It's the art of silence

The roots of mime can be traced back to the Ancient Greeks, when crowds of 10,000 and more would pack into the Theatre Of Dionysus in Athens to catch the latest 'hypothesis', as the elaborately acted dramas were known. But where many art forms have faded into historical obscurity, mime is alive and kicking in the 21st century.

With a capacity for reinvention that could outfox Madonna, modern mime embraces everything from cutting-edge digital technology to artful animations and high-flying spectaculars as it cuts across all manner of performance boundaries. And the ideal way to sample what's on offer is to check out the London International Mime Festival.

This year's line-up is painted on a broad canvas, even by the standards directors Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan have set over the past 28 years. It ranges from the (relatively) traditional mime fare of the pizza-flipping Circus Ronaldo (Barbican, Tue to Jan 22) to the sensual sexual explorations of X-rated Sylvain Meret (ICA, Jan 27 to Jan 29) and British company Faulty Optic's Horsehead, which promises a ghostly amputee and puppet nudity.

Opening with the stunning visuals of festival favourites Compagnie III (Queen Elizabeth Hall, tonight until Friday), the performers who follow run the gamut of circus skills, puppetry and physical theatre in a definition-defying celebration of theatre's outer limits. Leave your prejudices at the door.

Today until Jan 29, various venues, dates, times and prices. www.mimefest.co.uk

The London International Mime Festival