For the Love of Clowning
ESC volunteer Gemma discusses her love of clowning, how she got started, and how you can try it too.
Gemma is a social worker, trainer and clown with experience in working with youth, disabled people and the incarcerated. She works with groups at risk of social exclusion using non-formal education and performing arts to foster self-learning, reflection and empowerment. She is a co-founder of Alter Network, an association that works to promote opportunities for young people in Bulgaria, with future headquarters in Italy and Spain. She is currently part of Galway Community Circus’ teaching team as a European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteer. Read on to learn more about clowning from Gemma below!
Hello Circus Family,
I'm Gemma, a European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteer with Galway Community Circus. My experience in circus began 10 years ago when I started to have a passion for clowning. I began my journey in clowning with Merche Ochoa, one of the best female clowns in Spain. Merche has years of experience as an artist and a trainer and is still doing both today. She has a training space in Barcelona called ‘El Rinclowncito’ that does regular training in clowning year-round for different levels of experience. I spent around five years of my clowning journey there, and this is where I gained most of my experience.
For a few years I took a break from clowning for work and studies. It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life, because I am at my happiest when I am clowning. I decided I wanted it back in my life and searched for an internship in a circus to keep developing my clowning skills. It brought me here to Galway Community Circus where I’ve been able to create small clowning sketches as part of the Scratch Night team, a group of young people who create a small monthly shows featuring different pieces from circus artists. Due to the current lockdown, Scratch Night is hosted online on either Zoom or Facebook Live. When restrictions are lifted, Scratch Night will return to the Circus Hall as a monthly cabaret.
Two clowns who have had an influence on my life are my teacher Merche Ochoa and Hunter Doherty, also known as Patch Adams. When it comes to clowning, I always have Merche’s teachings and sayings in my head: “less is more”, “don’t listen to your Jiminy Crickets” and “always say yes to propositions”. I’m also inspired by the humanitarian work Patch Adams does around the world and the public hospital he is trying to build in the United States. Though there was a movie about Patch Adams, it’s good keep in mind that movies can sometimes do more harm than good. What Patch Adams has done and created is immense, but his personality is not exactly as Robin Williams portrayed.
In my own experience, I recommend you trying clowning when:
-You are in a period of change
-You want to try something completely new
-You feel like you are having lack of confidence and self-esteem
-You work in the performing arts and you want to keep surprising yourself
I wanted to try something new in the performing arts, and that’s when I decided to try clowning. It totally blew my mind.
It’s important that you try it with an open heart and open mind and that you let yourself surprise yourself. Don’t judge yourself or your actions when you are clowning; negativity does not help. Play, play, play. Try, try, try, fail, try again, try again, try again. Fail again, fail again, fail again. And then you will succeed.
If you want to get started in clowning, I recommend that you try a clowning course with a great teacher that has been recommended to you by more than one person. Taking a quality course by someone that is well-known and recognised will give you the best experience possible. Members at Galway Community Circus also learn the basics of clowning in our youth circus classes.
The teachers I have trained with are:
Merche Ochoa, Carol Mo, Marcelo Katz, ClownOneItalia, Baltabarin. I am also really looking forward to studying with Gabriel Chamé and Pepe Viyuela.
I hope you enjoyed reading and learning a bit more about clowning. I look forward to seeing you around the Circus or Galway!