Clowning for Dancers

About the Workshop

This is a full day workshop (10am-4pm), with Andrew Gaboury at Clarke Memorial Hall, in Mississauga, Port Credit. Come explore the joy of movement, tempered by the hard-biting truth of the present moment.

This introduction to clowning will cover clowning basics, including play, presence, personal joy, lightness, nonverbal communication, duo dynamics and a trip on the old emotional rollercoaster. This workshop is tailored to dancers and performers whose main vocabulary is movement.

If you are a professional or pre-professional artist with an interest in theatrical clowning, this workshop is for you!

About Andrew

Andrew Gaboury is an international performer, writer and educator based in Port Credit. His practice unites theatrical and therapeutic clown, collective creation, dance and puppetry. He is director of an ongoing multi-disciplinary project “a field of crowns” and a company member with site-specific dance-theatre company Frog In Hand. He was the co-Artistic Director of hub14 art + performance works from 2013-19. Andrew has led classes and workshops in movement, clown and puppetry at Randolph College, Conteur Dance Academy, the University of Guelph and for the Frog in Hand and Clay & Paper Theatre summer companies. Andrew is a therapeutic clown practitioner and interim co-Executive Director with Red Nose Remedy and an elder clown with Kathleen LeRoux. Since March 2021, Andrew has worked with MABELLEarts and Derek Kwan to bring a practice of social clowning to their community.

Andrew was one of 8 students in North America’s first Therapeutic Clowning certificate program at George Brown College. He received a community artist certificate with Jumblies Theatre (Artfare Essentials) & recently returned from the Healthcare Clowning International Meeting in the Hague, Netherlands.

Learn more about Andrew and his practice: https://afieldofcrowns.com/

FAQ / Good to know: We will take an hour lunch break in the middle of the day, lunch is available to purchase nearby or bring your own! Free (but limited) parking is available behind Clarke Hall or on the street. The workshop venue is a 10 minute walk from Port Credit GO station. Clarke Hall is wheelchair accessible, please notify us so we can communicate and prepare for your visit if you have accessibility needs.

IMAGE OF ANDREW GABOURY BY TAMARA ROMANCHUK (Clay & Paper Day of Delight)