Bouffon Weekend Intensive

Potsdam, Germany

Join Robyn Hambrook for a weekend deep dive into the intense, fun and liberating world of the bouffon.

The dark cousin of the clown, sharp and dangerous, the 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 the two days 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, distorted and abstract).

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.

"An amazing exploration of physicality, tapping into ugliness and taboo. Really affirming and beautiful connections, questioning and mocking constructions of gender and what it is to be pretty, good, or acceptable. A great starting point for understanding bouffon and what it can be. Heaps of fun!" Participant - Laboratory of The Un-Beautiful Online

How it works

There are no current workshops planned
Get in contact if you'd like to know when one comes up

contact

Dates & times:
Saturday and Sunday
10am - 5pm
Cost:
Early Bird Spaces 1-6 € 175
Spaces 6-12 €195

“A must for anyone wanting to take their connection with and ideas for theatre work a little closer to a devilish cutting edge.” Participant - Laboratory of The Un-Beautiful Weekend Intensive

"Robyn's unique blend of directing and shaping play through quick wit and a caring yet urgent tone - sets the tone and pace beautifully." Participant - Activist Clown Weekend Intensive

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)

contact me

Photo by HeardinLondon Photography