SPECIALTY Classes
our specialty classes are unique in style, frequency and length. if you are looking for something a little different from our core classes, or in addition to them, you are in the right place!
many of these classes are OPEN TO beginners, INTERMEDIATE and advanced students. They can be taken solo, and all are permitted to repeat them endlessly. No two classes are alike!
JESTER: return of the jester (LOS ANGELES)
Class Type Intensive
Dates Thursday, January 2nd thru Sunday, Jan 5th, 2020
Times 1-6pm
Location Live Arts LA, Eagle Rock
Instructor David Bridel
Cost $399 plus a $15 materials fee (discounts for previous Clown School participants)
The Jester opens up new ways of looking at the world. Through mockery, absurdity, irony, satire, and a frenzied delight in the foibles of human nature, the Jester cuts through centuries of dogma to reveal the truth and to turn convention on its head. Finding your Jester means exploring your potential for a kind of comedic spiritual awakening. For new and returning students - don’t miss this rare opportunity to tap into an ancient wisdom expressed in deliciously contemporary ways.
Ages 18 and older.
Prerequisite: None. All experience levels welcome!
Sacred Clown
Class Clowning for the Spirit through Ritual Clown Forms
Dates FEB 2020
Times TBD
Location TBD
Instructor Mike Funt
Cost TBD
Since the dawn of humankind, Clowns have served as leaders in communication and healing process. Long before the clown was a staple in circuses and theatres, he featured as a prominent part in Tribal Rituals and Ceremonies in cultures all over the world. Borrowing from its shamanistic roots, this class will explore how Clown and Performance can be a place of shared communal, transformative experience. The class will explore Balinese Masked Clown Ceremonies, Hopi Rituals, ecstatic festivals like Mardis Gras and Carnivåle, Commedia dell’Arte, Noh, the Holy Fool Traditions, Heyokah, Clown Traditions of the Pueblo, Dakota, and Zuni Tribes, the Trickster figures of Coyote and Raven, and many more.
While this class serves as excellent actor and performer training, the focus is more on developing the self holistically and developing and sense of community with those around you, similar to the goals of Yoga and Meditation. The class will feature improvised clown activities, prepared pieces, personal story-telling, and discussion. A well-known clown once said, “The clown is not about making the audience laugh. The clown is about changing the way the audience breathes.” Join us for this and release your fearlessness and playfulness while finding the sublime in the ridiculous and the ridiculous in the sublime.
Ages 18 and older.
MASK: Archetype and Character (LOS ANGELES)
Class Type Intensive
Dates Wednesday, June 10, 2020 thru Saturday, June 13, 2020
Times 1pm-6pm, daily
Location Live Arts LA, Eagle Rock
Instructor David Bridel
Cost $399 plus a $15 materials fee (discounts for previous Clown School participants)
For the first time, The Clown School offers a training in the limitless mystery of the archetypes, using specially created, hand-crafted Balinese masks, rich in power and poetry. Surrender to the ecstatic energy of the mask and learn how archetypes can change your understanding of yourself, and the way that you create and inhabit dramatic characters. Designed for clowns, actors, writers, and all who have an interest in self-discovery. Courage is necessary, but no previous experience required.
Ages 18 and older.
Prerequisite: None. All experience levels welcome!
CLOWN: TOMFOOLERY AND TRAGEDY (LOS ANGELES)
Class Type Intensive
Dates Wednesday, August 5, 2020 thru Saturday, August 8, 2020
Times 1pm-6pm, daily
Location Live Arts LA, Eagle Rock
Instructor David Bridel
Cost $399 plus a $15 materials fee (discounts for previous Clown School participants)
The glory, the catastrophe, and the nonsense of the clown are stripped bare in this latest intensive from David Bridel. Stumble wholeheartedly into failure and triumph as you release your grip on logic and enter the topsy-turvy universe of the clown. And experience a new path - the beautiful, shaded journey of the Tragic Clown, who finds joy, hope, and a reason to go on - despite overwhelming obstacles and heartbreak.
Ages 18 and older.
Prerequisite: None. All experience levels welcome!
MASK: Commedia dell’Arte (LOS ANGELES)
Class Type Intensive
Dates JAN 2021
Times TBD
Location Live Arts LA, Eagle Rock
Instructor David Bridel
Cost TBD
Transform yourself through the famous characters of “the Italian Comedy” - Arlecchino, Pantalone, Columbina, and more - as you dive into a world of trickery, fantasy, and obsession that strengthens your physical expression and your improvisational skills. Once you learn to think like the masks of the commedia, you’ll never be the same again! One of the most rigorous, challenging, and spectacular trainings any actor or clown can experience. For new and returning clowns, actors, and performers alike.
Ages 18 and older.
Prerequisite: None. All experience levels welcome!