Workshop with Ronlin Foreman 3/2 in Chicago

On Sunday March 2, Master Clown Teacher at the Dell’arte School RonLin Foreman and Joe Krienke will teach a class entitled: The Powerful Presence: Effort, Risk Momentum, Joy. The 3 hour workshop, at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, will include work on the actor’s presence, physical efforts, movement and improvisation.

Ronlin was one of my teachers at Dell’arte. And while I certainly didn’t agree with everything that he said (in fact, at one point he told me that “I misunderstood the nature of education.”), I have to say that he is an amazing clown, and for certain people, can be an excellent teacher. Years later, I feel like I am incorporating some of the things in my work that I didn’t understand at the time (and that RonLin didn’t help me understand at the time, either– which made it a frustrating experience then) I highly recommend studying with him.

One of the pieces that I continue to use when thinking or teaching now: The clown must truly fail in order to succeed. Not pretend to fail. Not fail at something with low stakes. The clown must be at the point of failing, and at that moment, the audience will ALLOW the clown to succeed. This point of view is obviously more useful in the theatre than in the circus, where you need to get on, do your funny, and leave. But it still applies.

This is the bio from Ronlin’s classes at the Clown Festival two years ago:

A provocative teacher and director, Ronlin Foreman is Director of Pedagogical Research and Master Clown Teacher at the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in California. Zany and poignant, Foreman’s uniquely confrontational and poetic brand of physical theatre has been featured at major international Movement, Theatre and Clown festivals in Mexico, Spain, Canada and the U.S.

Foreman’s hallmarks are his character (drawn from the fool, the clown, and the grotesque) and his ability to play profoundly with comedy, and irreverently with the profound, and outrageously with an audience.

The workshop at Steppenwolf will go from 10am-1pm. From 2pm-6pm, auditions will be offered for admission to the Dell’arte School of Physical Theatre.

Space is limited to 35 people.

Participation fee of $100 required at time of reservation. Space preference and fee waivers are available to serious program applicants.

To register, email Louise at [email protected]

WHEN & WHERE
Steppenwolf Theatre’s Garage Space
1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago, IL. (south side of the parking lot)
Workshop: 10am to 1pm
Auditions: 2pm to 6pm

To find out more about Dell’arte, visit their website listed below:
www.dellarte.com