Life is ridiculous.
That's the focus of award-winning artist and clown Courtney Cunningham's workshop, "Finding Your Ridiculous: An Introduction to Clown."
She will teach a workshop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Orpheum Arts Space, at 500 Second St. S.W..
The workshop is $140 for the weekend.
The workshop is an introduction to the art of sacred clowning (from the School of Sacred Clowning), which differs from the traditional circus clown.
"Sacred clowning is not necessarily about making people laugh," Cunningham said. "As much as we'll celebrate the comical side of humanity, we're also going to celebrate the tragic side of humanity. Ultimately, it's finding the laughter and ridiculousness of all of it, but it's not just like, 'Hey, everybody. Let's put a smile on.'"
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Sacred clowning has a tradition stretching back to American Indian cultures and is taught in many schools of physical theater. Cunningham discovered sacred clowning about 11 years ago at Dell'Arte, a performing arts school in California, and since then she has been clowning. She has won many awards and performs all over the world as Poofy Du Vey. She has taught this workshop for five years.
"I always loved teaching. I love the experience of teaching and sharing what I know and learning from students and being challenged by students," Cunningham said.
Sacred clowning is about being sincere to human emotions and working with all aspects of life, and it is her goal to introduce this concept, she said.
"The goal is to hopefully impart little bit of knowledge and little bit of the experience of not only sacred clowning but really being in the moment and learning how to be honest as possible in the moment," Cunningham said.
The workshop entails some physical activity, but it's nothing participants should worry about, she said.
"It's back and forth between very physical exercises to teach about getting out of your head and getting more into your body," she said. "It's really listening to those physical impulses that we all have. But as a clown, you need to really be able to hear and feel those impulses so you can follow them in your work."
The workshop also features a small introduction to sacred-clown work in which participants will discover their own personal clown, she said.
"In some tradition of clowns, you are given a clown character, and this what you need to do and this how you need to act," Cunningham said. "With personal clown, you are coming from your own world and your own reality, and you are creating your own clown. You would create a clown that is completely unique clown."
The workshop addresses peoples' fear of clowns.
"I thought clowns were scary, and I was terrified of them,"
Cunningham said. "One of the first stories I was told by my teacher was that if you paint a smile on your face as a happy clown and try to convince a kid that you're happy when you're not, there is a manipulation that is happening, which then leads to fear. The clown in my opinion has been bastardized by modern society."
The workshop is aimed at people interested in the performing arts, but there are no restrictions as to who can take part, so long as participants are willing to be honest, she said.
"Really anybody, whether you're musician or a dancer, or an actor, film or stage - sacred clowning can benefit your work," she said.
Clown workshop
Orpheum Arts Space
500 Second Street S.W.
Saturday and Sunday
10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
E-mail cc@courtneycunningham.com to reserve a space
