My story, my oroboros
SOLVE ET COAGULA
Life feeds of itself
I will tell you my story, taking care of the details.
I love to dwell on the details,
because I think people can be tasted by them.
Enjoy of my story!
I was born in Rome in 1968. I worked as a police woman in Italy for about seventeen years.
Tired and unhappy of that work so I decided to look for an hobby to enjoy my free time and in 1995 I enrolled in the three-year Theatre school "La Scaletta" in Rome, earning her diploma in 1998.
I found this theatre school on the audition day and obviously I wasn’t ready to play anything as I had never studied or learned a monologue or anything like that before.
I was just sitting quietly in the theatre, watching other people’s auditions and thinking “I’m here just to watch, no doubt, he’ll never call me!", but Mr. Diotajuti, the school director, called me to take the “exam”!
I tried to explain the misunderstanding, but Mr. Diotajuti listened to me and then h told me that I shouldn’t worry because he was able to see and detect a good student from a simple interview, without a performance.
The interview took about 30 minutes and at last the director “saw” something in me; so a week later she began to learn the “secrets of playing” at the drama school “La Scaletta”. The training was three years long.
I discovered my talent in singing, so my voice became my best friend and my most precious treasure for many years. Thanks to that skill I deserved in 2007 to join the cast of “Fattoria dei Comici” (“The Comedians’ Farm”) a group directed by Serena Dandini and Claudio Fois, as part of a big project featured by Ambra Jovinelli, a very important theatre in Rome.
Through Claudio Fois, later became my husband, currently ex-husband, writer and comedy expert, I knew my love for comedy and I created a few funny characters for the stage which were good for TV too, so later in 2007 I was called to work in two Italian TV shows: “Tribbù”, on the national channel RAI2, and “Seven Show” on a local channel.
When Claudio wrote his pieces for comedians, I read them with curiosity, learning the secrets of his profession. I everything I learned from him later served me to be independent and able to direct other people. I was learning to have a general vision of the show, of the comic rhythm, I had understood how to select the useful elements to create a sketch, without having to experiment it before. I had developed an intuition that allowed me to direct without hesitation. I can say today that Claudio was a teacher for me and he was above all the one who helped me to leave my old police life to become a clown!
We separated in 2016 because our journey together was over.
Step by step, as the art was getting stronger in my soul, in 2005 I took a 15 days long clown workshop, which was very decisive for my future and my life. The workshop was the “Master Class” with Jango Edwards, an actor, comedian and first of all a Clown, really wild and unconventional, known as a living legend in the world of Clowns.
This masterclass it was recommended to me by a friend of mine and stand-up comdian Sarah Amitrano. She told me I had to meet a clown, Jango Edwards, because that meeting would change my life. She insisted so much that I decided to enroll in the masterclass that Jango would hold in France. Sarah was right, Jango changed my life. The Clown had became the dream to realize.
I fell in love with that new kind of comedy so I decided to leave forever my old, safe, well-paid job to become an artist “with a red nose”. That was only the start. I chose to live my life and my soul as a Clown but I would study and build myself constantly as this is the main rule of this beautiful, funny and hard “game”.
Troughout 2006 in France, I attended courses with Laura Herts, a very good clownesse and with Leo Bassi, Johnny Melville, John Towsen and Carlo Colombaioni and other Clowns. I never stopped to study singing.
Towards the end of 2006 began to collaborate with the “Associazione di promozione sociale” conducted by Dr. SilvanaPera, Director of the Department of study and research of Sophia University of Rome. The Association aims to create spaces where it is possible to examine issues related to personal and social history, especially with youth.
In 2007 I worked as a theatre coach-trainer and director for the theatre at Rebibbia jail in Rome for prisoners with problems of drug addiction.
After the Masterclass in Cannes I started to create some satirical skits: "the Death clown” and "CondomIza Price", about politics and the George W. Bush administration and also in other ideas without political connotations ("Striptease", "death of a swan” "the opera singer”), as well as on an exceedingly eccentric character called "the Moralist".
I decided to show all these sketches to my prime clown teacher, Jango Edwards, who spurred me to create other pieces and make a one woman show. This was the start of the professional collaboration between me and Jango.
I prepared the skits in Rome then tested them in Barcelona where Jango “cleaned” and put his “final cut” on my job. At last, I showed all my work at the "Cabaret Cabrón” nights, an informal unconventional show in a small Barcelona theatre and in other in other theater spaces. The process of creation took the whole of 2007.
The title of this show, "Zero Zero clown", was Jango’s idea; he saw my show in a dream and it was called like that. On this indication, I, working in team with Claudio Fois, started to write and delineate the story, the character and the “color” of Zero Zero clown, a secret agent like (but smarter then) James Bond.
I have seen all the 007 films and all the possible parodies, versions, skectch. The adventures of 007 fascinate me!
A preview was performed in Rome; later, the show was included in the cycle “Very important women” at Almazen theatre in Barcelona.
In 2008 I moved to Barcelona 2008 to attend a mime course at the “Mimo corporal dramatic school”.
In this beautiful city I lived about 8 years to continue training, working as a clown and to make professional alliances.
