peta LiLY
  • ABOUT
  • COURSES
  • Shows
  • BLOG: Dark Clown, Clown plus
  • Contact
  • FAQs for the Clown & Dark Clown course
  • Creative Mentor / Acting Coach / Director
  • ONLINE COURSE INFO
  • What people say about the Clown & Dark Clown course
  • What people say about the Alchemy of Archetypes course
  • What people say about the Barefaced Commedia dell'Arte course
  • PLAYS and POETRY
  • What people say about the Clown Course

Clown State

9/22/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
photography by Nick Cowell
No, Clown State is not a country...(yet?).

After a recent evening class (for the wonderful Hoopla Improv company) a course participant asked for a recap of what Clown State is and how to access it.

An altered state - a mask state
Decades ago when I had the privilege to participate in a workshop led by Jacques Lecoq - he described the red nose as 'le plus petit masque du monde' (the smallest mask in the world) and a light switched on - Clown State can be approached as a mask state. See the wonderful Keith Johnstone's book Impro for more on mask state.

Occasionally one hears of people finding their 'inner clown' or having 'their own unique clown'. When teaching I find it is helpful to remove any pressure are anxiety these phrases might cause - 'what if I don't have an inner clown?!', 'what if I can't find it?'. Imagine rummaging in a dark cupboard - 'it's meant to be in here but where? where?!' People might think that they are creating their unique and precious inner clown, chiselling it carefully out from marble ... one wrong angle with the chisel and kkkkrrrrshhh!
The historical image of the unique clown-face makeup carefully painted onto a porcelain egg and placed inside a glass cabinet in a museum (a beautiful tradition with a pragmatic, copyright purpose), might lead someone newly learning clown to think they need to arrive at a fixed entity. I love to quote Angela de Castro: 'I have more than one Clown'.

Thinking of entering a Clown State is, for all these reasons, a useful thing. I feel it is helpful to see Clown State as a robust and elastic state of play. The concept of 'inner clown' works very well for many - but it could, to some, sound fragile, elusive, fixed, precious.

Here is what I use as a Clown State Process. I like people to have a 'before and after' so they can notice the changes for themselves. So I use a process of steps. On and off. In and out.

Normally when teaching Clown, right at the start, I get people to look into the eyes of the other - 'looking and seeing, making a connect'; but for the purposes of this process (the first several steps, at any rate), participants are invited to look only at objects and surfaces in the room.

1/ The instruction is: 'See things with potentially equal enthusiasm'. With the proviso that enthusiasm is not required, only a predilection, a favouring towards enthusiasm. Different things affect the clown differently - some things disappoint, some bore, some disturb, some are unexpectedly fascinating.

Participants are set off to do this task, then after about a minute I say 'stop doing that'. Participants then share in pairs. In plenary: Did they notice a change? Did they see anything that surprised them? Did they like anything? Did this feeling arise spontaneously? Did anyone have a problem? Trouble shoot.**

2/ As above, using the whole head to look - the eyes rest in their sockets.

3/ As above, but the whole torso moves to each new direction. If this starts to feel robotic, then stop and return to the head only. 

4/ As above, with mouth open. (It's not a rule and does not need to be open all the time but it has an opening effect). Do for 45 seconds or a minute, then I again give the instruction: 'Stop doing that'.

Pair share to discuss experience. Plenary: trouble shoot. An example problem: some people don't like the 'stupid'* feeling that can visit when the mouth is open (or that comes with 'ears' below). On the other hand many love it and find it liberating. I remedy by giving an alternative such as the Genius Spark (see below). Brain chatter? If student experiences the inner narrative voice - return to step 1; if student experiences the Inner Critic voice, use the thought cancelling Homer Simpson 'Doh' or Goofy 'Unhuh!' mantras. Feel you have to be happy? - remember the full explanation of instruction 1. Feeling stilted or too normal? - did you leave out an emotional reaction? Were you bored or disappointed and did you try to push that emotion away / cover over it? ​It's great when emotions arise. Give emotions a sound and a shape. That's what the audience loves and benefits from - the humanity of the clown.

Some feel frustrated that this is a standing exercise - they want to run and touch - excellent, they can do that later! - for now, appreciate the spontaneously arising power of that incitement / compulsion as a gift of the Clown State!

