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, Deburau 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, Etienne Decroux, 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 performance. Because of these changes, new forms of mime can be known by different names such as mime-dance and New Vaudeville.

A class in mime will give you a whole new perspective on the phrase 'body language'. From the start, you will learn to isolate and articulate each body part and then combine and coordinate body motions in progressively complex ways. You should also learn a 'mime vocabulary', which you can use to create environments, objects and stories.

Of course, it is possible that you have a strong prejudice towards mimes. Perhaps you got caught up in a street performance that still haunts you. It could be that you fear your inner child is a delinquent arsonist who will listen to the voices and kill, kill, kill if you let them out. However, mime is a lot more than sitting on a stage pretending to drink a cup of tea.

Even if you never wish to perform, learning mime can give you whole new perspective on life and the ability to convey complex emotions through gesture alone. Imagine the power! Sitting on the couch, you can indicate to your husband that not only do you not want to watch The Sunday Game, but that you would also like the custard creams and a vodka chaser. Sorted. If mime sounds like the art form for you, then cast a melancholy eye over the links below.