Tableaux Vivants | Performance

ˌtabləʊ ˈviːvɒ̃,French tablo vivɑ̃/

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noun

plural noun: tableaux vivants

1. a silent and motionless group of people arranged to represent a scene or incident.

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"French for 'living picture', is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrically lit..."

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In the early 1900s, German dancer Olga Desmond appeared in Schönheitsabende ('Evenings of Beauty') in which she posed nude in "living pictures", imitating classical works of art.

Theatrical censorship in Britain and the US forbade actresses to move when nude on stage, so tableaux vivants had a place in risqué entertainment for many years. 

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Artists, Models, iNK have created many tableaux vivants for specific events >