Jacques Lecoq was a French actor, mime and acting instructor born in Paris 1921; famous for his methods in physical theatre, movement and mime which he taught at a school he founded in Paris from 1956 until his death in 1999 - L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq.

Lecoq began to study theatre and mime through an interest in sports. 

Jacques Lecoq has many exercises that explore many theatrical territories.
For example: melodrama,; to investigate dramatic territories associated with ‘popular’ theatre.

 

Ancient Greek theatre chorus work; to explore the use of mask and mime as a method of focusing the actor on expression of emotion through the body.
The one that we have explored has been 7 levels of tension. There can be as many levels of tension as we like, to learn ourself by slowly moving through these stages so that you can become more confident with them to begin to explore them in scenes.
The exercise allowed us to experiment with pace, physical and emotional dynamics.