Coup de coeur Clownmania at Rochefort

Clownmania is not just the name of the only clown festival in Belgium. It is also the name of a larger project that aims to promote the Belgian clown in his own country first, then beyond the borders. One of the tools that our team wishes to develop is to organize every two years an award of excellence to which we have given the name of favorite Clownmania.

For this first edition, we are responding to the invitation of the international laughter festival of Rochefort, which wishes this year to honor other artists of laughter than comedians, in this case the clowns.

This Sunday, May 13 from 14h, we expect you to Raymond Devos room of the cultural center of Rochefort, to discover five artists or groups of artists:

– the trio consisting of Yves Farah and Werner De Bus of the Giebus group and Tony Mozarella of the 1984 Collective, all three of Brussels;

– Ann Bernard, Quebecker living in Brussels;

– Rachel Ponsonby, from London, living and working for many years in Brussels;

– Michel Chemin de la Cie de la Casquette, also from Brussels;

– The Clownarium group of the Artaban Company, from the Brussels region too.

Cie Giebus is a Brussels group specialized in mime and clownery. Dressed up in white and disguised as waiters, private detectives or street sweepers, the actors are walking in the audience. Yves Farah (30) and Werner De Bus (71) are two of its members. The third element of the trans generational trio that presents itself this May 13th in Rochefort is called Tony Mozarella (50 years old) and is a member of Collectif 1984, a theater-action troupe in Brussels. After a meeting with Tom Roos (Belgian minimalist clown renowned at home and abroad), he creates “Pericoloso”, a show for three clowns – Yves, Werner and himself – directed by Tom Roos himself.

“Three men get into life and meet lots of surprises …”

Ann Bernard comes from Quebec (Canada). First trained in classical dance and jazz, she discovered with wonder the percussions and Argentine dances, which she learned to master. This earned her to join the circus of the sun to perform for three years with his number of boleadoras in the show “Saltimbanco” staged by Franco Dragone. Member of the Cirque du Trottoir since 1995, she trained at the Lassaâd International Theater School which she graduated in 2000. Back in Montreal, she turned to the clowning game, through workshops with great masters including Yves Dagenais , and created in 2006 the character of Anita, she will present us this May 13, 2018 in Rochefort as part of the Coup de coeur Clownmania.

“Coming from a distance, catapulted onto a stage, Anita unknowingly leaves to discover a great treasure: herself. And the magic operates. ”

Originally from London, Rachel Ponsonby chose Brussels to live and work there. A graduate of the Lassaâd International Theater School, she joined the Zirk Theater and has been playing, since 1995, as a clown and musician with the French company Cirque Plume. She is an accomplished and playful artist who will present us with two numbers from her hilarious repertoire.

“When Virginia Davis turns into a female band, or even a conductor, the delirium is at the rendezvous! ”

Michel Chemin, alias Miguel Camino, is a member of the artistic team of La Cie de la Casquette, founded in 1983 and dedicated to the young public, so any public. The company designs shows that seek to elicit as much the sensitivity, the humor, the imagination of the viewer as his look, his critical mind in the face of the complexity of the world and human relationships, away from any educational objective or purpose. .

“Clarck has two passions, song and pastry. When he sings, he becomes strangely conductor of electric currents that cross him and put ideas back in place. Sometimes plunged into the black of the breakdown, he does not sing anymore, he eats cupcakes to fill himself and to calm the anxiety of emptiness. ”

Finally, they are five and are called Jeannette, John, Lisette, Tchi and Za. Sometimes pack, sometimes choir, or band, troupe or choir of clowns, they tell a story, their story. In their clownarium, it lives intensely and all the time. One might even wonder if they find the time to sleep so much they are bursting with energy.

“Escaped from the clownarium, these five personalities play, dance, fall in love, move and live funny adventures. Exchange around two benches, a meeting that will leave no one indifferent.”

Who says prize of excellence says reward. This is composed of a trophy and a contract for our next festival, which will take place on 29 and 30 June 2019 in Genappe in Walloon Brabant. Concretely, two juries share the votes: on the one hand the public and on the other hand a professional jury. On the public side, each spectator will receive at the entrance a token that he can slide to the exit in the ballot box corresponding to the artist or the group of artists of his choice. On the professional side, each member of the jury will vote by secret ballot. The winner will be designated after counting of the votes according to a proportional rule and thus designated by both the public and the professionals. If the clownmania favorite turns out to be different from the one from the votes, the artist concerned will also receive a prize of heart from the organizer of the festival.

Finally, and not least, we are pleased to present, at the end of our event, a clown and flamenco show: “Olé !” from and by Elodie Hatton. Originally from Nancy, France, Elodie Hatton discovered the clown in 2011 and trained in this art, especially in Samovar in the Paris region. Dancer emeritus of flamenco, she writes “Olé! », her first solo creation. At once comical, poetic, the show opens to a wide audience the world of this gypsy art very codified and often ignored that is flamenco.

Nice discovery to all and come with many to share this event with us.