Interdisciplinary Artist Clown
Home Partner: Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
E-mail: jkgordoon@gmail.com
Phone: 412-389-5257
Artist Bio:
From the bright lights of Broadway to a dilapidated amusement park in Bangkok; from a movie set on a Caribbean cruise ship to a pediatric AIDS unit in a South Bronx Hospital; and from the Big Apple Circus tent at Lincoln Center to the People's Gymnasium in Tianjiin, China, Jeffrey Gordon's 25-year career as Clown Gordoon has taught him that shared laughter is a celebration of being human.
The character and antic art of clown as a purveyor of laughter has been handed down as a folk tradition and interdisciplinary study that can be practiced by people of all ages and backgrounds. Gordon will introduce the art of clowning through various circus skills, group movement techniques, costuming, makeup, properties, and puppetry. He will also feature students' already existing skills to invoke delight and laughter with physical comedy. From initial "Imagineering" to a culminating experience, participants will become familiar with the historically classic routines and be encouraged to produce their own sketches. Teachers will find readily available curriculum connections to history, entertainment, theater, creative processes, group dynamics, and expressive and communication arts.