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BRING YOUR OWN CLOWN

14 February, 2015  → 15 February, 2015 - Portland, Oregon

A coaching workshop for clowns
and other
funny stage creatures

 

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This workshop is specifically devised to give participants tools to work on their own material: both on their clown persona and on their acts.

 
What comic dynamic am I working with in my performance?
Why the audience laughs? And why it doesn't?
Why a piece works and how can I fix it if it doesn't?
 
These are some of the questions addressed by this workshop.
In order to create and write for one’s own clown, one needs to understand what is its comic core. Is it based on actions, or accidents, emotions, absurd, mocking, skills ?
Every Clown is a specifc form of Comedy. And to work with her/him requires a deep knowledge of her/his nature.
Clown is about comic poetry: funny and touching, essential and rigorous. It's a dive into the mystery of laughter. It’s a very personal comic form, based on a unique comic persona that becomes a universal comic form. There are as many clowns as there are human beings: they can all make the audience laugh but they are not in the same comic world.

 

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PROGRAM


Participants will bring their clown or comic stage creatures, and one existing act, routine or project, solo or not, finished or unfinished, funny or ...not yet. They will present their clown and a short piece (max. 10 minutes), and this will be the basis for a coaching session that will focus on the three different hats that the clown-creator needs to wear:

THE PERFORMER
The comic persona, the comic core, the contact with the audience, amplification and articulation of movement, emotional awareness and presence.


THE DIRECTOR
Playing with space; Rhythm: pace and variations; the structure of a number: entrance, presentation, development and variations, crescendo, climax, finale, exit.


THE WRITER
Understanding a clown’s potential and weakness, the choice of themes and their development, the mask and countermask of the clown, the use of the actor’s skills (music, singing, acrobatics, juggling, dance and unusual or unique skills). 

 

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PRACTICALITIES

 
The aim of this course is to give participants professional theatre tools, in order to create within their own poetic world. It addresses theatre artists with experience in the world of physical comedy. Two modes of participations are possible:

Performing participants (10 maximum): their performing material will be presented in the coaching sessions.
Assisting participants: (15 maximum) they will assist the workshop as audience members of the coaching sessions and will participate to the collective exercises.

 

TUITION

Performing Participants: US$ 250
Asssisting Participants: US$ 100

SCHEDULE

Saturday February 14: 2-10pm  class
Sunday February 15:
     11-1 : performing participants have acces to the studio for rehearsing
     2-9pm: class

 

LOCATION
Be Space, 211 SE 11th Avenue
Portland, Oregon  97214

 

For further information about the content of the workshop please contact

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For enrollment please contact:

Wendy
wendygingin @ gmail.com

 

PHOTO CREDITS
Pictures, n. 1, 2, 3 by Johnatan Younger. The final performance of the Boulder Red Nose Training 2008
Picture n.4 by Sarah Foster. Giovanni teaching at Helikos School, 2013

Design & programming : DomRadisson.net