Séverin Cafferra Explained

Séverin Cafferra, known as Séverin or mime Séverin^[1] (1863-1930), was one of the best-known French Pierrots or mime artists around the turn of the twentieth century.

Life

Caffera was born in Ajaccio, Corsica.He studied under the Marseille mime Louis Rouffe (1849-1885), who in turn had studied under Charles Deburau. He worked at Marseilles, then at the Théatre des Funambules in Paris.^[2] In his 1929 book, L'Homme Blanc : souvenirs d'un Pierrot, Caffera describes Rouffe as having created a complete language of gesture.^[3]

Bibliography

• Caffera, Séverin (named simply Séverin as author). L'Homme Blanc : souvenirs d'un Pierrot ("The Man in White: Memories of a Clown"). Introduction and notes by Gustave Fréjaville, Paris, Plon, 1929.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mime Severin costumed as Pierrot, 1922 . University of Washington Libraries . 1922 . 16 May 2014.
2. Web site: Séverin Cafferra, dit Séverin . Larousse . 16 May 2014.
3. Web site: The Techniques of Gesture Language . The Theatre Academy Helsinki (doctoral thesis) . 2011 . 16 May 2014 . Tångeberg-Grischin, Maya.