COURSE, REGISTRATION & SCHEDULE
All courses are ala carte.
Schedule for All Courses
Tuesdays from 7:30-9:30pm
Course price: $125
All courses currently take place over Zoom.
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
The Winter/Spring 2021 term takes participants through varied styles of comedy, beginning with the satirical bouffon, moving into the ensemble-driven grotesque, and ending with clown.
Bouffon
January 12 - February 16, 2021
The “bouffon” style hearkens back to an old tradition of groups of outcasts who somehow manage to play a special function in society: to deliver the ugliest truths, reveal the oddest mysteries and even make the fantastical feel familiar. The Bouffons challenge the actor-creator to play at the highest level and to embody the largest, boldest, full-bodied masks.
Along the way, participants will learn about masks, choreography, “exploded” bodies, and Physical Imagination via Mystery and Passions.
Sign up link:
Upon completing the survey, you will be given a payment link via PayPal.
Grotesque
February 23 - March 30, 2021
The “grotesque” style brings together groups of masked characters who organize themselves in social groupings. Sometimes, these so-called cliques are shaped by social function or perhaps political belief systems. Most of all, they are very broad and large characterizations that challenge the actor-creator to develop a sense of playfulness large enough to contain these wild creatures, who also happen to maintain the strictest of rules, habits and social norms.
Along the way, participants will learn about masks, choreography, “exploded” bodies, social commentary, and Physical Imagination via poetry and music.
Sign up link:
Upon completing the survey, you will be given a payment link via PayPal.
Clown - Level 1
April 6 - May 11, 2021
The “Clowns” appear in every generation and in every form. From the shamans to the jesters, from the circus to the sitcom, we recognize Clowns for their sincerity, their vulnerability and their often-singular presence. Renowned French theater-maker Jacques Lecoq developed an approach to clown based on the Red Nose Mask. The first part is the stripping away of pretense to allow the actor-creator to wear the world’s smallest mask. Then, individual’s clown-state emerges and can be used to fuel expression seen in a “number”. The actor-creator must journey far and wide to re-find one’s clown. Once found, the clown must find itself out in the world again.
Along the way, participants will learn about the Red Nose Mask, choreography, finding one’s “idiot” and developing “numbers”, all in service of the art of the Clowns.
Sign up link:
Upon completing the survey, you will be given a payment link via PayPal.