singing, body action as dancing. He told us to find our own dance through this class.      

He moves gently, softly. The sign he taught us, just like the feather, up and down slowly, like a poem.

He praised the sign language of India. He showed us how Indian child counts: using thumb, lightly counting from the forefinger.

He said, the sign languages all over the world showing “sun” are all most the same, raising the right hand up to head, out going five fingers.  But Indian sign is the most beautiful of all, they will use their eyes to look, and being intoxicated in the warm sunshine as their fingers going.

Bizot is very humorous and funny. He shown us the story of bear and the old man, telling us “ it’s better a cleaver enemy than a stupid friend. ”

 In the morning of the second day, Bizot worried for the endlessly talking of us. He described our speech as“ tons of information”. At lunch time, I asked him why he only ate a little. He smiled and said:“because your guys talked too much.”

I　can’t help smile. After a while, he got up to take some food, and told me:“I will eat a little more fruit  to make you happy.”He turned away and smile, like a big kid.

 Bizot said he loves China. He got a kite when he was very young. He dreamed of Chinese opera. Out of imagination, he could come to China and being the teacher of performance. He said in the end: that’s because he is being himself, always.

Being the true. Facing everyone everything with sincere and  respect.

This is what  Bizot told us always.