Again the main points are:
that this is a different way of being to our everyday out-on-the-street 'normal';
that emotions and thoughts arise spontaneously;
that there can be Curiosity, Wonder, a sense of play or a meditative quality or a new level of feeling/sensing.

5/ All of the above plus Optional Added Extra: 'Think about your ears a lot'. If this instruction gets in the way, ignore it. Many find this hilarious or a beautiful and unexpected and almost magical lift to their awareness. I owe this instruction to the amazing teacher Monika Pagneaux.

Sometimes at this point I get people to take one tiny step out of that state. Sometimes I say 'step back like a hand coming out of a glove'. This is so that people can 'taste' the difference between the accruing state and the default composure of the self.

Stepping in and stepping out is a technique I learned from Mollie Guilfoyle, as applied in her mask and character work. 

'Now step back in ... and make that 70% more vivid ... 90% more viivd ... adda sound, add a little movement with an elbow or a knee ... And gently step out again ... see how it was all there for you?
Stepping in and stepping out gives people and experience of Clown State as Altered State and also as something easily accessible. It can help people grow the facility to fully enter at speed, when needed.

I used to stop there - pair share and plenary trouble shoot, then have people re-enter the state and go on to ...

6/ 
Gently focus your attention on the undersurfaces of your body (see Avner the Eccentric's Principles). Use the underside of your feet, chin, armpits and also the lower surfaces of the inner organs, the brain and the eyeballs! Use the Hara.

7/ Somehow you begin to notice there are other beings in this room... no need to rush, take plenty of time to look. Looking is free. Allow yourself to have whatever emotion is there in the moment (with no obligation to name it). Emotions are all just passing through - emotions will come and emotions will go. This is common Clown teaching but I like that it relates to The Sedona Method as well.***

Might there be something about some aspect of another's clothing or hair that you think is genius? No need to invent it - but be open to the possibility.

Might there be something about some aspect of another's clothing or hair that maybe freaks you out a little bit? No need to invent it - but be open to the possibility.

What's it like to be part of this group?

What's it like to be seen by this group?


If there was a sound in this moment, what would it be? 1,2,3, GO.

Gently return to seeing objects and surfaces. 

Step out of the state and return to whoever the heck you thought you used to be.

Pair share and plenary check-in.

I take care to point out that this experience is not a delineation of their clown (or their nascent clown) but simply an experience - one particular immersion into State on this particular day / in this particular moment.

Over time I have added a couple of extras or alternatives. I also mention to the group that there are too many instructions for any one moment - they are free to be open to allow the instructions to come in and out of consciousness in each moment. 

8/ Close your eyes and imagine, that just infant of you is your Clown Heart. Go with your intuition - give it a shape and colour - allow this to occur to you intuitively, accept what you receive. Is it an anatomical heart? A cartoon heart? Is it made of candy floss? Is there a circus band / samba or salsa band playing in your heart?
Now step forward and make the heart part of you - or scoop it in with your arms. Breathe in to it. Notice how you feel. Slowly open your eyes and check that you can still feel it. Take a little run around the room. You still see from your eyes but it's as if you are seeing with your heart. 
Troubleshooting: In the instance where someone feels some sadness when imagining the heart, it's good to remember that for clowning it is good to bring both your joy and your sorrow. If using the heart is not working for you, can focus instead on your Hara. Or you can  wrap any sorrow in a pink cloud. Whatever is going on for the clown, their love for / community with the humans in the audience sustains them beyond their own tragedy.

9/ About 3 inches or 7 cm above the crown of your head is a spark. That is your Clown Genius (a good antidote /alternative to those who dislike feeling 'stupid').

10/ Another process that is helpful to people is the Funny Bone. Close eyes and imagine that somewhere in your body is your 'Funny Bone'. Go with the intuition of the moment. If you've chosen your left kneecap, great. Or might it be an imaginary free-floating bone in the shape of a dog biscuit?  Find a space and all ow your Funny Bone to choreograph you. Start gently, but build your reuse and enjoy discovering moves inspired by your FB! On my workshops I play this music for the dancing. If you are in a group, fine partner and share your moves with them. Hand the focus back and forwards - be astonished, appreciative of your friend's inspired moves! Travel through the room together.

11/ Radiate - expand your sense of self beyond your own skin - maybe imagine a pink cloud. I have begin teaching The Sponge. Imagine your whole body is a sponge. Move round the room absorbing the vibe if the air, the objects and surfaces in the room. Stop and notice how it felt. Do it again.

