VAUDE_VISUALS

On Friday September 3rd The NY Clown Theatre Festival got off to a great start with the Clown Parade. Beginning in Union Square and moving to The Brick  Theatre in Williamsburg where the festival is presented. More than 100 clowns and admirers moved through the streets of NY and into the L train station for their fun trip to Brooklyn. I have posted a good selection of photographs from that adventure.

John Towsen was present at the parade. John and his performing partner  Fred Yockers were the producers of the First NY Clown Theatre Festival back in the 1983. He was happy to see the tradition continue under the guidance of Audrey Crabtree cofounder with Eric Davis.

Audrey Crabtree muscling in to the picture.

Jeff Seal will be performing with his partner Chris Manley at the Festival

Lilli Sukula-Lindblom(l)  hangs on to Gabriela Munoz (c) and Sabine Choucair(r).

Gabriela and Sabine are perfoming at the festival in ‘Perhaps, Perhaps, Quizas.’

Jonathan Kaplan will be performing in the festival in ‘Le Fleur’.

Center in the platform is Audrey Crabtree giving advice to the passengers.

Nick Trotter as ‘Ferdinand the Magnificent’ taking a well deserved rest

Peter Musante is performing with Summer Shapiro in “Legs and All“.

Eric Davis -shooting photographs at the parade.

Butt Kapinski with a handcuffed friend looking proud.

Once the crowd arrived at The Brick Theatre it was only a matter of time until the ‘Pie Throwing Contest’ got started.

First the referee had to lay down the rules and then all hell broke lose!

If you want to see more Clown Theatre that will bring joy to your bones and laughter to your soul…

go here and buy some tickets to the shows!

FERDINAND SAYS “COME AND SEE SOME SHOWS!”

~~~~~~~~

I will be posting more photographs from each performance I shot in the upcoming weeks.

Stay tuned or subscribe in the upper right hand corner!

~~~~~~~~

All Photographs are © 2010 by Jim Moore

Here are a few visual highlights from this past weekends performance of THE ROTTEN PLANTAINS.
A collection of wild and wonderfully funny clowns that put together an evening of insanity and delightfully funny chaos.
Pictured below are the cast members that come from far and near!

Patrick de Valette - Paris/ Claudio Carneiro – San Paulo  / Julie Ferrier - Paris / Fred Blin – Paris

(Wayne Wilson and Daniel Passer – Not pictured – Will be in the next weeks shows!)

~ ~ ~

Guest Artist this past weekend – Arnaud Maillard  &  Amy Gordon – Brooklyn NY

——–

Patrick de Valette and Fred Blin start the show off.

Patrick de Valette and Fred Blin acting out a fantasy.

——-

Julie Ferrier

Julie’s character is so wrapped up in her discussion of ‘art’.

~~~~~~~

Claudio Carneiro

———

Patrick de Valette

———–

Julie Ferrier

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

——-

Amy Gordon – GUEST ARTIST

———-

Arnaud Maillard – GUEST ARTIST

~~~~~~~~~~~

Julie Ferrier roller skates herself atop of an innocent audience member in a wonderful routine.

~~~~~~~~

The Rotten Plantain’s cast take a bow!

~~~~~~~~

The show was an amazing, hysterical, collage of clowns on their day off!
IT will be running again at 45 Bleecker St Theatre starting on August 26th for 4 Performances ONLY!

Thur Aug 26th at 10:30

Fri Aug 27th at 10:30

Sat Aug 28th at 10:30

Sun Aug 29th at 7pm

Get your tickets HERE.

Welcome to The New York Goofs 2010 Showcase

Larry Pisoni escorts a traveling young man into the world of the side show and carny.

Jay Stewart headed up the show as MC and all around ‘jokester’.

Hilary Chaplain and Dick Monday perform a very odd piece of mime!

A very funny lady with skills and talent  to boot! She performed several pieces in the evening and all were hysterical and artistic.

Jay Stewart, Hilary Chaplain and Evelyn Tuths perform a finger puppet circus act.

Joel Jeske and Hilary Chaplain perform a ‘squeeze’ and ‘hug’ piece that takes them to the floor.

Tiffany Riley cried her heart out for the audience.

Hilary Chaplain performed a ‘diva’ singer who was carrying more than she expected!

Chet Monday juggles up a storm for his debut performance with NY Goofs.

