cata isle mime in naas

Featuring on calendar

On the  Ennis Street Festival in 2010 this great picture of me with Cata Isle Mime Theatre was taken by Cigala D’Or.

online shop

like to invite you, to have a look in my online shop:

http://shop.astridadler.com/index.php?route=common/home

You will find numbered limited edition prints of the paintings “Scattery Island” and “Wedding cross”. There is a range of postcards of my work with price reductions on sets of 10 and 50. Why not send an art-postcard for Xmas and Winters-Solstice.

There are felted scarfs and the fabulous felt-hats. All 100% wool, some with integrated lace.

For the children you find a full page illustrated book about fairies. As a thank you for sticking your head in the door, I have a present for you: There is a printable version of the celtic shaman art “Dragon” easy to download completely for free.

While you are there, you might want to have a look at all the updates on my official website as well. In the visual art section, you’ll find two films of work before the year 2000. There is a first entry into the projects with documentation from the “Search for the divine female project” and some quotes in the text section. Cata Isle Mime Theatre updates under mime with easy to download brochure, the Irish Times front page and more photos featuring the solo show premiere in Temple Bar.

I like to give a big thank you to my indoorwebdesigner from Artvaark-design, Kilrush, who made all this possible.

Temple Gate, Dublin

Cata Isle Mime Theatre: sneak preview

Cata Isle Mime Theatre’s first solo show combines mime with elements of puppeteering. Poured into sound, light and make believe, it shows you that everything is possible on stage.

A simple object is the cause of many unusual situations, turning into things, creatures and puppets. A series of scenes for young and old, bound together by simple objects: “Buckets”

Fotosession with Aska Bitner

History of Mime

Mime first stepped out of the shadows in ancient Greece. The Theatre of Dionysus played host to masked actors who performed the most elaborate form of mime, known as hypothesis, which saw the principles concentrate more on the development of their own characters than the story itself. Mime continued as an art form right through to the Middle Ages, reaching its pinnacle in 16th century Italy, with Commedia dell’ Arte. The Commedia dell’ Arte saw street performers donning extravagant masks to complement their acrobatic skill and to attract an audience. Notice-boxes, yes, but successful ones. These performers, who became affectionately known as Zanni, took advantage of their masked identity to ridicule contemporary society and its institutions.
Despite mime’s tenacity, the art form continued to be about as subtle as your mother indicating that your dress is tucked into the back of your knickers at a family wedding. Slapstick mime humour prevailed until the early 1800’s, which saw the emergence of a Bohemian acrobat by the name of Jean Gaspard Batiste Deburau. Deburau was engaged to perform at the Funambules theatre on the Boulevard du Tempe. Enjoying perhaps one of the longest gigs in history, played there until his death. In between he managed to elevate mime to the level of an art form, which became known as French traditional mime. Deburau also created one of the most enduring mime characters of all time – the Pierrot.

After World War I, Jacques Copeau continued to teach French traditional mime at The School of the Dramatic Arts. One of his students at the school, , went on to create a modern form called Corporal mime, which revived the arts fading fortunes once again. Decroux taught mime as the art of physical control, which requires grace, agility and versatility. His most famous student was Marcel Marceau, acknowledged as the world’s most famous living mime. Renowned for his poignancy, Marceau was influenced by cinema greats such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. His most recognisable creation was his character Bip, the white-faced everyman in the battered top hat.

In the 1980’s, some mime artists began to rebel against their minimalist constraints and increasingly started to use voice, lighting effects, props and costume in . Because of these changes, new forms of mime can be known by different names such as mime-dance and New Vaudeville.

“The coast in a bucket” by CATA ISLE MIME Theatre

“The coast in a bucket” is the name of the upcoming show CATA ISLE MIME Theatre will be putting on in Kilkee. In early 2009 Astrid Adler was supported by the Arts Council to found CATA ISLE MIME Theatre.The group welcomes their new member Emer O’Carroll to their upcoming summer show in Kilkee community centre. Emer O’Carroll recently completed two years of Lecoq training in Paris and Barcelona. Mime is talking without words, expressing yourself with your whole body which constantly expresses our emotions and feelings; the language everyone understands. With Marcel Marceau developed techniques mimes brings fantasy and imagination to life. Because the body gives the picture inside a form it turns into reality,-for yourself and everybody watching. After producing a specially tailored show for Ennis Street Festival, this show depicts scenes of life at and around the coast. Using the universal language of the body, everyday scenes and stories are enacted with absurdities and unexpected solutions. All ages are welcome on Sunday 29th of August in Kilkee Community Centre at 4pm.

You find CATA ISLE MIME Theatre on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cata-Isle-Mime-Theatre/130105653695500?ref=ts

reenactment Moyasta summer 2009

The come back of steam engine Slieve Callan to the West Clare Railway at Moyasta, Co. Clare, Ireland. Performance by members of Crack’d Spoon Theatre Company and other locals.

CATA ISLE MIME Theatre

This Halloween, Mime will take centre-stage in West Clare, as the mime theatre group Cata Isle perform their debut show in Kilrush. This mime trio started after Astrid Adler, an experienced mime actress, held mime lessons for Alan McNamara and Joost Bos, funded and supported by the Arts Council. The result became a mime and physical theatre show, inspired by the works of the celebrated Marcel Marceau, Michel Courtemanche and “Mummenschanz”. The production is an innovative combination of mime and simple props, for example, turning buckets into strange machines and creatures. The show will take place in Kilrush’s NatureQuest Gallery in Burton Street, a venue recently known to host several visual and musical artists. Each member of Cata Isle comes from a rich acting and performance background.

Astrid Adler got hooked on mime when Marcel Marceau visited her school in Germany when she was eleven. She went on to become a member of the mime group Theatre Tartaruga, performing in theatres, theatre festivals and children’s TV programs, while teaching various workshops in mime. After emigrating to Ireland, Astrid has continued her work, performing and winning awards in parades , and performing with theatre groups and bringing her unique talents to community and physical theatre events around West Clare.