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Clown Festival The annual Montreal Clown Festival celebrates the many colours and styles of the form for a week of shows, workshops, talks and more. (Winston Orzechowski\/Montreal Clown Festival) <\/p>\nThe Montreal Clown Festival brings an annual array of zany, edgy and bizarre to the city where clowning is becoming more and more popular. <\/p>\n
Open a car door, and a clown may exit. Open a theatre door in Montreal this week, and a clown may already be there.<\/p>\n
The Montreal Clown Festival is running this week with shows, workshops, discussions and other events hosted across the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot of circus festivals. We have a lot of theatre festivals. We have a lot of festivals, period. Why make room for the clowns? I think it\u2019s really worth it,\u201d said artistic director Vanessa Rigeaux. \u201cWhen people come, whether you\u2019re an artist in the festival, an audience member, or even our photographers have told me that, \u2018This is like the best time I\u2019ve had.\u2019 So you come, you leave feeling good, which is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clown Festival The annual Montreal Clown Festival celebrates the many colours and styles of the form for a week of shows, workshops, talks and more. (Winston Orzechowski\/Montreal Clown Festival) <\/p>\n
The gamut of events ranges from the fun to the twisted to the darkly hilarious.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of different kinds of clowning that maybe isn\u2019t that, like, really, you know, garish kind of like Ronald McDonald look, or whatever. There\u2019s all kinds. Some have red roses. Some don\u2019t,\u201d said Rigeaux.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Teacher Jean Saucier will be part of the week and runs the Zani Clown School. He started clowning when he was 12 years old and began teaching five years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all have a clown in ourselves. Everybody has a clown,\u201d he said. \u201cThe thing is to reveal it to the public, and I really focus also to connect with the audience, because [as a] clown, there\u2019s no fourth wall like in theatre, and we need the audience to know if we\u2019re touching or funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Jean Soucier Zani Clown and Comedy School director Jean Soucier discovered his love of the art form when he was 12 years old. (CTV News) <\/p>\n
He runs two programs through his school, including a seven-month intensive program, where his students study over four days a week. Students research characters, learn techniques both solo and with partners, how to play off stage and other aspects of the craft. <\/p>\n
Andraya Starnino is a student and was drawn to the art form through her past in the theatre.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the clown finds you,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s all sorts of people, people that are just naturally goofy… Anyone can really just come and try it, because it\u2019s just laughing and joy is a part of life, too, just as much as all the other horrible stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Andraya Starnino Andraya Starnino started studying clowning after a love of theatre and being goofy. (CTV News) <\/p>\n
The festival, for Starnino and others who appreciate the bizarre and hilarious, gives Montrealers a place to celebrate a unique form of entertainment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a really specific kind of art form,\u201d said Starnino. \u201cIt\u2019s very different from theatre because you connect with the audience. The audience is as much a part of the experience as the performer. It\u2019s because clown is really connecting. There\u2019s no fourth wall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s something that is really fun about about clowns,\u201d adds Rigeaux. \u201cThey\u2019re allowed to break the rules, and we need to see that sometimes, what are the consequences, or what are they pushing? Or should we question the rules that we\u2019ve been given?\u201d<\/p>\n