I recently had the opportunity to attend a three day workshops, a clown festival, and a clown conference in Montreal. The experience was nothing short of exhilarating and eye-opening. I am always looking for ways to enhance my skills, connect with fellow performers, and stay updated on the latest with what's happening in the industry.

I will mention more about the clown festival, conference, and other posts. Here, I will focus on the workshop I took the first three days of my week in Montreal. The workshop was led by Pedro Fabiano, a clown, actor, and director. This workshop was a masterclass in maintaining a connection with our clown partners while not losing our creative impulse. We delved into the concept of complicity in our partnership and the significance of committing to a scene and sharing it with our partner.

When I participate in workshops like this, I've learned that it is best to turn off, as much as possible, any sense of ego about how funny or impressive I can be in the workshop. It is easy to want to be a humorous, impressive person. However, it's best to put aside any expectation of how good I can be and embrace the reality that I will fail sometimes. Actually, I fail a lot. It's better to try something new and experiment rather than fall back on what I already know and can do. Otherwise, what was the point of taking the class? We all learn best by trying new things and, at times, failing and sometimes succeeding and learning from that experience.

One of the first things Pedro mentioned in class was a parallel with musicians. He discussed how musicians learn music theory, scales, and chord changes. They study the difference between major, minor, sustained, and diminished chords. All of them to understand what's possible musically and also find a way of deconstructing the musical creations they create. If you know the theory and how the music is constructed, you can better understand why it works sometimes and why it does not work other times. You appreciate how you can go back and recreate the musical experience or use that experience to create something similar to what you made before. As someone who understands some music theory, I like the idea of applying this approach more often to clown work.

With that same approach, I welcome the opportunity to examine these clown concepts Pedro mentioned in class. He talked about how clowns can be the same, how they can have complicity, and how they can have conflict. (I worked with some of these ideas in workshops I have taught) .These approaches help me to understand what's possible and give me direction and a foundation of where my clown partnership can be and go. I especially appreciate the opportunity to use these approaches in my hospital work when I return to the hospital here in Georgia. Recently, I found it very easy to fall back on old routines that I know. My past experiences can be valuable and reliable; however, looking for ways to incorporate some of these new approaches in my work will be my goal in the future.

I especially appreciate Pedro's focus on not settling for merely being "good enough." In these three days of workshops, he pushed us to find the next level of joy, pleasure, or sadness in our work. During these three days, we had plenty of time to explore more extended scenes and see where we would go with our clown partners. I appreciate what that time structure gave us. We were able to discuss each partner's creation and get into detail about what worked and what did not work. In one example, I was told that my partner had made a few offers I had never noticed. I was so into performing my idea that I didn't see the offering from my partner. It's a good lesson to learn. Part of being a good partner is listening and paying attention.

There was also a focus on honesty, keeping our reactions genuine and authentic. In the context of clowning, this means being true to the character we are portraying and the emotions we are expressing without any pretense or deceit. I know that, at times, this can sound both simple and very difficult. The challenge is to perform by not performing, being honest with yourself and your emotions, communicating with your partner, and, just as importantly, communicating this honesty to the audience.

After the workshop, I attended the Montreal Clown Festival and the Meeting of the Noses—more post on those coming soon.

We had some snow flurries on the first day of the workshopWe had some snow flurries on the first day of the workshop.

We had a taste of spring in Montreal at the new location for the last day of the workshop.

Clown Week in Montreal, Post #1 The Workshop