A wholesome, intensive workshop in which you will embark on an inward journey with tools that help you access the IDIOTIC, FOOLISH nature to bring forth your own CLOWN that is uniquely YOU!

The words: clown, fool, idiot, stupid, and Eccentric (away from the center) are used almost in the same sense, but Does clowning mean behaving like a fool? Can a clown be represented only by wearing face paint or baggy clothes or by making strange gestures? NO! Then what is it? If a quiet pause brings a yes to your heart, read on to learn more about the workshop.

Clowning is a form of physical theatre but not limited to it. It encourages us to challenge our own self-image; destabilizes it, which in return destabilizes us. The clown's red nose which is considered the smallest mask gives human beings permission to be human, enjoying an archaic connection to oneself and with each other.

This workshop offers a tinnie-tiny history of clowning in circuses, in different cultures, and in the western theater to understand WHAT WE ARE DOING AND WHY WE ARE DOING IT. E.g.: Why do we use a Red Nose? Baggy costume? Why do clowns need status? How can we create a clown performance or even just be? The most important thing- CLOWNING is NOT acting nor acting like clowns. Although, it helps actors free themselves. It’s a space to discover.  

Best suited for ages 16+

What will one learn? 

●   Ensemble work and Complicity

●   Breath and Movement connection to clowning

●   Generate clowning material from daily lives

●   Celebrate failures- What does it mean in the Clowning context?

●   Take risks, Be in the moment.

●   Clown world - its problems and solutions - what is the Logic behind illogic? 

●   Costume play

●   Understand authentic impulse 

●   Rapport with the audience.

●   Video presentations on Clowning from across the world and discussions

So, are you ready to be perceived as a fool?

All it requires is for one to be open to shared laughter, joy, playfulness, honesty, and a tiny portion of craziness! And I promise we will take play and stupidity very very seriously.

Who is the Facilitator?

She is the first and only woman from India to be awarded the 'Julie Goell Eccentric Women' scholarship to participate in the 'Eccentric Performing' program with Avner Eisenberg in the USA in the year 2019 and again in 2022. She was a fellow of Maharashtra Cultural Center’s ‘Rangsetu’ Fellowship for the year 2021-22. She has trained and collaborated with Clowns without Borders Germany (CLOG Germany) since 2016. She was part of ‘Laughter per Kilometer’, a project funded by CWB (Sweden). The project aimed to improve mental health by spreading laughter. It performed all over Mumbai for children of sex workers and women rescued from trafficking.

A passion for CLOWNING has led her to explore its roots, contemporary performance language, women clown performers, and, especially, Theatrical clowning. She is AMRUTA MAPUSKAR.

She has a Masters in Theater from Mumbai University, a diploma in Physical Theater from Duende school Greece, and is currently in training as a Dance Movement Therapy facilitator. (certified by CID-UNESCO (International Dance Council, France) & Creative Movement Therapy Association of India (Institutional Member of American Dance Therapy Association).

Pushing gender, social, cultural, and emotional boundaries, and questioning stereotypes through art is the foundation of her work. As a facilitator, she believes in holding a safe space for participants in order for them to push their boundaries.

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ABOUT HARKAT

Harkat is an international boutique arts studio with a passion for film, new media, community art spaces and contemporary art. Based in Mumbai & Berlin, Harkat takes many forms and identities across disciplines & related creative industries. As an alternative performance & arts space, we have hosted more than 150 shows in the past year in the mediums of theatre, film, music, community projects & contemporary art. We support the new, unheard, upcoming, exciting, cutting edge, the political, the forgotten, nostalgic, melancholic, soul stirring, the beautiful & more. And that's what Harkat is. Harkat.