"The red nose transforms people": in the Var, Gauthier offers clown courses

Organizing a clown workshop? This isn't Gauthier Jansen's first attempt. But this is the first time the workshop has lasted an entire week. It will run from July 22nd to 27th at the Terra Rossa Museum in Salernes.

Drawing on his experience from previous weekend courses, Gauthier is adamant: " The red nose transforms people. It allows them to let go and feel pure emotions. Everyone who has participated in my courses has reported a sense of exhilaration and intense liberation."

While expression through gestures is one of the foundations of the workshop, the other is full awareness of one's breathing. " Look at a clown who exhales while letting his shoulders drop: he is completely relaxed and, as a result, he transmits this lightness to the people watching him."

The clown's unusual expressions, bent body and appearance of vulnerability touch people.

Gauthier discusses the importance of the red nose, the universal symbol of the clown. " When a workshop begins, I ask the participants this question: 'What are you doing here?' The answer crystallizes over the course of the workshop. A harmony is created, people communicate with a joy that is a pleasure to see. It's a kind of therapy that brings out the participants' vulnerability and fragility."

The Philosophy of the Universal Clown

Gauthier will welcome the participants of the course at Terra Rossa. To date, 10 people have already signed up, including "regulars" who experienced the course during a weekend in Salernes.

The activities are associated with land, a raw material of enormous importance here.

" We create a clown's earth," Gauthier explains. "And we cover his face and part of his body with earth. It produces an incredible effect! People dance, freeing their movements while remaining clowns, with a red nose in the middle of an earthy face." A therapy? " Why not call it that," concedes Gauthier, who marvels at the liberating effect of this practice.

To visualize the "Clown Land" effect, the participants of the workshop will stroll through the Salernes market on the last day of their meeting, Sunday, July 27.

They will carry clay-covered pipes to express their connection to this land. A guaranteed surprise! Gauthier smiles: "We will take advantage of the presence of many Salernes residents and tourists to demonstrate a red nose, worn in the middle of a face smeared with earth. "

>> "Terre de clown" workshop from July 22nd to 27th, at the Terra Rossa ceramics center in Salernes. Cost: €200 per person, accommodation €15 per night, and meals served in a Spanish-style restaurant. Information and reservations: +33 6 66 01 62 60.