The Bad & The Beautiful
A 4-week Bouffon Course
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Join Robyn Hambrook for a four-week deep dive into the intense, fun and liberating world of the bouffon.
The dark cousin of the clown, sharp and dangerous, Bouffon revel in parody, mockery and wit. The Bouffon “... believe in nothing and make fun of everything” according to Jacques Lecoq. And through breaking social conventions, the bouffon can access extreme levels of freedom, laughter, intelligence and emotion. Over four weeks we will explore this fantastic comedic form through: Complicity, Bouffon Chorus, Emotional Freedom, Laughter, Bouffon position to the audience, and Parody. Participants will explore rhythms of a different, ‘fantastic’ body (grotesque, deformed, ugly). The position of Bouffon can be an incredibly liberating and powerful experience for participants. It’s a physical form that trains presence, immediacy, improvisation and imagination. This course is suitable for clowns, actors and performers interested in broadening their repertoire or exploring the political edges of their work. For non-actors the bouffon provides a safe place to let go, loosen up and feel free. |
How it worksDates & times: Mondays 8, 15, 22, 29 November 8 – 10pm Venue: Space 238, 238 Stapleton Rd, Easton, Bristol BS5 0NT Cost: 4 week course: £125 standard / £100 low income / £80 no income Due to Covid and the limitations on the space, places are limited. If you'd like to attend please email a few sentences about yourself and why you'd like to do this course to robynhambrook@gmail.com COVID 19 INFO In accordance with the recommendations given in the Government Guidance for performing arts, there is limited capacity, considering the studio's volume. All participants will be asked to carry out a lateral flow test before joining the workshop, encouraged to use hand gel and windows will be open for ventilation. |
ABOUT ROBYN
Robyn is a Bristol-based director, teacher and performer. With over 20 years experience she is 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, Giovanni Fusetti, Jon Davison, Zuma Puma, Deanna Fleysha, Igne Barkauskaite and Maggie Irving. Robyn has collaborated with companies including Let’s Circus, The Sexual Health Circus and Whispering Wood Folk and performed with acclaimed physical theatre companies including, Derevo, Akhe, Oceanallover, and Gappad as well as her own award-winning company, Fun in the Oven Theatre. 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, Nathaniel Justiniano, Tim Licata, Al Seed and the grand master Bouffon-himself; Philippe Gaulier.
Robyn is a Bristol-based director, teacher and performer. With over 20 years experience she is 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, Giovanni Fusetti, Jon Davison, Zuma Puma, Deanna Fleysha, Igne Barkauskaite and Maggie Irving. Robyn has collaborated with companies including Let’s Circus, The Sexual Health Circus and Whispering Wood Folk and performed with acclaimed physical theatre companies including, Derevo, Akhe, Oceanallover, and Gappad as well as her own award-winning company, Fun in the Oven Theatre. 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, Nathaniel Justiniano, Tim Licata, Al Seed and the grand master Bouffon-himself; Philippe Gaulier.
