5. Body language.
Your body speaks.
Body language: the gestures, postures, and facial expressions by which a person manifests various physical, mental, or emotional states and communicates nonverbally with others.
(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/body+language).
We are talking now about corporal language: (also known as Kinesics or kinesics) is everything you transmit through your body, gestures or facial expressions. These sometimes can tell your feelings, the perception of the person you are talking to or the person you are talking about, they can also tell your mood.
(http://body-language.knoji.com/corporal-language-kinesics-body-language-and-expressions-can-they-really-betray-you/).
Words are the main way to communicate with people around you. But that isn't the only way to do it. When we are talking to our friends, parents, teachers... our body is talking too. When we are talking, we are moving our hands, our arm, our head, our eyebrows... and our facial expressions are different depending on the situation. Corporal language and verbal language (words) go and work together.
But also, corporal language can tell you a lot about how someone is feeling at the moment, just taking a look at him/her. I am sure you know when a friend of yours is happy, sad or worried just watching the way he/she walks, for example. You see a friend of yours walking a bit faster than yesterday, frowning and squeezing a paper. How does he/she feel at that moment? He /she could say "I am very happy!", but you know he/she'd have lied to you. Remember: it's easy to tell lies. But your corporal language will betray you 99% of times.
Now let's see some activities in which corporal language is an essential element.
Dance is a type of art that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, performed in many different cultures and used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting.
Dance may also be regarded as a form of nonverbal communication between humans. Gymnastics, figure skating and synchronized swimming are sports that incorporate dance, while martial arts kata are often compared to dances.
Dancing has evolved in many styles: ballet, folk dance, Charleston, swing, salsa, acrobatic dance, breakdance...
Choreography is the art of creating dances. The person who creates (i.e., choreographs) a dance is known as the choreographer.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance).
It's a prose or verse composition, especially one telling a serious story, that is intended for representation by actors impersonating the characters and performing the dialogue and action.
(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/drama)
Drama is related to Theatre, that is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre)
As you can see, in drama, actors generally speak when they are performing or playing a role.
Mime artists and dancers don't do it.
A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art involving miming, or the acting out of a story through body motions, without use of speech.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mime_artist)
Mime is the art or technique of portraying a character, mood, idea, or narration by gestures and bodily movements; pantomime.
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mime)
Mime is considered one of the earliest mediums of self-expression. Before there was spoken language, mime was used to communicate what the primitive people needed or wanted. Instead of fading into obscurity when the spoken language was developed, mime had become a form of entertainment. It then developed into a true theatrical form in Ancient Greece, where performers enacted everyday scenes with the help of elaborate gestures.
(http://members.tripod.com/~kiko_mime/history.html)
Let´s watch a video:
- Dance and technology. Unbelievable:
And this is the end of the topic. Keep working!
