What is a pantomime, anyway?

           Pantomime - its a way of art, which helps children to expand their fantasy, and imagination. 



Pantomime is a curious entertainment - a form of ritual theatre staged around the winter solstice. Originally silent (a form of mime), it is now anything but, with extensive vocalisation from both the performers and the audience.
The stories are generally well-known (drawn from popular folk-tales and similar sources), populated with stock characters, including a principal boy, generally played by a young lady with shapely legs, the heroine, also played by a young lady (which gives an added edge to the inevitable romance) and a dame, played by a man as a comic exaggeration of a middle-aged lady. Scripts change from year to year, but generally contain four strands of humour: visual, topical, corny and, occasionally, downright rude. In the UK this is considered to be family entertainment.

No definition will please everyone but that said, pantomime is the art of using movement and facial expressions rather than primarily the spoken word to communicate. The word pantomime has been used to refer to both an individual as well as an actual production or performance. An individual can also be called a mime but the contention of some that pantomime can only refer to a production is contrary to both the historical and modern popular usage of the word.In contrast to pantomime skills which evolved from dance and circus related acrobatics which is recognizable in the early silent films, there seems to be a deficiency of pantomime as an independent modern art form. Most pantomime is presently seen presented within other forms of theatre rather than as an art to itself. Many clowns use elements of pantomime rather than presenting themselves strictly as a mime.
In addition, one acting things out in a situation to communicate where one doesn't speak the local language might easily be described as "mimicking". Dance interpretation of music has also long been regarded by some as a form of pantomime. These are all example of using the pantomime's skill of silently communicating through body movements without actually being a mime.

Here is an example of the pantomime :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztaaiApmOJY