PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS
SUMMER 2012
Clown 1 - Courage to Be - July 8 to 12, 2012 (course full)
Montreal - with Vivian Gladwell and Blondine Maurice
Social Clowning - July 22 to 26, 2012
in Spring Valley - NY - with Vivian Gladwell
CLICK HERE
February 2012
Clown 1 - The Courage to Be - Feb 22 to 26, 2012
in Santa Fe - with Vivian Gladwell and Ann Willcutt
CLICK HERE


Towards Performance - 5 weekends from April to September 2012
near Philadelphia - with Angie Foster
CLICK HERE



March 2012
Clown 1 - The Courage to Be - March 2 to 6, 2012
in the Berkshire - Taconics - with Vivian Gladwell and Laura Geilen
CLICK HERE 

 Clown 1 - The Courage to Be - Three weekends in Kimberton, PA - with Angie Foster 
CLICK HERE 
   

 Clown 2 - Embracing the Unexpected - March 17 to 21, 2012
near Philadelphia - with Angie Foster and Laura Geilen
CLICK HERE
Clown 1 - Three weekend workshops - Sept 24 - 25 / Oct 15 - 16 / Nov 19 - 20
Clown 3 - The Wisdom of Imperfection - Nov 5 to 9, 2011

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The Courage to Be
An Introduction to Clowning
ONE-WEEK INTENSIVE: NOVEMBER 15-19
co-facilitated by Vivian Gladwell and Kristin Crowley 

Venue - TheaterLab, 137 West Fourteenth Street, New York
4 SESSIONS PER DAY
9:30-11:00 11:30–1:00 2:30–3:45 4:15–6:00
(Beginning Monday at 2:30pm and ending Friday at 2:30pm)


Encumbered by the expectations of ourselves and others, how do we find the strength to shake off the limitations and fears that isolate us and prevent us from feeling free? How do we responsibly summon the Courage to BE?

Clowning is a state of playfulness that allows us to experience a child-like, naïve and vulnerable state of being ... and paradoxically we learn, grow, and are strengthened through reconnecting playfully with what makes us most vulnerable. This approach to clowning is not a technique (tricks, gags and routines), but a personal journey towards finding one’s unique way of being - by listening and being receptive, essential skills for any creative and imaginative endeavor. It is only in letting go of control that we begin to be surprised by the depth of that which is around us and within us.

The word “courage” comes from a root that means “heart.” Through clowning and connecting to our naturally playful and creative spirit, we can develop and sustain, in ourselves and in each other, the heart to be who we truly are, to trust life and ourselves. “Taking heart” is a profoundly inward process, and is an invitation for overcoming the fears that block us and keep us from being fully present in the here and now.

This course establishes the foundation for of all our work and is an essential first step before going on to more advanced courses such as Social Clowning and the Facilitators Training planned for 2011. Class size is limited to 12. 
Please register early.

Course fee - $490***


Please note
You receive a $50 reduction on the tuition, if you do this course as part of the two-year clown training.

Let us know if you need accommodation - we can put you in touch with participants offering accommodation.

Vivian Gladwell
Since 1988, Vivian has worked internationally as a modern day Court Jester and facilitator. He performs at business events and conferences. He is the founding member of Nose to Nose (see www.nosetonose.info) and Fool View, the Social Clowning group. His teaching has introduced many to discover the transformative power of play and humour.

His particular interest has been into how to apply the insights of clowning to different professional field such as medicine, teaching and business practice. Vivian creates an atmosphere in his workshops that enable all participants – from whatever walk of life – to enter into unfamiliar and challenging exercises. Having completed Vivian's workshops, previous participants have felt an enhanced openness and attentiveness, a heightened sense of empathy, a higher degree of presence, increased improvisational skills and a confidence to apply these across all areas of their life. Vivian's students say that the course gave them 'permission to be playful again,' and 'an understanding that every little incident has significance.

You can read some testimonials about Vivian's courses below:

“From the very first minute of Vivian’s presence one had the feeling of being accompanied by a good spirit. So all the exercises we did – although they required us to overcome certain inner obstacles – were a step on the way to free oneself from hesitation and inner burdens. L.B. English Week 2004 (f)”

“I must say Vivian did very well and made us all feel very comfortable in the group and in doing these strange things we had to do. I would never have believed someone could make me play a square or a toy sword or whatever, but in the right setting I was able to do so. C. B. English Fortnight 2000 (f)”

“I found it remarkable how quickly Vivian managed to create an atmosphere for all the participants in which one not only felt well, but also safe enough to try things out that one wouldn’t normally trust oneself to do. For me as a person and a teacher it was an extraordinary valuable experience to see how one can wholly captivate an “audience” when one is fully present. [vollkommen bei sich]. M.B. English Week 2005 (f)”

Other comments from previous course participants:

Dr Deon van Zyl
This was the single most transformative and life-changing programme I have ever attended.

Sharon Olivier
The most refreshing insight was learning how to relax, tune in and respond to the moment. The facilitation was top class! I gained so many insights and skills that will benefit my training and speaking career.



Kristin Spaeth Crowley did not come to clowning by choice, but was forced into it by wiser others who knew where she belonged. Her work as a clown and facilitator led her to the fumbling discovery and recovery of a language she knows inwardly, loves, and could have lost. Her specialties include weeping, falling in love, making mischief, and the invisible. 
 
She is grateful for the inspiration and example of those brilliant, talented and generous people she has been privileged to work with or been touched by - artists, musicians, athletes, educators, poets, seekers, thinkers, healers, and other “ordinary” fearful and courageous spirits willing to risk and dare. 
 
She is amazed and astonished by her family, her parents and siblings, her children, and those she has claimed unjustly as her own; by those braver than she, facing the ordinary challenges connected with being alive; and by forgiveness.
 
She is interested in presences and possibilities.
 
She is informed by life and living, by beauty, ugliness, music, laughter, poetry, nature, stillness, cruelty, and compassion, by brave souls and tender hearts … by the struggle to realize the impulse that initiated a wish to be, and by the work she has to do.
 
The mistakes she makes: the limitations she must overcome; the struggles she faces in being and becoming; the gifts she has been given; and her sense of wonder, reverence, and gratitude inform and guide her in her work with others.
 
She works with individuals, companies, institutions, agencies, and organizations. She still struggles and falls down.