Evelyn Tuths performed a ‘dancing senior citizen’ with an affinity to drink a little ‘brew in between her steps.

Joel Jeske

Joel Jeske performs his ‘executive in peril’ piece. A wonderful dark humor that hits home with his great silent skills.

The NYGoofs cast club juggling with Hovey Burgess

The male cast members juggle clubs with Circus teacher/historian Hovey Burgess

Chet Monday

Chet Monday adding to the upbeat motions on stage with his dance moves.

Dick and Chet try and keep up with Tiffany.

Dick and Chet  try and keep up with Tiffany.

NY Goofs 2010 Performance Finale and Curtain Call from Jim Moore on Vimeo.

Hovey Burgess has been teaching circus skills for as long as I can remember…he is a really great teacher. You can ask the thousands of students that have passed thru his classes.
He talks about his work in the circus world and his teaching and amazing library of circus and circus related books.

Part 1 – Interview with Hovey Burgess by Jim Moore from Jim Moore on Vimeo.

CIRCUS is a new six-hour series that takes you on an unforgettable trip with the legendary Big Apple Circus. From the big top to the “back lot,” explore a distinctive world with its own rules, lingo and no fixed address. Follow the diverse characters who make up the Big Apple family and find out what it really means to live life in the ring. Premieres in November, 2010. (PBS Press Release)

I mention this because my first posting of my new series CLOWN  UN_MASK was Glen Heroy.

http://vaudevisuals.com/2010/02/the-clown-un_masked-glen-heroy/

He has a terrific place in the documentary showing off all his delightful talent.

Mark Lonergan knows how to put together a good ‘variety show‘. He has  produced quite a few MOVE IT shows in the past plus his usual calendar of shows gives him a good ‘edge’ over the competition.

This MOVE IT show included some amazingly talented physical/variety performers.

~~~~~~~

Starting the show off was a delightful “Oddotorium Puppet Freak Show”. Performed by J. E. Cross.

A pupppet  ’Coney Island’ type side show with the barker and the ‘main attraction.

J.E. Cross and The Cosmic Bicycle Theatre

J. E. Cross and his COSMIC BICYCLE THEATRE presented a beautiful “Puppet Freak Show”.

A very innovative puppet theatre company garnered with much attention which it surely deserves!

~~~~~~~

The next act to perform was juggler/dancer Jen Slaw.

Combing the best movement with the grace of a beautiful juggler she made her work look effortless and charming.

Her act was simple, stunning, lyrical and and she is very talented.

Jen Slaw with Clubs

~~~~~~~

One of producer Mark Lonergan’s favorite performers and  collaborator on some of Parallel Exit’s best shows is a charmingly gifted funny man Joel Jeske.

His stage presence is hysterical and he played the audience well with his JOEL JESKE TRIO.

~~~~~~~

Book Kennison is one of my favorite unique comedic juggling acts.

He is a young man wit lots of talent and abilities.

Keep your eyes out for ‘Book Kennison‘. He is a rising star in the variety scene.

~~~~~~~

Shana Solomon’s Phastasamic Physical Theatre

Performing their interpretation of Akira Kurosawa‘s film RAN

The six member company made use of corporeal talent and  unique physical discipline to interpret the essence of the film on stage without hardly any words and no scenery.

A great actor uses these skills before adding the voice.

I was very moved with the creative work that went into this piece.

~~~~~~~

A playful duet James and JF came on stage walking cardboard dogs.

The piece was set in the future and included plenty of verbal banter and visual gags.

The comedy duet James and JF consist of  Emily James and Ishah Janssen-Faith.

Inventive, wild, sexy and off the wall funny!

~~~~~~~

The Final performer for the evening was one of my favorite clowns. Chris Allison performing his wacky “CONEY ISLAND CHRIS“.

This act is so curious. He proclaims to have learned how to perform  ’sideshow’ feats in an online class.

What happens to him in front of the audience as he attempts to show off his new found skills can only be described as ‘hysterical’.

He was one of the finalist on “AMERICA’S GOT TALENT” and just returned from Germany where he performed in a revue of ‘Newcomers’ with all international artists.

~~~~~~~~

The evening would not be complete without a chat with the audience by Mark Lonergan.

SUPPORT THE VARIETY ARTS!

He knows how to make it happen. It is up to you…the audience to support it!

Watch out for the next MOVE IT show. They are SOLD OUT fast!