In 2009, in Barcelona, I founded the female clown company “Las Enclownadas” with Daniela Conte e Palma Morena Greco , creating two shows of social satire “Las Noches de los Pezones Locos” and “Las Aventuras de Las Supersisters". The years with "Las Enclownadas" have been very important. I put everything I had learned from Claudio and that I was still learning from Jango and other teachers. We have created numbers of social satire on female themes, mixing the clown with the rhythm of television comedy. We were beautiful on stage and full of energy! I am proud de Las Enclownadas.
In 2010, in Rome, I founded the clown ensemble “Clowntime”, where artists can experiment and try out new ideas. But while with "Las Enclownadas" the construction of numbers was very "thought" and everything in the smallest detail was directed and controlled, in Clowntime group I took large moments of improvisation. The game was the basis of the cabaret. During those years I allowed myself the freedom of improvisation. I remember the beautiful "Teatro delle Palline" in Rome, it was full of wooden puppets created by a great carver. The theater was magical and we were pioneers of cabaret clowns in Rome. Few people organized this type of cabaret and we were among the very few!
In the same year I started to participate in street festivals with my own second solo show “The Yaya Clown’s adventures”. The first street festival in which I performed was "Clown&Clown Festival". I keep a wonderful memory of this festival. I participated in this festival again in 2014 as guest to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the event.
Since 2010 I started joining Jango in some workshops to give students the "spiritual preparation" of the "Nouveau Clown Institute" (N.C.I. Barcelona) through the Osho meditation. Thanks to the encouragement of Jango I started to hold workshops on the Clown. I started taking courses with reiki and meditation, then I started to insert exercises that I learned from others, but I mixed them with my knowledge of Osho, Reiki, flower therapy and what I learned from an Indian shaman from the tribe of black feet. By attending the courses that Jango was doing I started to understand more clearly how to accompany people in the knowledge of the clown, until to create my own courses, in which I also added art therapy.
I like to hold courses because the creation process is truly personal. Something magical happens the participants become alchemists of themselves!
A clown tries to smile and to snatch a smile
in the worst situation
to embody the right to life and happiness
After a lot of street and theatre performances in Italy and in Spain with my own second solo show: “The Yaya Clown’s adventures”,In 2009, created my third show called “The secret Annexe” (“L’alloggio segreto” in Italian), based on the Anne Frank’s Diary. It’s a clown show full of poetry and a lot of suggestion for reflection in a light but deep way. This show was included in the Very Important Woman Cycle organized by the Teatro Almazen in Barcelona, in the Clownin Women festival (Vienna) in 2015 and in Bolina Festival Internacional de Palhacas (Portugal).
In 2014 the director Tommaso Magnano, impressed by my history (from the police officer to the clown) made the documentary, under the title “Fool of Life” about the art of the Clown, where my story is the guiding principle to tell the universe of the clownerie through the direct testimonies of the greatest clowns of the clown world.
In October-November 2015 I participated, with my comic character "Suor Domizzata", to the show "Delirio" with the "Horror Circus" I was satisfied that I worked in a circus because I really learned how to handle the scene and to play with the public.
In 2016 I graduated in Art Therapy and I have created numerous workshops on clowns using Art Therapy as a means of access to the universe of Clown, and for the creation of sketches. This is what makes my workshop particular, especially in the creation process.
This gave me the opportunity to collaborate with several associations of clown therapy as a trainer.
One of these, with which I collaborate on an effective and continuous basis is "Teniamoci per Mano" which is based in Italy.
In 2017 I finalized the show “Yaya in the Moon”, my mature clown show based on the Yaya character.
The realization of this show has been long and tortuous. I started to work in it in 2012.
In 2015 I presented the show in Avignon. It was not a success to partecipate in that festival because the show was not ready and I was not strong enough to participate in a festival so competitive and with such a delicate performance. I have reworked "Yaya in the Moon" and after two years I re-presented it In Piacenza (Italy) in "Dietro il Naso Rosso" festival. This time was a success! Finally the show had become as I wanted and for sure I had become stronger as a clown and as a person.
This show it is very important for me, because it is inspired by a fairy tale that my mom always told me when I was a child. She told me that I, from the Moon, had chosen her as a mother and then I came on Earth. I am a "mammon" as we say in Italy. When I'm with her it's always party!
I have been collaborating, as assistant director at “Nouveau Clown Institute” (N.C.I. Barcelona) during the past 8 years. In addition, I am a permanent member of the N.C.I. faculty where I present many classes such as "Clown Chi", "White Nose" and "Buffoons-Sacred & Profane". I currently teach my own clown workshop and, together with Claudio Cretaro I hold courses in Business Training Courses. Our original "Empathink" method involves the use of the best known training techniques, such as Role Playing and the techniques of the comic language of the clown. I directed "Homeless" and "La Terza Gamba" by Andrea di Cosimo. This last show won the "Takimiri Prize" in the edition of the Clown&Clown festval 2021.
I deeply love the Clown because, in my opinion, it is possible to find the whole beauty and the essence of the human being in him.