Greta Bourke and Henry Fowler, co-founders of the Little Theatre Movement of Jamaica, initiated the L TM Pantomime tradition in 1941 to raise funds for an experimental theatre, which would both house contemporary trends from Europe and America and carve out a creative space for the indigenous culture of an emergent New Jamaica. The LTM actively developed the Pantomime audience at the Ward Theatre to reflect a cross-section of society. Coachloads of adults and children from country districts joined the established middle-class theatregoers as well as representatives of the inner city 'people of the yard'. Gradually, the original English-pantomime style production metamorphosed into a different entity. Topical reference, proverbial wisdom, song, dance and vibrant colour were mixed and expressed in language, which zigzagged along the continuum between Jamaican Standard English and Patwa. Over six decades, Jamaican Pantomime has created a prestigious performative space for the retelling of many episodes from the life story of an old island. Intrinsic to this context is a system of shared beliefs which operates on a number of levels: the value of received wisdom, the redemptive nature of Christian faith, Anancyism as a strategy of survival, and national aspirations for unity based on the principle of mutual respect. The Little Theatre complex, which opened in 1961, housed the national schools of drama and dance before they became part of an integrated Visual and Performing Arts College for the island. Furthermore, a catalogue of the thousands of people who have been involved in LTM productions over six decades reads as a Who's Who of Jamaican cultural development in the twentieth century. Instead of merely mimicking the English model. the L TM Pantomime evolved into a distinct form of indigenous theatre and rekindled the folk tradition as an expression of national identity within the context of contemporary popular culture.

Notre thèse porte sur Étienne Decroux, le créateur du mime corporel. Nous montrons que Decroux s’inspire à la fois du théâtre et de la sculpture pour concevoir son art du mime, qu’il définit comme la statuaire mobile. D’une part, il reprend le concept du masque de Jacques Copeau et celui de la sur-marionnette d’Edward Gordon Craig pour les transposer directement au corps. D’autre part, ses œuvres incarnent les formules de pathos observées dans les statues. La sculpture d’Auguste Rodin est une source d’inspiration centrale dans sa manière de représenter le corps sur scène. De plus, Decroux conçoit le corps comme une suite de prises de vues défilant devant le spectateur. Collaborant avec Étienne-Bertrand Weill qui photographie ses spectacles, il constitue une iconographie du mime pour mieux donner à voir le mouvement du corps en image. Enfin, Decroux considère le corps comme de la matière à sculpter. En s’identifiant aux sculpteurs mythiques, il met en avant l’aspect créateur de son art. Comme Pygmalion, il anime les corps de ses élèves. Comme Prométhée il transforme la société par son art aux aspects politiques. La statuaire mobile représente un concept-clé du mime corporel d’Étienne Decroux qui s’étend de la conception du mouvement sur scène à la prise de position éthique de l’homme dans le monde. / The thesis main subject is Etienne Decroux, the father of corporeal mime. The main objective is to show that Decroux draws on both theatre and sculpture, thus conceiving his art of mime as the mobile statuary. On the one hand, he takes up the concept of mask put forward by Jacques Copeau and Edward Gordon Craig's ubermarionnette, transposing both concepts directly to the body. On the other hand, he embodies the pathos formulas observed in the statues. Decroux was heavily inspired by Auguste Rodin's sculptures in order to represent the body on stage. Moreover, Decroux conceives the body as a series of images which unfold before the audience. Working along with Etienne-Bertrand Weill who photographs his shows, he creates a relevant source of iconography of the mime that unveils the movement of the body in images. Finally, for Decroux, the body is a sculpting material. By identifying himself with the mythical sculptors, he brings forward the creative aspect of his art. Just as Pygmalion, he enlivens the body of his students and, as Prometheus, he transforms the society through his political art. The mobile statuary is then a key concept in the corporeal mime that goes from the conception of the movement on stage to the ideal and the universal in man. / Disertační práce se zabývá osobností Étienna Decroux, tvůrce projektu tělesného mima (mime corporel). Jejím cílem je dokázat, že se Decroux inspiroval divadlem i výtvarným uměním k vytvoření koncepce tzv. „pohyblivé sochy“ (statuaire mobile). Z divadla přebral koncept masky Jacquesa Copeau a koncept nadloutky Edwarda Gordona Craiga, aby je převedl přímo na tělo. Ze sochařství přejímal formule patosu, zejména se inspiroval dílem Augusta Rodina a jeho koncepcí tělesné figury. Decroux pojímal tělo jako sérii obrazů, které se odvíjejí před divákem. Ve spolupráci s fotografem Étiennem-Bertrandem Weillem, který dokumentoval jeho představení, vytvářel ikonografický soubor, jenž zobrazuje mimovo tělo v pohybu. Na druhou stranu chápal tělo jako materiál, který mim modeluje jako sochař. Decroux se ztotožňoval s mytickými sochaři, aby dal najevo svoji roli umělce a tvůrce. Jako Pygmalion „oživoval“ těla svých žáků a jako Prométheus přetvářel společnost svým uměním, které mělo politický náboj. „Pohyblivá socha“ (statuaire mobile) představuje klíčový koncept umění tělesného mima Étienna Decroux, který zahrnuje jak koncepci scénického pohybu, tak etické postavení člověka ve světě.