photo: © Sara Camilo
A school without home aiming to take Clown to the whole country
Since July 2021, ATO - Associação Terras de Ourondo began to invest time and energy in the hybrid language, of artistic crossroads, in which the Clown often appears as a common thread. It was this movement that gave rise to EIPÁ! - ATO's Itinerant School of Clowns. Starting from the Clown technique - the New Clown - this school merges Circus, Performing, Musical and Cabaret Arts.
EIPÁ! is a School in a professional context with several levels and stages, offering permanent training, thus joining moments of exploration, laboratory and public presentations. All students are invited to develop their Clown Character and their Comic Universe through different stages: Workshops, Laboratories and Cabaret.
photo: © Sara Camilo
In search of one's own Clown: a journey of self-discovery
The workshops developed by EIPÁ! are intended to be a moment in which each of the participants takes with them only the will and curiosity to play and exaggerate, and at the same time discover themselves. This is the discovery of the clown that exists in each of us and the Universes that it includes. The talents of each participant will be developed through the voice, the body, the costume.
foto: © Sara Camilo
“ One of my worst fears is not having talents, or at least not having the talents I would like to have. And I agreed to show this with an open heart to you and the whole audience. ”
Testimony of a participant in the Clown workshop
The clown is the most naked of all performers because he puts himself on the line without being able to cheat. In order not to disappoint the audience, he has the duty to be authentic, to always have the impression of offering very little. Something about the Clown is essential and defines his curiosity and enthusiasm as a child: Always say yes, never no!
Precisely for this reason, it does not matter what qualities or previous skills each participant brings to the game as a performer. All people - experienced or not - are welcome in Clown, because it is not the display of expertise that is at stake: rather its transformation, the quest to strip away all layers of our social defenses in the search for something more intimate, universal and genuine.
photo: © Sara Camilo
“ I have spent my life crying, finding myself deep in tragedy. By finding my clown I transmuted my shadows into jokes, depression into laughter, tragedy into comedy. ”
Testimony of a participant in the Clown workshop
Itinerant
Workshops
To date, EIPÁ! has organized several Clown Technique workshops in various parts of the country, addressing very different issues. The following chronology shows some of this thematic and territorial diversity.
Trainings already given by the ATO Itinerant School of Clowns:
2025
4 - 9 feb — SALVADOR (BRASIL)
Cronópios Casa de Arte e Cultura
Your Clown,
Your Strength
13 jan — FUNDÃO
Espaço Biblos
The Importance
of Laughter
2024
1 - 7 apr — LISBON
CAB - Centro Coreográfico de Lisboa
Your Clown,
Your Biggest Mistake
4 - 10 mar — LISBON
O Rumo do Fumo / Livraria Sá da Costa
Your Clown,
Your Strength
2023
27 mar - 2 apr — CASCAIS
Mirita Casimiro Municipal Theatre
In search of
our own Chaplin
30 september — FUNDÃO
Casino do Fundão
FACTORY OF
SEEDS
Performance created by EIPÁ! within the project Arts 4 People and Earth, promoted by the Embassy of the USA and organized by ARS Investigação e Desenvolvimento and the Municipality of Fundão.
Artistic Director:
Luciano Amarelo
Performers/Clowns:
Alexandre Pedro, Davide Stefani, Sara Sofia Araújo
27 mar - 2 apr — LISBOA
Escola do Largo
Clown and
Sustainability
2022
14 - 20 nov — LISBOA
Escola do Largo
The New Clown
17 - 23 oct — LISBOA
Escola do Largo
The New Clown
11 - 16 apr — VILA REAL DE S. ANTÓNIO
Clown and its Delirium
7 - 12 mar — LISBOA
Safra
Clown SoloDuoTrio
14 - 19 fev — Olaias, LISBOA
The Clown and its Family
24 - 29 jan — Olaias, LISBOA
The Clown and its Talents
2021
27 sep - 2 oct — GUARDA
Teatro Municipal da Guarda
The Clown and its Music
9 -15 aug — CASTELO BRANCO
Fábrica da Criatividade
In Search of one's own Clown and Comical Universe
19 - 25 jul — FARO
CAMADA - Centro coreográfico
In Search of one's own Clown and Comical Universe
Find out about our itinerant workshops
Fro the practice of Clown a family is born that never abandons itself - the family that ATO wants to build little by little, without languages or borders. If you are interested in holding a Clown workshop in your area, please contact us.