The Way
of the Clown

Physical Theater Workshop

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The Class

With your commitment and Aelita's guidance you will learn to let go and allow the character - rather than the actor - drive the body. Through physical theatre exercises, you will train your body to respond to your character’s inner monologue. This will allow you to react spontaneously to the unexpected. Aelita will help you discover your own uniqueness - what you can bring to your performances that nobody else can - and to harness it and use it to set you apart from the crowd.

Through clown exercises and scene work, we will focus to have direct access to your character and to deliver spontaneous and authentic performances. Aelita will support you through your unique process of unlocking the barriers between self and character; between mind and body; and between artifice and authenticity.

We work in a group of no more than 12 people. We start with warm up, physical exercises. We then proceed with improvisations on a stage (alone or with others). Each improvisation is discussed to identify and bring out the positive and important aspects of our clown (and how it lives in us). This is done with care and respect for each individual and within a framework of rules that ensures a secure and protective environment.

This is aimed at theatre professionals and not the general public.

Curriculum

Day 1. Connect with your body

Day 2. Follow the logic of your body; imagine with your body

Day 3. Improvisation and the birth of a character

Day 4. The character in the space of tragicomedy.

Day 5. Paradoxical thinking as a way to create works.

About

Aelita West

or two decades, Aelita has been a principal clown in the international smash hit Slava’s Snowshow, which has won countless theatre awards all around the world. She studied for years under the physical and improvisational theater master Oleg Kisselev, and she has honed what she’s learned into her own unique and effective method. She has worked in many theatre, film and TV productions in her native Russia, and is now pleased to have the opportunity to share the wealth of her experience with American actors.

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More about Aelita...

OUR PRINCIPLES

The key principles we are committed to in our teaching and which defines the specificity of our approach.

INDIVIDUALIZED APPROACH
WELL STRUCTURED CURRICULUM
A COMMITMENT TO GUIDE AND SUPPORT YOU IN THE WORK
ENCOURAGING ENVIRONMENT
EMPOWERING YOU TO BECOME YOUR OWN TEACHER
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND LEARNING

Philosophy

The Philosophy - Physical Theater

This work is not to be confused with other types of clown (like birthday party clowns or circus clowns) it is fun, absurd and also a precise systematic technique to open the parts of the psyche that are usually non active. It is a state of innocence and openness that allows a performer to unlock a character’s authenticity and vulnerability. Play is the key. By playing rather than performing, we remove the blocks that stand in the way of an authentic performance. This is aimed at theatre professionals and not the general public.

The Way of the Clown and The Tenets of Taoism line up very nicely with the approach that this method takes.

When Where

Upcoming:
From June 19th to June 23rd
11am - 4pm
Summer 2023

(week schedule)
Monday 11am -4pm
Tuesday 11am-4pm
Wednesday 11am-4pm
Thursday 11am-4pm
Friday 11am- 4pm