The Rebel Clown NZ

The Rebel ClowN NZ
★ Action:Utopia ★
Tricks & Tools of the Activist Clown

THE INVITATION

Join Activist Clown and founder of the Bristol Clown School, Robyn Hambrook for a two day workshop exploring the powerful personal, political and poetic possibilities of clowning.
In the interplay of dreams and reality, the clown dances the liminal spaces between. The clown embodies our Utopian visions creating a unique encounter blending the imagination, the subversive, and the everyday.
Our two day deep dive explores the dynamics clowning; from the deeply regenerative practice of play, presence and pleasure to the liberation in being ridiculous, transgressive and rebellious.

THE WORKSHOP

Join Robyn Hambrook for experiments in mischief and resistance in this weekend workshop exploring playfulness, wisdom and transformational power of the clown.

“We are clowns because what else can one be in such a stupid world” CIRCA 2006

Playing in the spaces between clowning, spectacle, ritual and activism, a chance to explore the clown as shaman and trickster, who heals and critiques through disruption.

Participants will develop skills in rebel clowning; a radical performative and regenerative form that allows participants the chance to explore political, social and environmental issues through parody, humour and play. We also draw on ensemble work, movement & butoh, bouffon and street theatre to enrich our creative expression and embody our rage and grief as well as hope in these dark times.

This is a physical workshop and an embodied practice that includes improvisations, play, flow, meditation, discussion and reflection.

The clown is a powerful tool for resistance. Their power derives in part from the unique place they occupy – a liminal space, on the fringes, a commentator, a rebel, a soothsayer, able to resist social conventions and hold a mirror up to society’s absurd mechanisms. Come and explore the clown’s regenerative and empowering potential.

WHO IS IT FOR?

Clowns, theatre practitioners, circus and physical performers, dancers, musicians, visual artists, street performers and enthusiasts!

Anyone interested in exploring new forms of activism or expanding their understanding of clowning as a form of political expression. And anyone who wants to use humour and laughter to change the world.

How it works

WHEN:
Saturday 2nd December 1 - 6pm & Sunday 3rd December 11 – 5pm

WHERE:
The Ponsonby Community Centre, 20 Ponsonby Terrace, Ponsonby, Auckland

INVESTMENT: (2 day in-person course)
$225 - $250 Sliding scale
Earlybird rate - $195 for first 5 sign ups

TO REGISTER:
Registration: email [email protected]

Robyn helps me challenge myself in a safe and enjoyable space. She’s intuitive, supportive and allows me to take risks that expand my thinking and being in everyday situations. I’d highly recommend her classes for everyone who wants a fresh look at themselves."
Participant, 'Clown Soup' Weekly Clown Classes

“I am taking away new games, shared leadership, the feminist approach and anti-patriarchal pedagogy and your trust in us. I have a strengthened feeling that is is possible to do political things in the street and feeling of ‘just do it!’"
Participant, 'Nomadic Rebel Clown Academy'

"Thank you so much Robyn. Your clown coaching is very helpful because it is honest and direct. I thought the weekend was great and I am inspired to wear a red nose again" Participant 'The Activist Clown Weekend'

“A workshop in standing up to power using humour and subversion. A whole new angle on non-violent resistance.“
Previous Participant 'The Activist Clown Toolkit'

ABOUT ROBYN HAMBROOK

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). 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). Robyn has most recently founded the Bristol Clown School, creating a home for clowning in the South West of England.

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)

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Photo by HeardinLondon Photography