Heart Beat Mime Troupe
Description:
Heart Beat Mime TroupeIn 2008 a mime troupe was started in Izmir, Turkey. The central theme of our performances is "altruistic love". We emphasize that giving is better than taking. We stress a love which gives above and beyond the requirements of law, social mores or expected reciprocal gain. Many of the skits incorporate humor, often by exposing the short sightedness of egocentric pretense. The child-like innocence of the mime can soften prejudices and gently uncover unperceived reality to the viewers’ heart.
The vision for this troupe started with personal tragedy. In 2006 the mother of one of the troupes' founders was killed by a careless driver while jogging near her home. The founder, after some searching of heart, saw a great lack in his own life in the area of love. As he began to pursue love, an overflow of joy resulted in the longing to awaken others to the same pursuit.
Marcel Marceau called Pantomime "the language of the heart". As such, it seemed that pantomime would be an ideal art form to stir up longings for love in the hearts of others. Pantomime communicates across barriers of culture, age, gender, ideology, ethnicity, language, mental capacity, social class & even hearing capacity. Research has suggested that only 7% of communication is contained in the words we use. Our pantomime work has confirmed to us how effective non-verbal communication can be.
Pantomime is a gentle art. It can be performed in public squares and marketplaces without disrupting civil order or commerce. It does not force its way into the mind of the passer-by without their full consent. Our pantomime skits are inspired by everyday life, time-tested proverbs and ancient wisdom. The art of pantomime forces the performer to reduce her gestures and expressions to those that are part of the shared experiences of all people. Interpretation is left to the mind of the observer based on his own experience. For example, in a skit where musical instruments are "suggested," the performer was thinking of a guitar, but a man in the audience saw a saz (a popular stringed instrument in Turkey). Neutral tones (black & white), long sleeved shirts, pants and caps that cover the skin and hair minimize physical differences in the performers. The art of pantomime amplifies the fact that people have much more in common than we might commonly think.
We train volunteers from Turkey and other nations. For those who participate, it is an opportunity to overcome self-consciousness in front of people. They experience being part of a multicultural group working together to spread love. In 2008 our troupe had volunteers who reside in Turkey as well as visitors from Romania and the USA. A public school teacher from Romania, who came for the training, has now trained some of her students in basic mime skills. They perform for other children including those with disabilities. She was able to channel the energy of some of her most difficult students into something beneficial to others.
We have been invited to perform in the children’s hospital for those with cancer and other serious illnesses. We have also had the privilege of giving free mime training to members of a non-profit group that seeks to bring happiness to children in several hospitals.
WHY IS OUR GROUP CALLED "HEART BEAT"?
The troupe was started by a married couple. Before moving to Turkey in 1997 one of the founders was an expert in restarting hearts. He used to teach classes to doctors and nurses about how to bring people back to life after their hearts had stopped beating (Advance Cardiac Life Support). Heart disease (including vascular disease) is the leading cause of death in the world. It kills more people than cancer, AIDS, malaria and TB combined. For example in Turkey it is the cause of 1 death every 2 minutes and in the US 2 deaths per minute.
Heart disease can be slowed down with a few simple lifestyle changes. For example, quitting smoking and replacing unhealthy fats with healthy ones greatly lowers the risk of heart attack and stroke. This is why the troupe’s founder has promoted Turkish olive oil as the "oldest natural remedy for the world’s biggest killer."
But humanity has a deeper kind of heart trouble that is not so easy to cure; not just decay in our coronary muscle or clogged arteries, but a malignant pathology in the deepest part of our being. We see the symptoms all around: depression and suicide, stress and unhappiness, family strife and breakup, breakdown of trust followed by economic crisis, injustice and oppression, destruction of our environment, violent crime and war. The love of many people has grown cold. Instead of hearts of flesh, it is as if our hearts have turned to stone. This condition is so common we have come to see it as normal. But it is not. Sometimes we try to numb our hearts with non-stop media consumption, superficial relationships, drugs & alcohol, and seeking pleasure or comfort. Through education, economics, politics, science and religion we have relieved some of the symptoms, but these all fail to get to the core of the problem. We need to have our dead hearts restarted. We need hearts that can love again.
Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, envisioned a planet where there would be "peace at home and peace in the world". Lasting peace starts in the hearts of individuals and spreads to their families, neighbors, communities, nations and beyond. Peace and love must first reign in our own hearts. While some cast blame and promote hate against some external enemy, the real enemy is within. An ancient Middle Eastern proverb says, “He who rules over his own spirit is better than he who captures a city.” The biggest battles we all face are inside. In our hearts, truth wages war against lies and lies seek to overcome the truth; Love fights against indifference, selfishness and fear. Joy and boredom wage war, as do peace and anxiety; patience and anger; kindness and lust; generosity and greed; mercy and hatred; gentleness and arrogance; goodness and laziness. All these wage war within us.
Watching a pantomime performance cannot revitalize a stone cold heart, but it can ignite hope; hope that comes from knowing "I am not alone." "Each heart knows its own bitterness and a stranger does not share its joy." says another ancient proverb. There is something built into heart muscle cells that causes them to beat in unison. Scientists have taken two heart cells that were beating at different rates and placed them in contact with each other. They found that the cells synchronize and begin to beat at the same rhythm. In pantomime communication is heart to heart. Mime artist and viewer can touch in that secret place, speaking only the language of the heart. Deep joy, sorrow, humor, truth and love can reach, as it were, directly into the heart of the viewer, as he interprets the meaning quietly in his own thoughts.
The aim of the "Heart Beat" mime troupe is to see cold hearts revived. The mime plays we perform are not seeking to reach the healthy, but those who know that their hearts are badly broken; hearts which are troubled and loaded down with burdens. Our aim is to stir people to ask themselves deep questions that will lead them to seek a restarted heart, a heart that can give and experience genuine love. This is why we hold discussion groups on love for those whose hearts have been touched.
COST: We start with the most basic raw materials, our time and physical presence, with very few props and we offer our art for free. All of our performers are volunteers and all of our work is done on a volunteer basis. As we have freely received all that we have, it is our privilege to be able to freely give.
INVITATION: If all this sounds like idealistic nonsense to you, please feel free to just ignore us. Since we communicate silently, we are pretty easy to ignore. But if you feel something inside your heart that is beating in sync with our vision, please join us. We’d love to meet you, to share a cup of tea. All are welcome to visit our "love discussion groups". If you are in Izmir, we would love to come and perform our art in your community.
with love, Dennis & Alexandra