Story – Young Clown 2 – Youth exchange in United Kingdom

Erasmus+ youth exchange Young Clown is divided into Cycles. The sections are divided accordingly with the life-path that a clown recycles.

Team Building & Program’s Concept → We build bonds of intimacy and reconcile common practices of coexistence. We approach the topic of ” art of the clown”, non-verbal communication.

Yes- Mode, Exploration→ We try to maintain a yes-mode / can-do attitude

Take Risk, Meet Failures → We face individual challenges that are difficult but not impossible to accomplish. We observe and embrace imperfections by developing mental resilience and distributing sincere feelings

Inside-Out → We make external adjustments by emphasizing their internal characteristics -emotions, personality. We observe the interaction of internal and external features.

Yes-Mode, Discover Alternative solutions → We recall childhood memories, compare common primary characteristics of this age and use them collaboratively as tools to discover alternative solutions. Also, we are called upon to recognize external social constraints and suggest tools to address them.

Yes-Mode, Explore → We prepare dissemination activities about non-verbal communication & emotional recognition, processing and expressing and distribute roles.

Take Risk, Meet Failures → Εach group design and prepare a presentation based on “Young Clown as a means of social inclusion, expression and creativity.”

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Meeting each other

26 participants and 7 leaders from UK, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Czech Republic gathered in the first part of Young Clown youth exchange in Kennington, United Kingdom.

Today we started our clown journey. Participants got to know the surrounding area and explained safety rules, get their shoes in the houses and rooms, say hi to each other and have a nice dinner.

Together

We played games to get to know the other participants and found out the different ways clowns can perform. We also focused on connecting with each other and our audience and finished the day with reflection.

The objects of our desire

Today in our clown journey we played with objects in different ways. We learnt how to juggle pins, rings and balls, and put on performances finding new uses for familiar objects.

Community Building and Improvisation

Today we practiced cooperation with our scene partners. We trusted them while being completely blindfolded. Another trust-focused activity was about letting our partners be our hands while we were the voice.

We practiced working with our emotions through focusing on one object – a pen.

At the end of the day we each demonstrated one of our strong skills in a creative group performance.

We finished the day with reflection and culture night presented by our Lithuanian participants.

Connected with our inner World

Today we had fun and creative workshops. We did singing, dancing and followed our inner voice. We let our emotions guide moves and listened to each other to create improvised songs.

We finished the day with a moving solo performances.

Finding our own clown

Today we discovered our clowns. We went on a trip down memory lane, reliving important stages of our lives and learning how they impacted our growth. It helped us understand our fellow participants better and to create clown that are true to ourselves.

We learned that it is not the mask that creates the clown, rather the clown that makes the mask.

Hide and Seek with inspiration

Today we went on a hunt for inspiration. While visiting Dover and Canterbury, we drew inspiration from our surroundings and in turn inspired those around us.
We finished the day with an amazing presentation of the Spanish team.

Building Connection

Today we started with music therapy connecting with our voices. Then we warmed up before an improv performance to connect with our bodies.
Finally, we did a blindfolded excercise to connect with each other.

Manifesto

During seven days of impro performances and practices with different tools of clowning, we came up with a manifesto on the concept of “Young Clown.”
We learned to work with inner feelings and express them to the audience. Working in close collaboration with the audience and group partners helped build an intense bond. Although we discovered that there is hard work and lots of repetition behind every remarkable performance, we embraced the pleasure of improvisation and even played with invisible objects!

Through meditative practices and reflection sessions, we deeply connected with our inner child by accepting and working with all sorts of emotions. Becoming more self-conscious supported us during performances to be more present on the stage and self-reflective after the set to analyze our fails and wins.

Last but not least, during all these days, we have experimented not only on the set but also with our personalities. Young clowns are not afraid of experimenting and thinking outside the box!

Clown in the wild

Today we truly let our clowns out. We split into smaller groups, each working on an important project showcasing different aspects of our lives as clowns.

One team worked on a booklet, another made a documentary, a short film and one group went into Canterbury to experience clowning in the wild.

We truly learned what it is to be a clown, in all aspects of its complexity.

Presenting our results

Today we presented our final projects, all of us showcasing our work and sharing our experiences with each other.

This movie documents our trip to Canterbury. Our interactions, emotions, our exposure to the public…

“I found the most sincere and playful moments of uncertainty and joy came from playing with the children who were more transparent with their emotions, and willing to play with us.”

Today we presented our final projects, all of us showcasing our work and sharing our experiences with each other.

A booklet is a wonderful way to present ourselves, representing our talents and passions. In this booklet the reader will find the project background and brief guide on how to become a young clown.

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Last days

Our last day, we reflected on everything we have learned during our stay. We discussed how we’re going to apply our learning after we come back and we said our teary goodbyes.

One of our groups showcased their art of clowning in a short movie about a day in a life of clowns.

See you next time, Good Bye

“After the project I feel a lot more confident about what I can do with my body and a lot more confident in just basic communication”

“It helps me a lot to understand my self what I want from my life and what I don’t want . I release that I like myself when i am authentic and to make the others laugh. It makes me so happy. Also, I learn to take risks , to do mistakes and that it is up on me how I want my life would be .I like to be in my real life “clown” . I recognise to which situation I fell that I don’t want to do something ,not because that I don’t want to get out of my comfort zone, but because I don’t like this thing.”

“Young Clown supported my self-confidence giving me a way to express my creativity in a safe space ”

“The project offered an overall open and safe space that lead us to be able to express ourselves in broader ways.”