Beyond the Word
In 1980, Nick began training at the American School for Polish Mime with Stefan and soon was invited to join his company - Mimedance Theatre, and Stefan's work became available to mimes with his introduction of a school and company in New York City. Both Gregg and Nick were aware of the wealth of information and broadening of vision this opportunity provided to both their emerging artistic identities.

The Polish mime influence combined with the French style already being tapped as a foundation for creating works became the premise for the School for Mimes. The Polish influence helped engineer a course for the School for Mimes from its inception, and certainly created a root for the tree that soon sparked a body of work created by C. Nicholas Johnson. Although inspired by the mastery of Stefan, Nick's work became his own individual vision with a blending of both French and Polish mime, and his parallel training in the dance arts.

The Beyond the Word seminar with Stefan Niedzialkowski [click for bio] at the Goldston & Johnson School for Mimes is an event produced by Alithea Creations, Nick's company, to insure an annual event where the expertise of Stefan can be experienced by mimes in America. Stefan taught a one-week residency at the School for Mimes in 1987, and Nick sought to re-establish a working relationship by introducing a new seminar that began in Maine in 1997. The success of the seminar and the realization that it would occur as an annual event inspired Gregg and Nick to include the Beyond the Word seminar as part of their summer program at their home in Gambier, the home of the Goldston & Johnson School for Mime Theatre.

The one-week seminar with Stefan involves a full morning of his unique technique from 10:00 - 1:00, beginning with a short warm-up with Nick before Stefan starts. The training involves warm-up exercises Stefan has created, including his popular Plastyka , an hour long sequence of isolated and whole body movement that combines breath and specialized movements integral to his vision of the art. The afternoons, 2:30 - 6:00, involve dramatic applications of the techniques being taught. Evening barbecues and dinners further bond the group in a more social climate, exactly in the tradition of the School for Mimes. Although one week is too short to completely grasp the unique vision of mime that Stefan tirelessly offers during his residency in Gambier, for those who participate the time is one of regeneration and growth, illumination and introspection, a serious immersion into the oldest form of human communication with a genius of the art. Stefan teaches more than the art of mime, a consummate actor with the physical discipline of a dancer, Stefan brings a new definition to the ancient art of theater. Beyond the Word is mime theatre, it is about essence.