Pick and Mix 
Obviously one cannot think of all these at once, feel free to test and try, find what works for you and / or  to allow the mind to switch between them.

Stepping In and Stepping Out
​
Respect Clown State. As you immerse into clown state, every so often step out: in the room I give the instruction: take a step out to one side, glide out, like a hand gliding out of a glove. Notice the 'normal' of performer's 'neutral' a well-balanced position of alignment and settled breath. Notice the difference and step back in. Once you've done this a few times you can access Clown State just by Stepping In. When doing exercises in a room. Enter Clown State, and when the exercise is done, either exit the performing space and/or turn you back and 'step out'. This helps beginners know Clown is an altered state than can be entered and then stepped out of. 
Stepping out was invented by Susan Bloch. See her book.
​Those who do my Alchemy of Archetypes course will know I use it there. It's also helpful for the Dark Clown work, too. 

John Wright's Bafflement exercise 
Thanks to Holly Stoppit and Robyn Hambrook's wonderful Clown workouts initiative, I got to hear about a method John Wright uses. It's called 'Bafflement'.
​Here is the how-to: Think of the area on the back of your head. This helps you into a wider brain function than the everyday reality that likes us to keep our brains in the language- and logic-based neo-cortex (I am not a scientist, but at a metaphorical level, this seems to feel right/useful). Put your attention on the back surface of your head, now use this mantra: 'I don't know what I'm doing and it's ok.' Try it, then go play!

To Nourish Your Clown
a. 
Try the wonderful Holly Stoppit's Clown Paradise journey.
b.
Or try this exercise - I call it: 'A World of Possibility' - get into Clown State and look into the air - use your intuition and see and opening - is it a window? open it and climb through - find yourself in a room or environment - is it all made of grass? Or is it full of marshmallow furniture? stay as long as you like, then look again and see an opening (maybe it's a curtain or a door or a porthole - maybe sometimes you see a ladder or a trapdoor) each portal takes you to another environment. The final door or portal brings you back into the room you started in - stay in Clown State as you look at the space you are in afresh - how does it seem now? Take all the time you need to 'return' to the room. And when you are ready, step out of clown state.  When I do this in a room, I use this music. (It's a wonderful album, consider buying it - I did).

General conditions for Clowning and 'Life-full-ness'
Before getting to this stage I use numerous games and instructions to release tension, prime the body and breathing, to get people connected and people into open play state and to find a simplicity in their physicality. 

Many of these instructions I received from the amazing movement teacher Monika Pagneaux, when she was working with Philippe Gaulier. Monika works with Feldenkreis technique and has collaborated with Peter Brook - but also has her own unique rich and fulfilling processes to bring bodies and spirits to what she calls 'lifefull-ness'.

* I often say that the Clown's 'stupidity' is an alternative intelligence.
​** There are many extra observations, distinctions and teaching points around all this - these are the bare bones of the process which works for 99.998 percent of the people I have taught.
*** The Sedona Method book is on my useful book list, which I am continually updating and which I share with workshop graduates.

Picture
photography by Nick Cowell
1 Comment

beginnings - the Fool

9/12/2017

1 Comment

 
ok so one has the concept (look at the rickety yet seemingly effective bridge that has brought her here)...
but now getting the thing done...

Jet lag has been useful. Sleeping few hours and waking sharply and definitively at 4,5,6,7am, I have had the benefit of extra quiet hours at the computer - planning setups for improvisations, collating, elaborating, making connections. Pulling up images as inspirations and examples. Our rehearsal time is limited to a couple of evenings and weekends so elegance of time is paramount. For devised work you need props (well, if you are choosing to work with props). You need to play with them before the full potential unfolds.

I have an idea of the 'world' but not all the detail yet. There will be minimal dialogue so movement and objects will create the action. The detail evolves in the devising. Erm, but the rules of the 'world' need to inform the devising!

On Monday, I sat with one of the company members ordering the first round of props online, from China. I found myself dithering, nervous...'if this prop, what convention is installed/destroyed?' 'when mime and when prop?' Some props you know you want - others have to prove themselves. If we don't buy we can't play. Some stupid element (object) may provide a later payoff - something sublime. Another purchase might be a mistake. Instinct, risk, foot over cliff.

