Rob Mermin, founder of Circus Smirkus, and student of the legendary French mimes Marcel Marceau and his teacher Etienne Decroux, presents his memories of training with the masters. Rob will demonstrate techniques of the art of pantomime, relate personal anecdotes, and show rare film clips of Marceau and Decroux performing and teaching. Decroux is known as the Father of Mime, and Marceau remains an icon of 20th Century theater.

For those who remember seeing Marceau, who passed away in 2007, it will be a treat to rediscover the essence of the art form he made popular around the world, and which he called “the Silent Language of the Soul.”

Rob Mermin grew up in New Haven, CT, but ran off to join the circus in 1969. He clowned with various European circuses for over a decade throughout Europe, Scandinavia, and the former Soviet Union before returning home to New England and establishing his home in Montpelier, VT. His formal training includes mime with the masters Marcel Marceau and Etienne Decroux, and a degree in Drama and Literature from Lake Forest College. Rob has lectured in universities around the world, performed regularly in TV and film in Europe, directed theater and circus worldwide, and is former Dean of Clown College for Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus. In 1987 Rob founded America’s only youth circus under a big top, the award-winning international touring company Circus Smirkus.