A Clown'SKool.com (Nz)
Based in Greymouth, West Coast, New Zealand. 

​WELCOMES 

 

YOU!!!

​

( AND YOU!!! )

 

AND YOU!!!

​

To Join in an Adventure of Play and Curiosity. 

A Journey of Self Exploration and RE-Discovery of Your True and Authenticate Self.

​

Hosted by Toof-Ace Da-Cloune (Dharma Sunyata) Clown, Street Theatre Artist, Roving performer, Physical Theatre Protagonist, Juggler, Fire and Led light Dancer and  Performer, Comic, Wood carver, Unicyclist and much more. Toof-Ace (Dharma), has over 20 years of experience in the circus world both nationally and internationally, and brings a wealth of knowledge and training in many aspects of Circus, Street and Theatre Clowning, Prop comedy, Flow arts, Juggling and much more, He specialises in the art of clown, drawing on influences from the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Marcel Marceau, Jacques Lecoq, the greats of times gone by, and more modern and contemporary clowns and theatre writers such as Jef Johnson (Slava's Snowshow, Cirque du Soleil), Sky de Sela, Klara Cenoz, Ira Seidenstein, David Shiner, Bill Irwin, Gardi Hutter, Petra de Koehler, Hilary Chaplin, Nola Rae, Pau Palaus, Patrick van den Boom, Aga Boom, Misha Usov, Jos Houben, Angela de Castro, Michelle Matlock and many more.

 

He has trained extensively both onsite and online with the worlds leading clown theatre protagonists and is currently working on 3 solo shows plus collaborative projects with other clowns, aerialists, acrobats and physical theatre actors.. There is also the plan to bring high quality clown, physical theatre and improvisational comedy shows to the West coast from leading artists in these fields with a theatre production company (F'Ace Theatre Productions NZ).

 

His theatre interests span the world of Commedia Dell'Arte, Mime, Street clown, Theatre Clown, Butoh, Avant-Garde Theatre of its time such as Antonin Artaud, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Eugene Ionesco, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus and back to Moliere, Racine, and William Shakespeare. He is currently in discussions  with Theatres, Bars, Community Halls,  Fringe Shows and Festivals nation-wide where he is either performing himself or investigating talent to show case (Wellington Fringe Festival, Dunedin Fringe Festival, Cuba Dupa with much more to follow soon), at venues West Coast wide.

 

He first came in contact with clown, juggling and street theatre in 2000 at the peak of Circo Arts Christchurch, a then internationally renowned Circus school having produced many of New Zealands top Circus professionals. There he met the likes of David Ladderman, Sam Wills (Tape-Face), Mulletman, Shay Hooray and many others still in the industry today. From that time on the world took on a whole new glow, a whole new colour spectrum. A new way of living and seeing the world had begun. He had found his calling: The Way of the Clown.

 

Now it is time to pass some of the skills, life lessons and inner learnings onto others. To grow a community of people seeking connection through play and self-discovery. His aim? To unleash the clown that each of us has within. To share, laugh, cry and emote and to facilitate others to do the same.

 

Through a series of fun games, physical movement (T'ai Chi, Qi Gong, Warm-up and Warm-Down Stretches) Breathwork, Meditation and much more he has as his primary goal to facilitate self-confidence, curiosity, self-investigation and self discovery through play

 

-Remember Play?-

 

It is through Play that the child learns. Most adults find themselves learning through headwork and logical, analytical thought processes. It is the role of the clown teacher, or rather, facilitator, to reignite that spark of play that gave us all such joy and an open-ness to the world and others when we were children.

 

Remember how marvellous the world was when we approached it with curiosity, an open mind and a play-fool nature?

 

It is a place within that still exists, in each of us, and it is the role of the clown teacher to peel back some of the serious, the drudgery, the pain and the difficulty of adulting in a modern world and to get us back in touch with our true nature. To give permission to shine, and to express oneself without fear of judgement, or wrong doing.

 

In Clown, the wrong does not exist. The Clown seeks his own deep inner truth and seeks to express that truth in the present moment, be that truth Happy, Sad, Grumpy, Angry, Depressed or Joy-filled. Clown is not about being funny, though that will inevitably come if one nurtures the space for the clown to grow, but rather about a process of self revelation through play.

 

The Clown, by his or her very nature lives for, and in, the now, and wears his or her "failures" on their sleeve, like a badge of honour.

 

It is this humble Clown's role in life to help others to fool-ly express themselves. This is not actor training in the traditional sense, but rather a search for the you that you've kept hidden behind a series of masks, taboos and social restraints ever since you left the garden of Eden of your childhood years.

 

Unburden yourself from the rules you've been trying to wear like worn-out  clothes or shoes you've long grown out of. They pinch, they squeeze, they constrict, they restrain. In short they're uncomfortable. And they simply dont fit the person you truly are.

 

Classes will be small in size (2-10 people) and suitable for ages 8 to 12, 12 to 16, and 16 to the grave.....I will aim to keep the price of each class to a minimum....hopefully no more than 10-15$ per person per class. Classes will last for up to 2 hours on a weekly basis beginning sometime in June. During that time, you will be invited to re-find and re-member and re-acquaint yourself with the you you'd forgotten you could be. and to PLAY and NURTURE to FOOL-FILLMENT your own inner clown.

​

More details to follow over the next 2 months.

Hope to see you in the play-space come mid to late June.

​

Until then... Centre. Ground. Walk Barefoot in the Grass. Breathe. Sigh. Giggle. Guffaw. Dance. Sing. Talk Gibberish with a Beloved Pet or Flower.

 

You're never too old to begin the journey of self-discovery and healing that clown offers through the medium of play.

 

Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or wish to know more about the art of clowning.Til next time.....

​

Toodle-Pip!

​

Dharma

 (Toof-Ace Da-Cloune)