Category Archives: The Arts

Local, national and international arts news

Why Come Clowning?

TO CONNECT TO others and yourself; to open yourself to share vulnerability and explore the human condition; to see the possibilities of what lies on the other side of fear through being. Drop your seriousness, give your Inner Critic time off, open yourself to wonder and reconnect with your inner child. Improvisation and play. There are many types of clowning from circus to children’s parties; what I teach is more akin to theatrical clowning with a heavy dose of self-exploration. It is about our well-being and connection to one another, the audience and the NOW. Workshops include: Continue reading Why Come Clowning?

If Music Be . . .

DURING THE PAST year I have spent many hours exploring a great variety of music. This time has been spent with a friend who has a great library of CDs and very wide musical tastes. My knowledge and understanding has certainly improved. But anyone today could take the same journey. Why? How? Because the sheer volume and variety of music available to us all is amazing. Modern audio technology enables us to access a huge amount of contemporary music and to recover from the archives almost any music that anyone has ever recorded. It is a fantastic facility. Orsino, in Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ asked if he could have “excess of it” (music). We can have whatever style we enjoy. Continue reading If Music Be . . .

Halloween Hooligan

I used to live in a retirement block not a million miles from Seven Dials. There was one poor resident who wandered the corridors in the wee hours, ringing doorbells, then disappearing before the luckless occupant answered the door. The culprit was never identified.

They seek it here, and hunt it there
and chase that phantom caller everywhere.

‘Cos late-rung bell, or midnight knock
disturbs your dream-filled slumbers with a shock.

We search the roof, the lift-shaft too,
but not a hint of hide or hair shows through. Continue reading Halloween Hooligan