I Studiet at The Commedia School– The Art Of Mime And Comedy, before the name became just The Commedia School. The Commedia School by Ole Brekke (Director & Teacher) was strictly based on the teaching principle and method of Jacques Lecoq at the time I studied there. Lecoq was a French stage actor and acting movement coach. Jacques Lecoq was a renowned French theatre director, educator, and theorist. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential figures in physical theatre, popularizing the incorporation of movement into acting. Born in Paris in 1921, Lecoq attended the Paris Conservatoire and later joined the Open Theatre Company, where he developed his own training program. His work explored mime, masks, clowning, and physical theatre, allowing actors to express emotion through their movements and gestures.Lecoq was an innovator. Through his research, he uncovered new ways for actors to use their bodies to create powerful performances. He emphasized a holistic approach, developing exercises that would both activate physical memory and teach performers how to shape a story through body language and subtle gestures. He believed that understanding how to move was just as important as understanding the text, and that actors should explore the innermost recesses of their characters to access their emotions. As an educator and teacher, Lecoq had a great impact on aspiring actors. He created the Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, a school dedicated to training future performers in his unique theatrical technique.
“Jacques Lecoq was known as the only noteworthy movement instructor and theatre pedagogue with a professional background in sports and sports rehabilitation in the twentieth century.”
This is my own opinion after years of reading and study. Some schools based on Lecoq’s method have removed mime, which was the very basic of Jacques Lecoq method & techniques. Removing mime from Lecoq’s method and principles, you will miss a very key ingredient and then the building foundation of this method starts to fall apart. There is nothing wrong with this, but then you have a new school, principles and method. Then the method will only be based apon not of. Like with École Philippe Gaulier. Philippe was a student and a teacher at École internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq. But he hates mime. Because he was very bad at it, he once told. So he created his own school, his own methods, based on Lecoq’s.
Lecoq’s methods was never that you should become a mime and luck yourself, only to use it. But mime is often the first thing students throw in the garbage after the school.
“To mime is to literally embody and therefore understand better. A person who handles bricks all day long reaches a point where he no longer knows what he is handling. It has become an automatic part of his physical life. If he is asked to mime the object, he rediscovers the meaning of the object, its weight and volume. This has interesting consequences for our teaching method: miming is a way of rediscovering a thing with renewed freshness…”–Jacques Lecoq
Etienne Decroux, Stephen James Back and Corporeal Mime.
I studied Etienne Decroux techique and post-modern mime under Stephen James Back.
Stephen was a teacher at The Commedia School, but weren't teaching there when I arrived. Luckily he was still around in Copenhagen when I studied at The Commedia School. After classes I continued my studies and training in the evenings, down in a small dirty basement on Istedgade, Vesterbro. I became an apprentice for 4 years, learning Corporeal Mime, to explore the expressive possibilities of the human body. Combining physical performance with theoretical analytic study and the historical and cultural context of corporeal mime. Exploring the relationship between actor, audience and physical space in order to understand the expressive potential of non-verbal communication. His study drew on methods from disciplines such as anthropology, linguistics, theatre, film and visual arts, as well as modern and traditional mime techniques. I developed skills in both solo and ensemble performance, and building knowledge of the history, theory and practice of this dynamic art form. I became equipped with the skills and understanding to create ambitious and meaningful performance works. I still continue my study of mime in books, true out movements, by ovserving, studying art and animation.
Other Educations
GameDev.tv (Ongoing Eduction.)
Complete Blender Creator, Unity & Unreal Engine.
Tom Bancroft.
Introduction to Animation & Drawing Character Poses with Personality.
Tony White, Mastering 2D Animation.
RumKraft.
Producer & Sound Design Course in Logic Studio Pro.
Andreas Busk.
Sound Design.
Akademiet For Utæmmet KreativitetAcrobatics, where I also started to incorporate Corporeal Mime, Character and dance to create my own unique style of performing.
The Commedia School- The Art Of Mime And Comedy.
One year Classic Theater Education in Forsa, Sweden.
The education included basic theatre training, script study, Shakespeare, performing classical dramatic work.
Forum Theater pedagog.
One year Education to become a Forum Theatre Pedagog and create Forum Theatre.
The Education included creating performances and touring for schools around Sweden.
Multimeia Art School.
I studied in a half year based multimedia art school in Dalsland, Sweden.
Where I grew interest in photografy, film, writing and drawing. The education ended with an student exhibition contest, where I won first prize.