Langsung ke konten utama

My Encounter with Marcel Marceau, the Maestro of Mime




A picture given by the late Marcel Marceau in 1988.



By Adji Subela

            I was so sad when I failed to upload this article last September due to technical problem. It was five years after the dead of the world’s famous mime Maestro, a French actor, Marcel Marceau.
            He deserves my tribute that since at the Junior High School I always enjoy his short play on TV ads. I was so amazed witnessing his tender and smooth body movement and imagining he was me.
            Marcel Marceau was of course my ‘hero’ since then. Any movement in the ads had never lost from my skull, but I failed to imitate any tiny part of it.
            Thanks God. At the end of May 1988, Marcel Marceau and his entourage visited Indonesia for three days. A year earlier I suggest my friend, Mrs Wiwik, a local staff of the Jakarta branch of the Centre Culturel Francais (CCF), the French Cultural Center, to invite the Maestro to visit Indonesia. In a discussion with our journalist colleagues, this would encourage our youngsters to engage the art of mime.
            My hope was fulfilled (fortunately) when the Maestro coincidently had also a mime tour to part of Asia and Far East. So I met him at the Hotel Sari Pacific during a press conference before his two-day performance at the Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta. Surely it was my happiness to be with my ‘hero’. We had a long discussion about the art of mime. And, of course, I just his good listener that my knowledge on that matter was so limited.
            I made a photo series of his and his pupils and it was my fool that I’ve forgotten to pose with him! But for return he gave me a piece of photo with his note  and signature. How lucky I was. The photo itself was controversial portraying him as Bip the Clown – a popular role of his – saying “Non” on a phone. It was the first and the only word he said during his mime performances. “I was forced to say that ‘damned’ word,” he told me. Director Mel Brooks was the one who was responsible for that ‘calamity’.   
            Marcel Marceau said that any country has their-own style of mime, and this should be encouraged to develop on its owned cultural track.
            This gentleman showed his smooth movement even in the real life.
            Truly it was my unforgettable moment.   
The Maestro was born Marcel Mangel in Strasbourg, France, on 22 March 1923 and passes away on 22 September 2007.  He fled France at 16 when World War II tore his country. In 1944 Marcel's father was captured and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was killed. Marcel's mother survived. He adopted his last name Marceau a reference to François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, one of the French Revolution heroes.
He obtained so many awards and medals during his life both from his country and abroad.

           
             
Label:

Komentar

Posting Komentar

Postingan populer dari blog ini

Minyak Srimpi

          Pada era 50-an tak banyak produk minyak wangi yang beredar di pasaran, terutama yang harganya terjangkau oleh mereka. Oleh karena itu, minyak pengharum badan itu banyak diproduksi perusahaan-perusahaan kecil guna memenuhi kebutuhan pasar akan pengharum. Oleh karena formulanya sederhana dan memakai bahan-bahan atau bibit minyak wangi yang terjangkau, maka dapat dikatakan hampir semua minyak wangi yang beredar waktu itu baunya nyaris seragam.           Satu merk yang popular pada saat itu, dan ternyata masih eksis hingga sekarang adalah minyak wangi cap Srimpi. Minyak ini dikemas dalam botol kaca kecil berukuran 14,5 ml, dengan cap gambar penari srimpi, berlatar belakang warna kuning.           Pada masa itu minyak Srimpi dipakai oleh pria maupun perempuan klas menengah di daerah-daerah. Baunya ringan, segar, minimalis, belum memakai formula yang canggih-canggih seperti halnya minyak wangi jaman sekarang.            Ketika jaman terus melaju, maka produk-produk
1 komentar
Baca selengkapnya

Nasi Goreng Madura di Pontianak

                Kurang dari dua tahun lalu, Imansyah bersama istrinya Siti Hamidah dan dua anaknya merantau ke Pontianak, Kalbar, dari kampung halamannya di Bangkalan, Madura. Di kota muara Sungai Kapuas ini mereka tinggal di rumah seorang kerabatnya yang mengusahakan rumah makan nasi goreng (Nas-Gor) di Sui Jawi. Pasangan ini belajar memasak nasi goreng khas Madura. Akhirnya setelah memahami segala seluk-beluk memasak nasi goreng, ditambah pengalamannya berdagang di kampungnya dulu, Imansyah dan istrinya membuka rumah makan nasi gorengnya sendiri, diberi nama Rumah Makan Siti Pariha di Jalan S. A. Rahman.   Di sini mereka mempekerjakan dua orang gadis kerabatnya guna melayani langganannya. RM Siti Pariha menarik pembelinya dengan mencantumkan kalimat: Cabang Sui Jawi. Rumah makan yang terletak berderet dengan rumah makan khas masakan Melayu serta sate ayam Jawa ini buka dari pukul 16.00 petang hingga pukul 23.00 atau hingga dagangannya ludes. Setiap hari RM Siti Par
Posting Komentar
Baca selengkapnya

Pak RT ogah lagu Barat

                          Sudah lama Pak RT yang di serial Bajaj Bajuri selalu berpenampilan serba rapi, rada genit dan sedikit munafik tapi takut istri ini tak nampak dari layar kaca TV nasional. Sejak serial Bajaj Bajuri yang ditayangkan TransTV berhenti tayang, Pak RT yang bernama asli H. Sudarmin Iswantoro ini tidak muncul dalam serial panjang. Walaupun begitu ia masih sering nongol di layar kaca dengan peran yang nyaris tetap yaitu Ketua RT, Ketua RW, guru atau ustadz.             Di luar perannya sebagai Pak RT tempat si Bajuri (Mat Solar), dengan istrinya si Oneng (Rike Diah Pitaloka)   dan mertuanya yang judes plus licik (Hj. Nani Wijaya) berdomisili, H. Darmin (panggilannya sehari-hari yang resmi sedangkan merk-nya yang lain tentu saja “Pak RT”) adalah pria yang berpembawaan santun dan halus.             Barangkali pembawaannya itu dilatarbelakangi oleh pendidikannya sebagai seorang guru. Mengajar merupakan cita-citanya sejak kecil. Sebagai anak kelima
Posting Komentar
Baca selengkapnya