A Clown is a being that steps into the world afresh. He or she is open to new experiences, meeting things, people, events with wonder, curiosity and a sense of pleasure. Quite different from our pragmatic and often routine way of being, a clown is forever discovering the new. She enjoys being just herself however she is - so being shy, awkward, grumpy, afraid, bossy, falling in love or falling over - all those have a place and can be experienced, seen and celebrated.

And flops and failures are part of that! They are not something to hide or feel embarrassed about, but an opportunity to reveal yet another aspect of a clown’s characteristics, his or her very unique and inimitable way of being - a part of their very individual poetry of life

Originally, in the world of the circus, the clowns were those artists and gymnasts who were too old to be on the trapeze or involved in other dangerous acts - they made too many mistakes! So from that the archetypal act of a clown is just that: to fall over, to fail. This is what we meet whenever we watch a clown, that sense of getting into a mess with even the simplest of tasks. Despite the ever increasing sense of fiasco the clown remains optimistic and confident, and so allows us to laugh about him: we empathise, because we are so very familiar ourselves with the fact of fallibility and imperfection.

Every clown lives in their very own world, their emotional states and experiences, their physical being and their own particular way to deal with what the world throws up for him or her. Their physical posture, voice and costume all come together to show to the world something about the unique way that this being engages with life in all its ups and downs.