About the project
Clowndance is an interdisciplinary performance research project, exploring the meeting points of contemporary dance and theatrical clowning. The research is led by me, Kitty Winter, and it centres around my doctoral research which I began in 2021 at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK.
Dance and clown have a lot in common; they're physical art forms, often non-verbal, and they speak to their audiences' emotional minds, rather than the analytical, narrative part of the brain that watches a play or reads a novel. They're also ephemeral forms, experienced in the bodies of those who perform and those who watch. They're difficult to capture in words, so are often overlooked and misunderstood by people outside of their frame of reference.
For many years I have experimented with the two art forms, choreographing dance and movement material for clown-led productions, and introducing the fundamentals of clowning- playfulness and direct communication with the audience- into dance theatre work. I've seen the connections in fleeting moments and flashes of inspiration, I've felt the resonances between the forms, and the potential held in combining them, This research project is born out of frustration, that the most interesting and revelatory work in any devising or rehearsal process is compressed into the first few days, and must quickly be locked down into set material.
I'm hoping to uncover the points of connection and overlap between the two forms, and develop a new hybrid approach to physical performer training: Clowndance. I'm developing it through workshops and short courses, and I'm looking for participants; artists, performers, students and co-conspiritors to come with me on this journey. If that sounds like you, then do please get in touch.
You can find out about upcoming courses and workshops, and read more about the research, in my blog. You can see what happened in previous workshops and projects in the timeline of practical research.
Mark and the Marked (2022) Box Clever Theatre. Photo by Pip Thurlow
About me
I am a theatre choreographer, director and movement director, specialising in performance for young audiences. I trained in contemporary dance at Laban, then on the movement MA at RCSSD.
I work at every scale from school halls and rural tours to the West End and Broadway. I'm based in the East Midlands and I work regularly with Nottingham Playhouse, Derby Theatre and New Perspectives. I've worked as a choreographer with physical comedy master John Wright, and directed clown-based shows for Theatre Hullabaloo and Box Clever. The roots of Clowndance lie in the work I made for my own company WinterWalker between 2013 and 2020 - physical performance blending dance and clown, for children and families.
I'm also a lecturer in dance research, directing, devising and movement- I teach at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, and have taught for De Montfort University, Goldsmiths, SAE London and The London Animation Studio at Central St Martins. I run specialist workshops in Laban-based character movement; past clients include RCSSD, Rose Bruford, The Young Vic, The Almeida and the National Youth Theatre.
I work at every scale from school halls and rural tours to the West End and Broadway. I'm based in the East Midlands and I work regularly with Nottingham Playhouse, Derby Theatre and New Perspectives. I've worked as a choreographer with physical comedy master John Wright, and directed clown-based shows for Theatre Hullabaloo and Box Clever. The roots of Clowndance lie in the work I made for my own company WinterWalker between 2013 and 2020 - physical performance blending dance and clown, for children and families.
I'm also a lecturer in dance research, directing, devising and movement- I teach at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, and have taught for De Montfort University, Goldsmiths, SAE London and The London Animation Studio at Central St Martins. I run specialist workshops in Laban-based character movement; past clients include RCSSD, Rose Bruford, The Young Vic, The Almeida and the National Youth Theatre.