CLAUN

“Claun” is a type of acting which combines conventions from both theatre and circus. An actor’s “claun” is a cartoonish version of the individual; it takes most of the actor´s physical aspects, for instance it´s way of walking or sitting exaggerating them in a comical way. We were explained several conventions from two formal “clauns”, , they have come to Peru from Argentina in a trip across Latin America in which they go from country to country presenting their shows and teaching workshops for “clauns”.
, came to our school in order to teach us more about this style of acting. The two IB drama classes joined together in this occasion and the ten of us formed part of this workshop which lasted three days. At first it seemed to be all about improvisation we did exercises in which a person would sit on a chair and another person would come and make him stand up and leave the chair, you could use any argument you wanted, you could come and say under the chair there was a radioactive substance making the other person stand up. In the second day we continued practicing improvisation while we were asked to bring a photo of ourselves when we were kids to the school.
On the last day we were finally introduced fully to “Claun” we now had to act as another student in the class while exaggerating his/her movements. The student went and sat in a chair in front of us while introducing himself, then one of us had to come out and act as that person, we had to pay attention to the small movements which differentiated him from other students so it would be clear it was that person. Afterwards we were introduced to “claun” we all put on the classic red noses which identified a clown and according to the photo we brought we mixed our movements with those when we were kids and resembled the photo.
With this workshop we were introduced to a new way of acting, even though “claun” is well recognized I never imagined all the process needed in order to create your “claun”. I want to thank both actors, and , for coming and teaching us this style of acting and letting us be part of this workshop.
Final Question: Is “claun” style of acting more influenced by formal theatre or circus?