Basic course on the clown
Directed by André Casaca
Practical studies about the clown’s art starting from the recognition of the comic related with the own daily gestuality.
SUMMER SEMINAR 5 days – 25 hours
DATES
From July 28 to August 1 2025
From August 18 to 22 2025
ADDRESSED TO
Actors, theater and dance students, educators, teachers and any person has curiosity to work on their own comedy. Minimum age 17 years.
I’ve started my artistic studies from the classical theatre and soon I’ve got interested on the gestual theatre, body arts and them global and unlimited possibilities and ways of expression. The characters I’ve played in the beginning of my career had already a physical performance and I used to try to find instantly a way to limitate the use of the words, acting the characters intentions from the movements. From this point of view I started observing people during them everyday life nurturing myself from their gestuality, which can usually shows personal stories.
The interest on the non-verbal comic born after, based on the necessity of feeding my art with people’s everyday life gestuality. The clown’s work had a great influence on my pedagogic path and I’ve transposed to the teaching work this need for valuing the students personal identity, leading them to research and believe in their own truth and their own ability of being prompt.
My goal during the pedagogic activity has always been (and still be) to arouse in the student the need of constructing their own body comic story, finding again the simplicity, the tenderness and the strength to be able to be present in scene together with the public. Inducing the students to find their own Body comic identity means recognize in themselves the stupidity, which is a high quality in the comicity for the clown. We don’t turn into a stupid person, we already are. Be stupid means to marvel, to understand the world in a different way instead of not understand it at all; means to use your own eyes, not for photographing and analyzing the society, but for holding the public and answering their necessities. Therefore, that doesn’t means to add, but to extract, to strip yourself from the concepts and shapes, making the act of being transparent in scene, and this is a constant condition, very hard to assume because is unconscious.
I believe that the clown’s work is fundamental to put the actor of our days back in contact with its own fragility, making him/her to find their own expressive strength in this vulnerable situation. It’s not by chance that the study of the clown art has been applied in schools and theatrical institutes, generally at the end of the training course, because the clown brings back to the actors their true identify during the theatrical presentations.
The red nose preserves the words.
When I find myself in front of my little students I often tell them that the clown has the red nose because he is ashamed. That nose makes our body speaks, and honestly it’s not a nose, but an eye that allows us to see the reality using fantasy and liberty. For that reason words are not necessary. Caetano Veloso, in one of his songs, says: “I sing only what I cannot hold back anymore”, consequently his words comes only when they have to express a feeling and not just a simple thought. One of this little students, only 5 years old, told me once: “I’ve understood that the red nose preserves the words”. Therefore he hasn’t just understood that his body was funny. His observation made me understand that the words I create actually are really important and because of this they must be preserved.
SCHEDULE
Monday from 02:00 p.m. till 07:00 p.m.
From Tuesday to friday from 10:00 a.m. till 03:00 p.m.
PARTICIPANTS
Minimum 8, maximum 16 participants
LOCATION
Teatro C’art
ACCOMMODATION
In the process of being defined.
We will inform you shortly about accommodation options in the vicinity of the C’art Theater.
Useful info: there are no restaurants or bars nearby the theater, so at the time of your arrival, you will be given info on how to get organized for food. The nearest and cheapest supermarket we recommend is COOP, located in Via Leonardo da Vinci 25, Castelfiorentino. In the center of Castelfiorentino there are food shops, bars, restaurants, trattorias where you can find places to eat, even cheap ones.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFO
The seminar receipt will be issued after payment of the balance of the course upon your arrival at Teatro C’art. Registration deadline for seminars is scheduled 7 days before the start of each seminar. The remainder of the fee must be paid directly on the first day of the seminar. The registration fee will not be refunded if the participant fails to attend the seminar due to any problem. At the closing of registrations an e-mail will be sent with all the practical info on what is needed for work, accommodation and how to get to Teatro C’art.
WHAT YOU NEED FOR WORK
– comfortable clothes
– a change of clothes for the physical part
– clothes for clown work (blouses, pants, ties, hats, skirts, full dresses, jackets, shoes).
For CAMPERS
It is possible to stay outside the C’art Theater with the possibility of using the bathroom + shower facilities of the C’art Theater.
SIGNING UP
Complete this registration form and pay the advance payment 50% on the total quote for the seminar.
ADVANCE PAYMENT
Body Comic Identity Seminar basic level 5 days €135,00
Body Comic Identity Seminar basic level + advanced level 5 + 5 days € 245.00
PAYMENT FORMS
Fill out the registration form, once you have received the email confirming registration, pay the deposit of 50% of the total for the seminar. The balance of the course + €10 for the annual card must be paid 1 week before the start of the course by bank transfer.
ADVANCE PAYMENT
Body Comedy Identity Seminar basic level 5 days € 135.00
Bank Transfer BANCA CREDITO COOPERATIVO DI CAMBIANO
payable to: Seme Associazione di Promozione Sociale
IBAN: IT29G0842537790000010576742
Indicate in the description which course you are attending
If you use Paypal it is necessary to apply a surcharge of 4%
In the case of an invoice request (to be requested at the time of registration), VAT of 22% must be added to the price of the seminar.
Instead, in the case of an invoice request (to be requested at the time of registration), a 22% VAT is added to the seminar price.