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The Poetic Clown
1-5 June
A retreat in English and French and in any language known to clowns really. Our differences are extra colours added to our rainbow and surely great opportunities for comedy!
"An incredible time. Only one wish: To come back!"
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Anja (trained with Nose to Nose)
What is it? A 4 days poetic journey to explore the various layers of the clown: The deeper message within the comedy, the metaphorical world & costume as well as the unconventional language.
A time to play & escape in nature's beauty and its endless source of inspiration.
A place to recharge & explore the healing powers of clowning through laughter, empowerment and artistic expression.
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Who is it for? People interested in clowning as a way to raise awareness about social issues, life journeys & transitions. People working in applied theatre or theatre activism. People willing to add a poetic layer to their clown or their artistic journey. The retreat will be lead by Sophie Besse (scroll down for more info).
So much playfulness, but also depth, warmth and trust. Absolutely loved it. Ready to go again!
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Isabelle (theatre maker working with people with different abilities)
Day 1: Visit & Moonlight walk
Visit of a medieval village close to the airport followed by a poetic diner (whatever that means to us) and a moonlight walk.
A first day to disconnect from daily stress and welcome beauty, playfulness and imagination in our soul & creative process.
Day 2: Going on a clown hunt. Clowns don't just turn up like that. These little peeps are very cheeky and love hiding in unconventional places like inside a trumpet, or down the river, or even in trash bins (yes, lots of clowns grow among broken & wasted stuff).
But there's one thing clowns can't resist: playing! So this will be a long outdoor day exploring our secret games to find our clowns.
Day 3: The Poetic Language
Emotions are often far too big to fit into words no matter how hard you squeeze and you push... But clowns still love words, they'd just rather play with them, that's all. They developed another language full of poetry, imagery and metaphors and take us into a world where they can be heart-wrenching, endearing and hilarious at the same time. Clowns are not scared to tell the terrible truth, it's even their duty to do so, but they always hold a flower of imagination in their hand.
So on day 3, we'll go to their language school for the day. (More about our poetic approach here.)
Day 4: Time to dress up & invite friends over!
Last evening is party time with guests from the village. It's not a show, not even a sharing, more of a dinner invitation in the universe we explored. And of course, for our clowns it's finally the time to get messy-creative, dress up and powder their noses! We will explore diverse costumes playing around with objects, clothes, recycling bins and Nature's gifts. The last touch will be the make-up of course, a sacred clown ritual involving a magic mirror to reach inside us and spot the shadows and colours of our clowns.
"In clowning find your edge and dive! Loved it. Life changing."
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Moss (trained with Extension Rebellion "Rebels Clowns")
"A letting go fest! Truly liberating."
Denise (opera singer exploring clowning)