Problems are good. The Fringe Mime and Movement Laboratory liked the concept matter of the show, but the 'scary clown' phenomena is not well known here.  So - I have devised a film 'script' - a sequence of images and graphics to set up the concept of a witch-hunt for clowns. This will be shown as part of the action during the piece.

It will give the set-up / backstory with some but not complete reference to the outer world. A 'what if'. 'What if' the appearance of a scary clown had caused a round up of Clowns. There is another 'What if' I have already committed to . 'What if clowns were clowns 24/7?' Clowns by DNA, as it were. The play is set in an alternate, Absurd or Clown reality. Different rules of logic will apply. We can /need to use clown tropes but are we going to a meta level - we need to be cleverer, adapt the clown tropes to serve the narrative. I usually say in my clown workshops 'avoid narrative'. To serve the arc. The step by step logical progression (the unfolding of an illogical logic?? The dramaturgy of stoopid?? The presentation of compelling visual images/ metaphors??) Mamet says character is plot. Does a Clown pursue a 'specific, acute goal?' Yes. No. A clown only wants to be a Clown, to play. Even in the most dangerous of situations...

Forget Drama, turn to the Absurd. my faithful friend Wikipedia identifies these characteristics of Absurd Theatre : 'broad comedy, often similar to vaudeville, mixed with horrific or tragic images; characters caught in hopeless situations forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions; dialogue full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense; plots that are cyclical or absurdly expansive; either a parody or dismissal of realism, and the concept of the "well-made play".  The concept / world of The Death of Fun (Chinese Title: 樂於嚇人 ‘Pleasure to Scare You') needs to be realised at the level of buckets, buzzers, boings and balloons.  

Practical problems. Language barrier and budgetary issues mean that the designer is coming on board later in the day. I have felt nervous without access to a designer to force me to articulate more clearly, to offer alternatives, developments, challenges and offer solutions (I lack making skills). With each online purchase comes the question of colour palette! I am using the poster photoshoot as a template and keeping my fingers crossed.

The theme of the hijacking of the Clown (by horror films and other corporations) offers possibilities and implications in terms  of world order (every day I see an image of one of the western leaders with clown makeup superimposed). But to step into that world means a commitment to satire. Yes there can be satirical clowns. For me, satire is too sophisticated for 24/7 clowns - the piece must be solved with its own elements. And with more heart than satire seems to afford. The basic 'what ifs' are the things that need to be served. We are building a bridge with buckets and balloons.

A Facebook friend, Ralf Wetzel, is a Belgium-based performer who recently has had the great good fortune / resourcefulness to work with the inspiring and deeply human Keith Johnstone.

"As quick as you are trying your best, you’re in control mode and you prevent something else from happening. If you try to be average, you prevent becoming stressed and stiff. You allow the universe to give you something." Keith Johnstone, London 2017.

Reset goal for average. Allow some empty space. 
The Fool card. Humility. Optimism. Allowing each emotion to pass through. There company of faithful, playful companion(s). Just taking the next step. One foot after the other. Even when there seems to be no sure footing. 
Picturea delightful image of The Fool as female by JamesAnderson.com
​

Picture
Chinese 'Chou' makeup - Fool card. China tarot is all the info I have on this – a Pinterest image.
Picture
One of the Mime Lab company on the poster photo shoot - image by Gaffer Tsui
About the Absurd

​In his 1965 book, Absurd Drama, Esslin wrote:
'The Theatre of the Absurd attacks the comfortable certainties of religious or political orthodoxy. It aims to shock its audience out of complacency, to bring it face to face with the harsh facts of the human situation as these writers see it. But the challenge behind this message is anything but one of despair. It is a challenge to accept the human condition as it is, in all its mystery and absurdity, and to bear it with dignity, nobly, responsibly; precisely because there are no easy solutions to the mysteries of existence, because ultimately man is alone in a meaningless world. The shedding of easy solutions, of comforting illusions, may be painful, but it leaves behind it a sense of freedom and relief. And that is why, in the last resort, the Theatre of the Absurd does not provoke tears of despair but the laughter of liberation.'
Sentences. Construction. Finding one's way. 

Well,  it's true what I read (who said it?) - in order to write about something, you don't need to know what you are going to say; you will find that out in the process of writing.

I often sit down thinking I don't dare write a blog post. I would love to possess a finer level of Academic thinking. Humility.  But it's a fine practice to aim to articulate. Optimism. To explore. Foot over cliff.

