Samy Molcho - Biography

Biography

Samy Molcho, born 1936 in Tel Aviv, has added purely psychological and dramatic elements to the art of mime. As a delegate in the frame of cultural exchange, he successfully represented Austria in many countries. Since 1978 he is married to German-born Haya Heinrich. He has four sons, Nuriel, Elior, Ilan and Nadiv. Since 1980 Samy Molcho teaches at the International Summer Academy for Mime and Body Language in Vienna, with over 180 national and international participants each year.

Molcho has been on the stage since the age of ten. He studied classical, modern and far-eastern dance as well as the techniques of mime in Israel. He graduated from an actor's school as well as from a seminar for directors and drama and was - from 1952 - dancer at the Jerusalem Dance Theatre of Rina Nikowa. From 1956 he was solo dancer for modern dance in Tel Aviv.

He worked as an actor at the Cameri Theatre and at the Israelic National Theatre Habimah. 1960 he had his first one-man mime performance in Tel Aviv.

Samy Molcho has performed in theatres all over the world, including the Piccolo Teatro in Milano, Akademietheater in Vienna, Royal Opera in Stockholm, Schiller Theater in Berlin, Royal Court in London, Royal Schouwburg in Amsterdam, Civic Theatre in Johannesburg, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico, Queen Elizabeth Playhouse in Vancouver and the Schauspielhaus in Zurich.

Since that time he has performed in over 50 different countries on four continents. He was invited to perform at festivals like the Holland-Festival, Viennese Festival, Spoleto, the festival weeks of Zurich, the Israel Festival for Music and Drama and others.

Samy Molcho created the first Mimo-vision for the Austrian TV, which was awarded with the first price at the International TV Festival in Prague (1964).

1963

• Choreography for the ballet "Berschit" (At the Beginning) for the German Ballet-Ensemble, which was recorded from the German TV after a huge cess in Germany and on an international tour.

1964

• Directs the German world premiere of J. Genet's "The Negroes".
• Co-starring as the Japanese in S. Wincelberg's "Kataki" on a tour through Europe, with Hans Lothar.
• Choreography and directing motion for H. Zusaneck's "World Theatre", which was shown in Vienna on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Burgtheater.

1965

• Second Mimo-Version as the Austrian contribution for the Golden Rose of Montreux, in which Samy Molcho played 37 different characters - the "Do-It-Yourself-Show".

With this show, Austria gained the acknowledgement and the honour of the critics. UNESCO ordered a thesis from Samy Molcho about his Mimo-vision (1965), which was the theme for the International Congress of Mime and Dance on TV in Salzburg.

1966

• Directs E. Ionesco's "The Chairs" and N. Gogol's "The Gamblers"

1967

• In the connection with the Viennese Festival Weeks he directs "Les Portraits" to the music of Professor Peer.
• Another Mimo-Vision for the Austrian TV, "Sorry, don't have time", adapted from the Time Destruction Manifest by Leherb.

1968

• Directs E. Kishon's "Wedding Certificate" in Vienna.
• Acts in and directs in Wincelberg's "Kataki" in South Africa. This production was awarded with the Critic's Price for best production of 1968.

1969

• Mimic interpretation for ARD-TV of "The four characters" by Hindemith.

1970

• Under by Maestro Zubin Mehta with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Samy Molcho introduced the audience to the works "Autumn" from "The four seasons" by Vivaldi as well as "Hiroshima" by Penderecki. This audio-visual concert was a huge success.

In 1973 the same experiment, this time with "Pictures of an exhibition" and others with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was carried out in the USA.

1971

• Production of an Italian Renaissance Evening in Israel.

1972

• Directs the musical "Godspell" for the productions in Germany and Switzerland.

1973

• Directs "Waiting for Godot" in Bremen and Handke's "The Ward Wants to be Guardian".
• Together with Ronconi, Choreography and directing motion in "The birds" at the Wiener Burgtheater.
• Plays the part of the dancing teacher in Molière's "The Commoner as Noble Man" at the Wiener Burgtheater.

1974

• Directs the musical "Who knows Jürgen Beck" in Münster.
• Directs the show "Kikerikiste" for the German TV.
• Participates in and directs "Kataki" in Germany and Switzerland.

1975

• Directs "August, August" in Münster.

1976

• Directs the musical "Showboat" with Mary Ross in the leading part.
• Directs Goldoni's "Servant of two Masters" for the Festival in Friesach.
• Wins the golden medal at the International Yugoslavian Contest for Mime and Monodrama

1977

• Directs Goldoni's "Venetian Twins" at the Ensemble Theatre in Vienna.
• Vocation for teaching at the Academy of Music and Acting at the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna.
• Manages his own school for mimes in Vienna.

