All projects in 2006

Gwendolyn Rooker and Elisa Lane return to Cairo, Egypt for three weeks of performances and workshops focused towards Sudanese refugees. We also perform again at some of the institutions we visited on our first trip to Cairo in February 2006. Continue reading →

Most days, I couldn’t wait to perform for the kids. I’d wake up so excited to do the show that I would be ready an hour early and have to sit around in my striped socks and goofy glasses saying, “is it time yet?”. What a clown nerd. Oh, and I finally got my clown a dress. Jamie says it makes my clown look more gentle. Which is good because my clown is kinda punchy. Also we’ve managed to work my bad magic in! Now it’s not embarrassing, it’s funny. – Alice Nelson Continue reading →

Our focus on this expedition is quite different from previous trips when we could afford to devote our energies entirely to working with the children. Beyond the routine of the shows and rehearsals, a lot of our time is spent developing group dynamics, teaching clown technique and stagecraft, and managing the logistics of feeding and organizing 8 performers. We are collaborating with more siSwatis than expected – Sibusiso, the group leader, has organized a troupe of 7 performers that have been rehearsing and practicing three days a week for the past month. Continue reading →

We have finished the last big day of our tour… we played four shows today for about 1,450 adults and kids in Oceanspring, Mississippi. In the Magnolia Park Elementary School 300 of the students lost their homes. Luckily, the two elementary schools here survived to give the students and teachers a sense of normalcy.
The destruction here is massive, buildings turned to rubble, or simply gutted from the storm surge. I have been so surprised that the destruction is so different from that of Louisiana, as well as the recovery effort. Many people who lost their homes were at least land-owners, not renters in Mississippi; so there are many fewer FEMA trailer parks. The community support is quite apparent, but there is still so much to do and so many people that need help.
Continue reading →

This trip to Haiti is the beginning of much more clown work to take place there. We plan to perform more, do more workshops, make more juggling balls, build a circus…and one day maybe even eat the moon… Continue reading →

A collaboration, five artists assisted by one photographer and one logistician composed the Clowns Without Borders team for the expedition. An interesting team with artists who present different skills, backgrounds and experiences. The show reflected this diversity and all the different audiences they encountered found laughter, dreams and magic. Continue reading →

Clowns Without Borders USA is fresh back from a trip to Guatemala. This trip was launched with the idea of bringing smiles to children and adults in the communities most affected by torrential rains and mudslides caused by Hurricane Stan in October 2005. Clowns Without Borders is an International organization that brings laughter and relief to people affected by war and disaster all over the globe.
Over 1,000 people were killed in Guatemala, mostly by tremendous mudslides that drowned houses and whole villages. Rebuilding and replanting are still very much in progress in these poor indigenous villages and many people are still on emergency food aid and in temporary housing. Continue reading →