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Did you know the Clown Congress had their very own Poet-in-Residence? The incredible wordsmith Bee Golding. These words about the Clown Congress are from her... Clown Congress was an event held in Bristol and online in October 2023, with the theme: Clowns & Identity: Exploring Difference in Clowning. Around 50 clowns from Bristol, UK and internationally gathered for 3 days of workshops, discussions and big ideas. I attended as the congress Poet-in-Residence, creating poems from participant comments, collaborative sessions and my thoughts and feelings as a poet in the space. Participants told me that my poems were "a very helpful way to help remember and digest what had gone on during the days." Ironically, two of the poems I made during the congress have been lost - clown ephemera - a lesson in letting go and playing the flop. They were really good ones too! I rescued a snippet from one of them which you'll see below, and I have notes for the other one but I'll never be able to make it again as good as it was in the moment... Big thanks to Hatty Ashton for the photos.  When I’m with the unknown – a snippet of a lost poem Incorporating post-it comments from participants at one of Holly Stoppit's Creative Clarity sessions. The actual poem from the day has been lost - clown ephemera! when I’m with the unknown I feel flutters through my middle I dissolve, I reform I fizz dissolve and fizz forget that the ground is there sometimes I speak my truth  Identity Collaborative poem exploring identity created during an open space session I come from a dirty town I didn’t feel I belonged in Women who stood on mountains and sang into the clouds Their exposed roots reaching into its edges I sit cross-legged, listening well to A spiritual goddess, singing in tongues without care Whose breath cleared the clouds so the sun shone Who cackles and mixes her cauldron well A view from the top of men with ropes clambering up A people of mental health mish mash A father who was sent away to school Suicidal grandfather and energetic aunts Parents who did not hug I want to say I don’t understand I want to say you are not here but I am I want to say I feel lost so much of the time I’ll ask the wise woman in a caravan who looks out to the sea With the sea swimming, shifting shape creatures who growl and scream and shout My brother and his friends swim in the candlelight I come from the north, the hills and the moors A black ford focus with one door that doesn’t open A house on the corner of the street with a pub at the top A dirty town I didn’t feel I belonged in  What happens when I bring my needs into the play? Incorporating post-it comments from participants at one of Holly Stoppit's Creative Clarity sessions. When I ask for my needs to be met in play it’s selfish and terrifying serious and shameful difficult, uncomfortable I feel like I will cry. What if my needs do not get met what if I get hurt or lose my head? In the asking is vulnerability playful neediness, needy playfulness like a jellyfish playing an accordion it touches many things frustration, validation, relaxation expression, expulsion, explosion freedom, love, connection comfort and refreshment trust, joy and reflection If my needs are met in play we touch bellies, which is fun we look in the mirror make ugly faces, stick out our tongues I become a two-headed snake – enabled “to play or not to play” I play and they receive I get the chance to meet their needs I get a glimpse into the others’ worlds I feel included, I feel held * (poem from a player) I didn’t know what I needed then I looked and it was there in the soup of group dynamics or underneath my chair how quiet and shy she is but she is there * When my needs are met in play with honesty and value I feel healthily congruent feeling everything more witnessed and witnessing empowered and empowering growing like life itself when my needs are met in play I find peace and what I didn’t know I needed - it’s wonderful - great things When I bring my needs into the play I really get to play I am satisfied and my needs are met  Sunday 29 October @FridayIsPoetsDay we came from somewhere and come together feeling things realistic with this precious gift this circle with the needs and numbness the flight, the fright, the freeze the yes, the no the how do we do this? I’ve been collecting insights moments with people the comfort principles and I want to tell you I am doing OK  Monday 30 October @FridayIsPoetsDay whistling through pen tops it’s a performance of me not run of the mill rich with liminality  Comments are closed.
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AuthorCreative research into the meeting point of clowning and activism Archives
August 2024
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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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