1978

• Directs the world premiere of Arik Brauer's musical "Seven at one blow" on the occasion of the Viennese Festival Weeks.

1979

• Directs the German world premiere of Arrabal's political comedy "Steal A Little Billion From Me" at the Städtischen Bühnen Münster.
• Directs the opera "Giovanni Battista" by Alessandro Stradella at the Stadttheater St. Gallen.

1980

• Directs the opera "Giovanni Battista" at the Stadttheater Bern.
• Produces the Baroque Festival at the court of Max II Emanuel on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the House of Wittelsbach.
• On the occasion of the Munich Opera Festival 1980 "I Trionfi di Baviera" at the Alte Residenztheater and the Cuvilliestheater in Munich.
• Directs Goldoni's "Servant of Two Masters" at the Stadttheater Aachen.
• Since 1980 he holds body language lectures and seminars all over the world, for instance at the European Management Symposium in Davos, seminars for multinational companies, as guest lecturer at the Austrian Diplomatic Academy, at the Institute for Psychosomatic Research, in front of therapeuts, doctors, airliners, insurance companies etc.

1983

• New publication of the book "Body Language" by Samy Molcho at the publishing house MOSAIK.
• Production of the opera "The Gardener for Love" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the Städtischen Bühne Hagen.

1984

• Directs A. Schnitzler's mime "The Veil of Pirette" for the Biennale in Venice.
• Plays the part of Mimo in Luciano Berio's opera "Un Re In Ascolto" in Salzburg and Vienna, directed by Prof. Götz Friedrich.

1985

• Directs the "Caucasian Chalk Circle" at the Landesbühne in Wilhelmshafen; he was awarded with the first price for directing.

1986

• He participates in the TV-production "A long, silent way", a German-Czech co-production about the classical mime, starring Marcel Marceau, Ladislav Fialka and Jean-Louis Barault.

1987

• Works on his book "Magic of Silence"
• Mime-Farewell Tour through Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany, Israel and Austria

1988

• His books "Body Language as Dialogue" and "Magic of Silence" are published at MOSAIK.

1989

• Body language seminars and lectures all over the world.

1990

• His book "Partnership and Body Language" is published at MOSAIK.

1991

• Body language seminars and lectures all over the world.
• Works on his book "Body Language of Children"

1992

• Body language seminars and lectures all over the world.
• In October, his book "Body Language of Children" is published at MOSAIK.

1993 + 1994

• Body language seminars and lectures all over the world.

1995

• In July, his video "Body Language" is published at the publishing house MODERNE INDUSTRIE.
• Works on his book "All about Body-Language", which is published in September of the same year at MOSAIK.

1996

• Works on his video "Body Language of Children"
• Directs the tour production "I'll Get Off And Produce My Own Show", starring Anja Kruse.
• Receives the Austrian Honorary Cross for Science and Art, 1st grade.

1997

• In January, his second video "Body Language of Children" is published at the publishing house MVG.
• His books are translated into twelve languages.
• Holds body language seminars and lectures all over the world.

1998

• Holds body language seminars and lectures all over the world.
• In November, his first CD-DOM "A-Z about Body Language" is published by Navigo.

1999–2002

• Holds body language seminars and lectures all over the world

2003

• Launch of his new book “Body Language of Celebrities” which is published by Random House/Bertelsmann, Munich.

2004

• Works on his book "Body Language of Success"
• Receives the Grand Silver Medal of Merit of the republic Austria

2005

• Launch of his new book “Body Language of Success” which is published by Ariston, Munich.
• Launch of his new book “Body Language of Children” which is published by Ariston, Munich.

2006

• Launch of his new book “ABC of the Body Language” which is published by Heinrich Hugendubel, Kreuzlingen/Munich.
• Launch of his new DVD “Samy Molcho Live” which is published by mvg, Munich.
• Admission into the German Speakers Hall of Fame

2007

• Launch of his new DVD ROM “Samy Molcho Body Language of Success 2.0” which is published by USM, Munich.
• Launch of his biography “Samy Molcho ...And A Drop Of Eternity” which is published by Amalthea, Vienna.

2008

• Receives the IIR Excellence Award
• Receives the Golden Medal of Merit of the land Vienna
• Launch of his new book “The 1 x1 of Body Language of Children” which is published by Heinrich Hugendubel, Kreuzlingen/Munich.

2009

• Launch of his new book “Embrace me, but do not touch me – Body language of relationships of nearness and distance” which is published by Ariston, Munich.
• Launch of his new DVD ROM “Samy Molcho Body Language of Success 3.0” which is published by USM, Munich.

2010

• Holds body language seminars and lectures all over the world