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Photos from the Contemporary Dance & Wellness course taught by Roseta Placensia Fenollosa. The workshop was organised by the Valencian Circus Association in Alboraya in Valencia. In August 2014, the 'How to teach clowning' workshop took place in Newcastle. Organised by partner Circus Central, and led by expert teacher, performer and clown, Joe May, the workshop was attended by 12 participants from Belgium, Hungary and the UK. The following is the experience of Tracy Greener from Newcastle:  I was delighted to receive a place on the teaching clown workshop at Circus Central in Newcastle. Although I didn’t have strong connections with circus at this time, I had been desperately trying to access affordable clown training in other areas of the country as I really wanted to learn more and wanted to be able to share what I had learnt with my local community. I feel that clowning offers the opportunity for creative exploration, laughter and community cohesion. The chance to attend this workshop for free was such a gift. The workshop was an interesting mix of practical learning of clown skills in the morning and then sharing them with young people in the afternoon. Although I had done some clowning before, it was limited and I found some of the physical theatre aspects challenging for me, particularly ‘slapstick’. I realised that my physical skills were so undeveloped compared to the acrobats and circus people I was sharing the space with. But Joe May really helped us create a supportive atmosphere that with his guidance of doing 3 praises and 1 thing to improve when giving feedback for performances. I felt that there wasn’t any competition or expectation among the group and my mistakes were reason to laugh. These experiences were so useful for understanding how to build confidence of others learners and how to help them to feel safe taking risks and making mistakes. As the week went on my confidence grew and I was able to give things a go in front of an audience and the most important thing was to have fun. I think that the young people experienced this too. As well as learning actual clown skills on the workshop, we were taught how to create lesson plans with clear goals and objectives and how we could break this down to make sure that the exercises we were doing met the overall objectives of a session. This was a useful framework to have. Although it is always nice to have the confidence to go with the flow in sessions if need be, I found having a clear plan with timings, an opportunity to introduce a lot of focused skills to fast learners and a way to move the skills of the group forward. This is a skill that I can revisit and use in a variety of settings for all sorts of group creative and personal development workshops. Each afternoon we would work with the young people at the circus and share clown skills with them. I loved this aspect so much. I used to do arts with young people but hadn’t done so for few years due to funding cuts so I was really delighted being around them. I found them to be so inspiring, creative and daring. Each day it was wonderful to see how different individuals’ confidence grew, to witness some of the truly awesome pieces that they created in a short time and how they developed these pieces. It was interesting to note how the trust and communication between the adults and the young people developed as the week went on as well, how we all grew in confidence in working, playing and laughing together. I also really treasured the opportunity to work with the other workshop participants from across Europe. I haven’t been out of the UK for 10 years due to my financial situation, so it was absolutely wonderful to have such a range of people attending, to be able to talk to these people about their lives as performers, their ways of working and to be inspired by them. I made some great friends during the course and remain in contact with them. I will remember fondly the many ‘crying with laughter’ moments we shared.
Since the workshop I am still keen to develop the skills that I have learnt. I have been talking to Circus Central about helping to continue to teach clown to the young people there. I probably need to keep developing my own skills too, but I also know from doing this training that the most important is just holding a space for discovery. Young people are able to discover so much from using both the guidance and the wide range of skills they already have too. I have also been thinking about how I can integrate teaching aspects of clown in the ‘wellbeing workshops for women’ that I currently do. There is something very important about connectivity to others and personal wellbeing in clown that I would like to develop further. I really hope to have the space to develop this in the New Year. Overall I found this workshop an absolutely amazing opportunity for personal development that can spiral outwards making an impact on the wider community. I really value that and am very grateful for the chance to attend this. With Love, Tracy Greener Photos from the Creative Juggling Course taught by Victor Garmendia Torija at L'ESPAI DE CIRC in Valencia. The training was the first of the project and organised by the Valencia Circus Association "We aim to better understand different methods of learning, teaching & organising through exploring & sharing the dynamic differences in the circus industry between cultures across Europe. " Welcome to the ENCI website, and what we hope will become a growing resource and vital shared treasure over our two year project and beyond.
The European Network for Circus Interchange (E.N.C.I) is made up of six circus schools and educational institutions and the two year project is an exchange of skills, ideas, training and methodologies while building a strong, resourced network of circus professionals. The first of 12 trainings takes place next week in Valencia, Spain. Organised by the Valencian Circus Association, the workshop in creative juggling, led by Victor Garmendia Torija will be taking place in the home of the organisation, L’ESPAI DE CIRC. L’ESPAI DE CIRC, opened in 2004, is the first space in the county of Valencia to focus on contemporary circus, with over 200 square metres of floor space for professional and hobby training, courses and shows. Workshop participants will also be arriving at the start of the kaotik CIRCUS Festival festivities for the Bonfires, in the nearby town of Sot de Chera. The Bonfires are an ancient holiday that welcomes the colder months of the year. kaotik CIRCUS is a partnership between The Valencian Association Circ and the town of Sot de Chera. Taking advantage of the environment and coming together of participating groups, the Association of Circ Valencia developed kaotik CIRCUS; a meeting place where artists and fans of the circus world can gather to share and display their art. |
ABOUT ROBYN
Robyn is a Bristol-based director, teacher and performer. With over 20 years experience she is a passionate practitioner of clowning, physical theatre, circus and street arts. She has a MA in Circus Directing, a Diploma of Physical Theatre Practice and trained with a long line of inspiring teachers including Holly Stoppit, Peta Lily, Giovanni Fusetti, Bim Mason, Jon Davison, Zuma Puma, Lucy Hopkins and John Wright.
Over the past five years she has been exploring the meeting point of clowning and a deep desire to address the injustices in the world. This specialism has developed through her Masters Research ‘Small Circus Acts of Resistance’, on the streets and in protests with the Bristol Rebel Clowns and in research residencies with The Trickster Laboratory. Robyn’s Activist Clown research has led to collaborations with Jay Jordan (Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, France), Clown Me In (Beirut), LM Bogad (US), Hilary Ramsden (Greece) and international Tricksters; ‘The Yes Men’ (US). During the pandemic in 2020, Robyn set up The Online Clown Academy with Holly Stoppit and developed a series of Zoom Clown Courses. Robyn’s research, started during her Masters, has been exploring the meeting point of clowning and activism, online, in the real world and with international collaborators. With this drive to explore political edges of her work she has also dived back into the world of the Bouffon; training with Jaime Mears, Bim Mason, Nathaniel Justiniano, Eric Davis, Tim Licata, Al Seed and the grand master Bouffon-himself; Philippe Gaulier. Keen to explore the intersection of clowning and politics, Robyn is driven to create collaborative, research spaces, testing and pushing the limits of the artform to create new knowledge and methodologies for her industry and strengthen partnerships for future work. Some of her most recent collaborations and teaching projects have included the Nomadic Rebel Clown Academy (5-day Activist Clown Training), The Laboratory of the Un-beautiful (Feminist Grotesque Bouffon Training for Womxn Theatre Makers) and the Clown Congress (annual gathering of clowns, activists & academics collectively exploring what it means to be a clown in this current era) |
Photo by HeardinLondon Photography
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