Devising a show / writing a blog.
​

I mentioned in my last post that I wasn't sure whether I would have the brain space /time  to sustain a process blog / reflection log. The jet lag is abating. Eight hours sleep last night, thank you for asking.

Another evening rehearsal session tonight. Onwards. Honk.
1 Comment

    SEARCH by Category - scroll below

    This blog covers my Clown, Dark Clown, Comedy, and Theatre Making practices.

    ​Buy me a Ko-fi?
    I am writing a book on Dark Clown. If you enjoy the posts here, I'd love your support on my Ko-fi page. Your donation - even a small one - will help pay for time, editors, proof readers, books to inform context etc.
    ​ Thank you!
     

     https://ko-fi.com/petalily 

    30 years of practical research has created a new genre: Dark Clown. The Comedy of Terrors - Dark Clown & Enforced Performance was delivered at Bath Spa University. The work is cited in Clown (readings in theatre practice) by Jon Davison.
    ​

    Images above: Tiff Wear, Robert Piwko, Douglas Robertson, PL and Graham Fudger. Illustration by
    Charlotte Biszewski. Mask: Alexander McPherson.

    Categories

    All
    Absurd
    Absurdity
    Absurd Theatre
    Acceptance
    Accept Everything
    Acting
    Actioning
    Actions
    Adaptation
    Adversity
    Aesthetic
    All Over Lovely
    Amygdala
    Anais NIn
    An Die Musik
    Archetypes
    Aristotle's Poetics
    Arnold Mindell
    Audience
    Autobiographical Theatre
    Avner The Eccentric
    Awareness
    Backstory
    Bafflement
    Beats
    Believable Verisimilitude Of Pain And Distress
    Benefits To The Actor
    Big And Small
    Bim Mason
    Body Mask
    Bouffon
    Breath
    Breathing
    Brene Brown
    Buster Keaton
    Buzzer Exercise
    Calibration
    Call And Response
    Carlo Boso
    Carthasis Of Laughter
    Casting The Net
    Catharsis
    Chaplin
    Character
    Chastity Belt
    Chinese Clown
    Circo-therapy
    Circus
    Circus Lumiere
    Claire Dowie
    Clown
    Clown & Dark Clown
    Clown & Dark Clown Course
    Clown Doctors
    Clown Dramaturgy
    Clown Egg Register
    Clown Genius
    Clown Jokes
    Clown Logic
    Clown Poem
    #clown #poem #clownpoem #dignity #transform
    Clown Power Symposium
    Clown Professor
    Clowns
    Clown State
    Clown State Process
    Coat-of-arms
    Colin Watkeys
    Comedy
    Comedy Craft
    Compassion
    Conditions For Comedy
    Confessional Theatre
    Conflict And Pain
    Consent
    Consumer Guilt
    Content Awareness
    Contrast
    Controller
    Corpsing
    Costume
    Costume Design
    Costume Embodiment
    Coulraphobia
    Courage
    Covid
    Creativity
    Crying
    Crystal Lil
    Curiousity
    Curriculum
    C-words
    Dark Clown
    Dark Clown Documentary
    Dark Clown Dramaturgy
    Dark Clown Scenario
    Dark Clown Scenarios
    Dark Side Play
    Dave Pickering
    Deadpan
    Declan Donnellan
    Design
    Devising
    Dignity
    Dina Glouberman
    Discomfort
    Distance
    Documentary
    Dramaturgy
    Electro-pop
    Embodied Performance
    Embodiment
    Emotions
    Empathy
    Enforced Performance
    Ensemble
    Ethos
    Evil Laughter
    Exaggeration
    Extraordinary Physiological Response
    Facilitation
    Failure
    Failure As Success
    Fairytale
    Feminist Clown
    Flow
    Fool
    Fox And Maiden
    Gaulier
    Gender
    Genres
    Getting Your Message Across
    Half-Masks
    Hamlet Or Die
    Happenstance
    Hara
    Heart
    High Stakes
    High Stakes Predicament
    High Stakes Predicaments
    Honesty
    Horror
    Humanity
    Humanity In Extremis
    Hybrid Clown
    Hyper-vigilance
    I Am A Timebomb
    Imagework
    Imaginary Circumstances
    Immersion
    Implicate The Audience
    Implication
    Impossible Choices
    Impro. Clown. Clown State
    Impulse
    Impulses
    Inner Critic
    Innocence
    Inspirations
    Intention Of The Dark Clown Work
    Interview
    Interviews & Auditions
    In The Now
