March 22 - World Mime Day

Happy World Mime Day! On March 22, today a worldwide initiative of the World Mime Organization to celebrate the Art of Mime and non-verbal communication.  

Today celebrates the birthday of the legendary French actor and mime artist Marcel Marceau. Born in 1923, he most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown". 

Marceau referred to mime as the "art of silence" and he performed professionally worldwide for over sixty years. 

  

The initiators for World Mime Day include the following: 

  

• • Marko Stojanović, a mime artist from Serbia and president of the World Mime Organization 
• • Ofer Blum, a mime artist from Israel and vice-president of the World Mime Organisation. 
• • Jean Bernard Laclotte, a mime artist from France. 

  

Al three of them are former students of Marceau. 

  

The three initiators are probably not the only people that thought of establishing the World Mime Day under this or any other name/title. 

  

In 1998, Israeli mime artist Ofer Blum came to Serbia (at that time still called Yugoslavia) for a short tour. This had been organized by Marko Stojanovic, his friend and classmate from the Marceau International Mime School in Paris. 

  

It was than that Blum and Stojanovic first spoke about establishing a World Mime Organization, not yet under that name and a World Mime Day or as they called it at that time "International Day of Mime". 

  

Marceau was still alive during this, and so was his school. Unfortunately, Blum and Stojanovic were not aware of the seriousness of their ideas. They were also preoccupied with their careers.  

  

In 2004, it was only that World Mime Organisation was officially registered as a Non-Governmental and Non-Profit organization in Serbia. This was where the paperwork was the easiest and the World Mime Day idea was back "on the table" (where it stayed until 2011).  

  

Marceau passed from cardiac arrest in Cahors, Lot, France on September 22, 2007. He was 64. Again Blum and Stojanovic came back to the idea of establishing the World Mime Day to celebrate the day when Marceau was born. 

  

Since 2011, World Mime Day has being celebrated in more and more countries each year on four continents.Unfortunately, World Mime Day is not officially recognized by UNESCO. 

  

In April 2011 Jean Bernard Laclotte has sent an e-mail to Stojanovic with the same idea and a developed concept of the "Journée Mondiale du Mime" except that he wanted to mark the day when Marceau had passed. 

  

Thanks to Laclotte’s initiative, "Journée Mondiale du Mime" was celebrated in several countries around the world on September 22, 2011.  

  

World Mime Day is celebrated on March 22 in most of the countries but there are still few countries, especially in South America celebrating it on September 22 

  

World Mime Organisation recognizes "Journée Mondiale du Mime 2011" as the first World Mime Day celebrated. 

  

World Mime Day is one of those ideas that occur on different sides of the planet in almost the same time, and it should belong to all humanity. 

  

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