Teaching artist Jamie Hipp demonstrates the basics of creating a convincing pantomime by making specific choices with gesture and facial expressions.

Vocabulary You Will Learn:

• Pantomime - Using gestures to communicate and tell a story.

Materials You Will Need:

• Nothing, just yourself!

How to Create Your Own Pantomime

1. First, scroll to 1:55 in the video to watch Jamie’s first pantomime performance. Then think about her question: what story was she telling with her body? Is it difficult to tell? Why or why not?
2. Next, watch her performance that happens at around 2:35 in the video, where she has added some specificity to the way she uses her body. Was this pantomime better than her first? Can you tell what object she was holding and how much it weighed? Could you tell what she did with the object and what happened after?

3. Finally, watch Jamie’s final performance at around 3:50, where she adds facial expressions. What new information do you understand about the scene once she added these new details? How could you tell?
4. Now, start thinking of ideas that you can use to create your own pantomime! How can you use your own gestures, body movements, and facial expressions to tell a clear and specific story?

In this video, Jamie demonstrates how to tell a story using the basics of pantomime, such as gesture and facial expression. If you want to go even further, think about these questions: 

• What ideas did you come up with for your own pantomime? How can you use your body to perform the actions involved in your scene in a specific way, so that the audience can tell what is happening?
• Think about adding facial expressions to your pantomime. How can you use your face to add even more specificity and detail to the scene?
• Try performing your pantomime for a friend or family member. Can they accurately guess what is happening in the scene? If not, how can you make the pantomime even more clear?
• At the beginning of the video, Jamie gives a few examples of how pantomime is used in real life. What other examples can you think of?

Accessibility

Don't forget that you can turn on "Closed Captioning" to view the YouTube video with English captions.

More about the Teaching Artist

Jamie Hipp, Ph.D., is an arts integration consultant, researcher, and teaching artist from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Through her company, Arts Are Hipp–Creative Professional Development (www.artsarehipp.com), she provides teaching artist services to schools, school districts, cultural organizations, and nonprofits nationwide. Dr. Hipp is a former elementary theater educator and professional actress.

Kennedy Center Education provides resources and experiences that inspire, excite, and empower students and young artists, plus the tools and connections to help educators incorporate the arts into classrooms and learning spaces of all types.

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Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Genesis Inspiration Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;

Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..

The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.