Mime is a unique form of theater which crosses languages and cultural barriers and provides an inclusive experience for all students. The Mime Company operates in a variety of schools and school districts to engage students from Pre-K through college in meaningful experiences with the art of mime. Led by experienced teaching artists, TMC workshops provide a framework for students to create, cooperate and perform in the powerful and universal language of silence.

We also work with schools to integrate mime, drama and storytelling into curriculum to reinforce classroom learning. Past TMC programs have supported reading and literacy, writing, bilingual education, foreign language study, music performance, and other subject areas. TMC programs are aligned with State of Illinois standards and arts goals.

To bring a Mime Company educational performance or residency program to your school, contact Eliot Monaco (eliot@themimecompany.com). Funding assistance for our school programs is available through the Illinois Arts Council’s Artstour Program and the Arts-In-Education Residency Program.

Get moving with these practical, hands-on teacher workshops. You will take away activities, rituals and strategies from mime and story drama that you can immediately implement to enhance the learning in your classroom. Contact us for references or to bring one of our popular teacher workshops to your school. Contact workshop instructor Amanda Brown (amanda@themimecompany.com) for details.

Contact us for schedules and registration information.

The Mime Company operates in residence at many schools and other educational institutions to provide arts enrichment to students of all ages. The company offers introductory mime workshops that act as a companion to a performance, as well as long-term residencies taking students through the process of creating and performing their own original work in mime.

The Mime Company also develops specialized programs using the art of mime to address specific educational and community-building goals. Recent residencies include:

• Creating a shared mime experience between English-speaking, Spanish-speaking and African refugee kindergarteners and their families at New Field Primary School (Rogers Park neighborhood, Chicago)
• Introducing mime to middle school students during Saturday School to support KIPP Ascend Charter School’s goal of “climbing the mountain to college” ( Austin neighborhood, Chicago)
• Directing a one-act play in mime created by middle school students at North Shore Country Day School ( Winnetka, IL)
• Adapting Greek Myths into mime plays to support the 6th grade World Cultures curriculum at Otis Elementary School ( West Town neighborhood, Chicago)
• Enriching the study of music performance through workshops in mime at the Colorado Suzuki Institute ( Beaver Creek, CO)
• Reinforcing English, Spanish and Italian language through mime workshops at Otis Elementary School ( West Town neighborhood, Chicago)
• Creating mime stories with the Elaine Settler Players, a drama group for adults with developmental disabilities ( Evanston, IL)
• Reinforcing Literacy & Writing through mime activities for 1 st grade students at New Field Primary School (Rogers Park neighborhood, Chicago)

Watch the Alphabet Slideshow

Mime Company Education Programs (pdf)