For additional information about Mark Longergan and/or Parallel Exit contact: Parallel Exit

(This is not a complete description of the show. Many of the performers did another turn.

I covered the parts I had room for!)

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS © 2010 Jim Moore

©2008 Dan Piraro

Tonight we saw the Golden Nose Awards Ceremony. IT was a festive evening with Golden Noses going to Eric Davis for “Clown of the Year’. The “Clown Organization of the Year” Golden Nose Award went to Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit. Michael Christensen accepted the award. The Audience Choice award for Best Clown Act went to “Otto and Lewis” and the award was accepted by Brian Foley. His partner Matthew Duncan was in St. Louis getting married. The Audience Choice Best Clown Character went to Brett Alters for his – Squeeks the Clown.

Host and Producer Christopher Lueck leaves the stage a proud man!

Christopher Lueck (and Amanda Pekoe) have  produced the show for the past 4 years and has presented over 400 clown acts during that time. The entire clown community would come out for these shows which happened the 3rd Monday of every month. Christopher announced during the March show that he was going to not produce the show any more and the Golden Nose Awards Ceremony would be his last ‘hurrah’. It was a splendid evening with great performers and organizations getting their just awards. It will be missed!

Great Job Chris. We will Miss You!

Theatre Group Dzieci (djyeh-chee) an international experimental theatre ensemble (founded in NYC, 1997) dedicated to a search for the “sacred” through the medium of theatre.

It is a serious undertaking!

Using techniques garnered from his theatre masters Jerzy Grotowski, Eugenio Barba, ritual forms derived from Native American and Eastern spiritual disciplines, and an ethic based securely in his work in Humanistic Psychology,

Dzieci aims to create a theatre that is as equally engaged with personal transformation as it is with public presentation.Towards this aim, the ensemble balances its work on performance with work of service, through creative and therapeutic interaction in hospitals and a variety of institutional settings. Dzieci believes helping others generates a profound healing effect that not only serves the patient but also strengthens the ensemble’s work.

The word ‘Dzieci’ is the Polish word for Children.

Matt performed some wonderful solo pieces that I was fortunate enough to photograph. Here are few more images from his evening at The New York Downtown Clown Revue.

And from his hysterical piece

“Tango de la Coca Cola Classico”

~~~~~~~

Ladies and Gentleman.

May I introduce you to Matt Mitler

The Clown Un_Masked

To get more information on Matt’s work with his company and his solo work you can go to the following web sites.

http://dziecitheatre.org/dzfiles/mission.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Mitler

All Photographs (Except Dzieci Group) © 2010 Jim R Moore

Leo Bassi’s New Neronian is an aggressive thesis on violence and control. At one point Bassi locked all the theater doors and threatened to burn down the theater. A very nervous audience played along with him – some to a larger degree than others. Bassi poured what smelled and looked like gasoline over the stage floor and about the set, than lit a flaming torch. He moved anxiously and intensely over the stage encouraging the audience to believe they were in imminent danger. He came out to the audience, threatened to burn one of the audience members, selected one and then backed off with an apology.

He apologized, not for intimidating the audience member, but for not burning his shirt, for the poor audience member would not – much later in his life – be able to pick up the burned shirt and show it to his grandson telling him about the time he had gone to a live performance and this crazy man Leo Bassi from Italy burned a hole in his shirt. It would be a lost moment for the audience member with his grandson. Maybe the audience member would have been part of a club of people from all over the world who had had their shirts burned by Bassi. In his golden years he would be elected president of the club. Bassi’s failure to burn his shirt took away this opportunity of prestige in old age. And so the evening went, in fiery forward lurching rhythm with Bassi challenging the audience’s perspective of truth, tolerance and totalitarianism[i]. Most in the audience were totally mesmerized by the Neo Fascist [Neo-Conservative] Nero look-alike character that demanded faith and fear and realized that Bassi was angry and fearful of the worldwide trend toward strong-arm governments. Others hated the show; some thinking Bassi was worshiping the Nero character for he did indeed walk the finest line between. But everyone loved watching Leo, shoulder in a cast, lie on his back, struggle to get a piano onto his feet and then juggle it for the feat that had placed him in the Guinness World Book of Records.

Michael Pedretti, Delighting the Senses, (Yardley,PA: Busting Boundaries, 2009)

Photograph of Leo Bassi © 2009 Jim R Moore – Leo Bassi Official Site. http://www.leobassi.com