The Routledge Companion to Commedia dell'Arte by Judith Chaffee

The English word came to be applied to the performance itself. The Roman pantomime drew upon the Greek tragedy and other Greek genres from its inception, although the art was instituted in Ancient Rome and little is known of it in pre-Roman Greece. The word pantomime was adopted from the Latin word pantomimus, which in turn derives from the Greek word παντόμιμος ( pantomimos), consisting of παντο- ( panto-) meaning 'all', and μῖμος ( mimos), meaning a dancer who acted all the roles or all the story. Ancient Rome Ģnd-century Macedonian theatrical sculpture, thought to represent a pantomime's mask Outside Britain, the word 'pantomime' is often understood to mean miming, rather than the theatrical form described here. An important part of the pantomime, until the late 19th century, was the harlequinade. It developed partly from the 16th century commedia dell'arte tradition of Italy and other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-century masques and music hall.

The Routledge Companion to Commedia dell

Pantomime has a long theatrical history in Western culture dating back to the era of classical theatre. Pantomime is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is encouraged and expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers. It generally combines gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale.

Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season.

Pantomime ( / ˈ p æ n t ə ˌ m aɪ m/ informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. The Christmas Pantomime colour lithograph book cover, 1890, showing harlequinade characters

The Routledge Companion to Commedia dell'Arte by Judith Chaffee