​About the structure of Clown Classes:
Clown has become an enormous area of interest and has grown tremendously in recent years.
In response, I am coordinating 3 tiers of training offering levels that support you along the way.
If you have not taken clown before, please start with Intro to Clown.
Intro to Clown: This level is for first timers and can be repeated at will. If you just dipped your toe in and want to get more comfortable, jump in again and again! All levels welcome.
Clown for All: This level unleashes the relentless search for play. The exercises are tailored to the group and will lean deeper into the poetry of what makes you funny. A heartening place to find your freedom, learn the ease of making ruckus, and stretch out into a state of discovery. This class can be repeated endlessly repeated!
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Clown Studio: This level will focus on the art of clown and creation of work.
The trainings will be curated through an application process and run as a summer intensive.
2026 CLASSES
Bouffon Laboratory Sold Out! email me to get on wait list
January 17, 18 & 19 (MLK Weekend)
Saturday, Sunday & Monday
10am - 5pm
Tuition: $350
Deposit due with registration: $100 (non-refundable)
Open to all levels; Class limited to 15 participants
what is bouffon?
Bouffon is a rich dramatic territory evolved by Jacques Lecoq in his enduring pursuit to train the actor-creator. During the social upheaval in the 60’s, he sensed the collective need to translate the cruelty of human sociality. Reaching back to Medieval times when people were exiled for being ‘different’, Lecoq asked his students to deform their bodies, join in clans and mock the ways of normalized culture and society through the folly of games, lunacy, madness, distraction, dementia. A bouffon is a creature of mystery, the grotesque and the fantastic.
how does it relate to clown?
A clown is alone while the bouffon is part of a group.
We make fun of clowns, while the bouffons make fun of us.
what is it about?
Bouffons come from somewhere else.
They belong to the folly necessary for rescuing the truth.
Bouffons are connected to the verticality of mystery. They are part of the relationship between heaven and earth and live in a perfect society without conflict, where each person finds their exact place. They exhibit before us, in an anomalous manner, close to a parade, our proper folly. They play our society – the themes of power, science, religion, politics - all organized according to precise rules, where the most feeble may be in charge of everyone. The bouffons denounce and at the same time propose a tragic space.
what will we do?
Bouffon comes from the Latin “buffare” to puff or to swell to provoke laughter.
Bouffon work involves developing enlarged forms/bodies (using foam, fiberfill, etc.) that are resonant with the mysterious, the grotesque and the fantastic. The workshop will include revisiting the stages of childhood, producing games and rituals out of normalcy, endless ensemble play, and making mockery.
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instruments of percussion beat the time
rhythm and dance hammer the floor
where ritual reveals mystery
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Clown for All*
February 21 & 22
Saturday & Sunday
10am - 5pm
Tuition: $265
Deposit due with registration: $90 (non-refundable)
Intro to Clown is a prerequisite for this class; Registration limited to 15 participants
In Clown, we embark on the wondrous journey to rediscover innocence and uncover thepleasure of play. It is a daring adventure, in which we open our fragile hearts in search of fun. The little red nose (the smallest mask) is a great liberator. It requires generosity and summons transparency, revealing our wonderful and complicated simplicity. A riotous inquiry . . . a playful encounter . . . a look at our laughable & lovable selves. We love clowns because they make us laugh while revealing the range of mythical and emotional archetypes within each one of us. To find your clown is to tap into your own, personal source of spontaneous expressiveness and to experience the pleasure of play. The honesty and openness we find in clown will follow us everywhere we go.​
*Clown for All: This level unleashes the relentless search for play. The exercises are tailored to the group and will lean deeper into the poetry of what makes you funny. A heartening place to find your freedom, learn the ease of making ruckus, and stretch out into a state of discovery. This class can be repeated forever! If you have not taken clown before, please start with Intro to Clown.
​
Intro to Clown*
March 21 & 22, 2026
Saturday & Sunday
10am - 5pm
Tuition: $265
Deposit due with registration: $90 (non-refundable)
Open to all levels; Class limited to 15 participants
In Clown, we embark on the wondrous journey to rediscover innocence and uncover the
pleasure of play. It is a daring adventure, in which we open our fragile hearts in search of fun.
The little red nose (the smallest mask) is a great liberator. It requires generosity and summons
transparency, revealing our wonderful and complicated simplicity.
A riotous inquiry . . . a playful encounter . . . a look at our laughable & loveable selves.
We love clowns because they make us laugh while revealing the range of mythical and
emotional archetypes within each one of us.
To find your clown is to tap into your own, personal source of spontaneous
expressiveness and to experience the pleasure of play.
The honesty and openness we find in clown will follow us everywhere we go.
*Intro to Clown: This level is for first timers and can be repeated at will. If you just dipped your toe in and want to get more comfortable, jump in again and again! All levels welcome.
Art of Collaboration
April 18 & 19, 2026
Saturday & Sunday
10am - 5pm
Tuition: $265
Deposit due with registration: $90 (non-refundable)
Open to all levels; Class limited to 15 participants
​
In this workshop, we begin with the roots of classical pantomime, and proceed to a fast-paced style of gestural language that develops both micro and macro image building.
Working on a reduced playing area, these techniques will be applied to collaborative storytelling through the adaptation of myths and fables. Without props, using only movement and sound, this strong ensemble training will develop your physical and creative imagination while delivering the spatial awareness of how to tell a story in inventive new ways.
Building images that essentialize narratives, this form of shared creation gets to grips with raw components of expression through the primacy of movement and action.
The trèteau nu or naked stage was first introduced in the early 1900’s by Jacques Copeau, seeking to develop vital physicality and clarity of expression.
Intro to Clown*
May 16 & 17, 2026
Saturday & Sunday
10am - 5pm
Tuition: $265
Deposit due with registration: $90 (non-refundable)
Open to all levels; Class limited to 15 participants
In Clown, we embark on the wondrous journey to rediscover innocence and uncover the
pleasure of play. It is a daring adventure, in which we open our fragile hearts in search of fun.
The little red nose (the smallest mask) is a great liberator. It requires generosity and summons
transparency, revealing our wonderful and complicated simplicity.
A riotous inquiry . . . a playful encounter . . . a look at our laughable & loveable selves.
We love clowns because they make us laugh while revealing the range of mythical and
emotional archetypes within each one of us.
To find your clown is to tap into your own, personal source of spontaneous
expressiveness and to experience the pleasure of play.
The honesty and openness we find in clown will follow us everywhere we go.
*Intro to Clown: This level is for first timers and can be repeated at will. If you just dipped your toe in and want to get more comfortable, jump in again and again! All levels welcome.