clown classes

my clowns are looking good.

today we did a "show and tell" at the end of our 6-hour long day of CIRCUS ACROSS CULTURES. clown noses have all been handed out, every one's given "falling down" a shot. several people have "walking into a wall" down flat. and there are a handful of clowns who've started working with full-costume already...filling out their clown with vocal sounds, signature gestures and a way of walking that's funny and all their own.

very interesting how the groups from the two schools are mixing (or not mixing). international school students are a funny breed. a lot of them won't claim any country or city as their home, they are here in INDIA because of something their parents do, and it's just one stop, on their life's journey. feelings of displacement, socialization, status...

you should have seen it, the first day...waiting for the students from across the street to show (reminder: half the students in the workshop are from the american embassy school, the other half from the encampment/slum across the street)...we were all in a circle, mostly girls, mostly white, a few from korea, one or two indian..but mostly girls, all but two...and then in come the other half...more than doubling our size (we weren't strict with numbers) and they are ALL boys. ALL OF THEM. they walk in, checking out the elaborate gymnasium, high ceilings, squeaky clean floors, everything looks like it's out of an american movie, like they are all visiting SAVED BY THE BELL or something. they take their seats in the circle, and it's the embassy school girls who react the most. they become shy, judgemental, they scoot closer together. they whisper.

but that was the first day.

today, they were all playing together, all in funny clothes, and expressions, funny walks and voices, their gender and their social status and class disappeared, they suddenly were all: CLOWNS.

we practiced stage slaps. everyone had a partner. we practiced emotional responses, sharing how we feel about something to an audience. i set up an obstacle course and everyone walked through alone, relating to the objects i lay out for them. choosing, one by one, whether to be afraid of the glove or stuffed panda for instance, whether to fall in love or cry hysterically at the globe or Frisbee...all "onstage"...all "in the scene." they were great.

one girl is hesitant. she steps back and watches. sometimes she makes comments under her breath. she isn't a happy girl. i ask her if she's okay, and she shrugs and says "fine." i wonder what keeps her coming back (it's her 3rd day) what is it she's waiting to unlock within herself.

we moved from the hotel to the hostel, because the hotel didn't have a room for us last night. now we go back to the hotel, and stay for 3 nights, before switching back to the hostel for only one more night, and then back to the hotel. it's crazy, but we like the hotel so much, it makes such a big difference when you like where you sleep.

.........

watching on the wall a slide show of pictures, the trip thus far flashing by. thinking, this is what it looks like to the people who weren't there. happy faces, kids and performances. memories on the road. things we wanted to remember, we took those parts with us, the rest just doesn't have to exist. and i like that, i like letting go of the parts we didn't capture. i like making it into something else in retrospect. something i'll love to reflect on for years. and i will, i know it, i will.