    Intuition
    Invocation
    It
    Jean Genet
    John Towsen
    Journals
    Jung
    Keith Johnstone
    King Lear
    Laugh At
    Laughing Gear
    Laughter
    Laughter Nudge
    Laughter To Implicate
    Learning
    Learning Lines
    Le Bide
    Line Up Exercise
    Line-up Exercise
    Lisa Wolpe
    Lumiere & Son
    Mamet
    Marginalised Emotions
    Marx Brothers
    Mask
    Mask State
    Methodology
    Mime
    Monika Pagneaux
    Motif
    Motifs
    Name Game
    Negative Emotions
    NLP
    Normal Audience
    Not Being Seen
    'not Doing'
    Okidok
    One Action
    Pain
    Pantomime
    Pema Chodron
    Pennywise
    Performance
    Perseverance
    Perspectives
    Peter A Levin
    Philippe Gaulier
    Pip Simmonds
    Play
    Play-possibilities
    Plot And Character
    Poetry
    Pop
    Power
    Predicament
    Predicaments
    Preparation
    Process
    Production
    Proprioception
    Props
    Red Nose Clown
    Rehearsal
    Repetition
    Resonances
    Reviews
    Rhythm
    Ridiculous
    Roger Rabbit
    Rough Puppetry
    Rule Of Three
    Rumi
    'sad Normals'
    Sad Normals
    Satire
    Sedona Method
    See The Cost
    Self Compassion
    Shakespeare
    Shame
    Shows
    Sobbing
    Solo
    Solo Theatre
    Stakes
    Stand Up Theatre
    Stand-up Theatre
    Storytelling
    Strange Forces
    Strategic Play
    Sufferring
    Take It Further
    Taking Laughter To The Limits
    Tarot
    Teaching
    Teaching Hygeine
    Techniques
    TED Talk
    Theatremaking
    The 'bide'
    'The Circus'
    The Comedy Of Errors
    The Cost
    The Death Of Fun
    The Fool
    The Guard
    The Little Mermaid
    The Maids
    The Menu
    The Revenger's Tragedy
    Three Women
    Tibetan Buddhism
    Timing
    Tips
    Tips For Learning Lines
    'Tis Pity She's A Horse
    'Tis Pity She's A Whore
    Tonglen
    Topless
    Torture Over Ten Feet
    Tragedy
    Transparent Teaching
    Trauma
    Trickster
    Trigger Warmings
    Trilogy
    Troubled Laughter
    Truth & Fiction
    Truth & Lies
    Truth + Pain
    Upset
    Upset Procedure
    Useful Principles
    Use Your Senses
    Viola Spolin
    Vulnerability
    Warmup
    Wendy Darling
    'what If'
    Witness
    Women And Clowning
    Women Clowns
    Workout
    Writing
    Yoshi Oida
    Zen

    Archives

    October 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    February 2022
    September 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    July 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    RSS Feed

workshops & shows 


Join Peta Lily Theatre Workshops on Facebook

Like Peta Lily Shows on Facebook

Follow @peta_lily on Twitter

Follow @petalily on Instagram

Curious about Dark Clown? get your FREE ebooklet when you sign up to the mailing list - see the form to the right!

Something else? If you are looking for a director / creative mentor / workshop leader for a bespoke workshop for your company or organisation or any other matter - go here.

* By signing up to the mailing list you agree to receive mailings about workshops, shows, publications and very occasionally other news, usually only about a half dozen mailouts a year. You can always choose to unsubscribe at any time – there is an unsubscribe link to click on in each email I send. Your information will not be shared with any third party.

Picture

    JOIN THE MAILING LIST & GET YOUR FREE ebooklet - 2020 extended version

    * By signing up to the mailing list you agree to receive mailings about workshops, shows, publications and very occasionally other news. Your information will not be shared with any third party.
    iCloud email addresses don't always work with the mailing system - and, IMPORTANT -please double check you input your email address correctly - if there's a typo I cannot contact you.
    iCloud email addresses don't always work with the mailing system - and IMPORTANT please be sure not to make a typo when inputting your email address.
Submit