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Clown
A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of performing as a clown is known as clowning or buffoonery, and the term "clown" may be used synonymously with predecessors like jester, joker, buffoon, fool, or harlequin. Clowns have a diverse tradition with significant variations in costume and performance. The most recognisable clowns are those that commonly perform in the circus, characterized by colorful wigs, red noses, and oversized shoes. However, clowns have also played roles in theater and folklore, like the court jesters of the Middle Ages and the jesters and ritual clowns of various indigenous cultures. Their performances can elicit a range of emotions, from humor and laughter to fear and discomfort, reflecting complex societal and psychological dimensions. Through the centuries, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harlequinade
''Harlequinade'' is an English comic theatrical genre, defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts". It developed in England between the 17th and mid-19th centuries. It was originally a slapstick adaptation or variant of the ''commedia dell'arte'', which originated in Italy and reached its apogee there in the 16th and 17th centuries. The story of the Harlequinade revolves around a comic incident in the lives of its five main characters: Harlequin, who loves Columbina, Columbine; Columbine's greedy and foolish father Pantaloon (evolved from the character Pantalone), who tries to separate the lovers in league with the mischievous Clown; and the servant, Pierrot, usually involving chaotic chase scenes with a bumbling policeman. Originally a mime (silent) act with music and stylised dance, the harlequinade later employed some dialogue, but it remained primarily a visual spectacle. Early in its dev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term "circus" also describes the field of performance, training, and community which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Newcastle-under-Lyme born Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus. In 1768, Astley, a skilled equestrian, began performing exhibitions of trick horse riding in an open field called Ha'penny Hatch on the south side of the Thames River, England. In 1770, he hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers, and a clown to fill in the pauses between the equestrian demonstrations and thus chanced on the format which was later named a "circus". Performances deve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ritual Clown
__NOTOC__ Ritual clowns, also known as sacred clowns,Cazeneuve (1957) p.254 quotation: are a characteristic feature of the ritual life of many traditional religions,Jones, Lindsay (2005''Encyclopedia of religion'', Volume 6 p.1498 quotation: Cazeneuve (1957) p.242 quotation: and they typically employ scatology and obscenities. Ritual clowning is where comedy and satire originated; in Ancient Greece, ritual clowning, phallic processions and ritual '' aischrologia'' found their literary form in the plays of Aristophanes.Reckford, Kenneth J. (1987''Aristophanes' Old-and-new Comedy: Six essays in perspective''pp.449-51, 461-67 quotation: Two famous examples of ritual clowns in North America are the ''Koyemshis'' (also known as ''Koyemshi'', ''Koyemci'' or ''Mudheads'') and the ''Newekwe'' (also spelled ''Ne'wekwe'' or ''Neweekwe'').Bonvillain, Nancy (200''The Zuni''pp.24-5 French sociologist Jean Cazeneuve is particularly renowned for elucidating the role of ritual clowns; reprisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jester
A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town markets, and the discipline continues into the modern day, where jesters perform at historical-themed events. Jester-like figures were common throughout the world, including Ancient Rome, China, Persia, and the Aztec empire. During the Post-classical history, post-classical and Renaissance eras, jesters are often thought to have worn brightly coloured clothes and Cap and bells, eccentric hats in a motley pattern. Jesters entertained with a wide variety of skills: principal among them were song, music, and storytelling, but many also employed acrobatics, juggling, telling jokes (such as puns and imitation), and performing Magic (illusion), magic tricks. Much of the entertainment was performed in a comic style. Many jesters made contemporary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kachina
A kachina (; Hopi language, Hopi: ''katsina'' , plural ''katsinim'' ) is a spirit being in the religious beliefs of the Pueblo people, Native Americans in the United States, Native American cultures located in the south-western part of the United States. In the Pueblo cultures, kachina rites are practiced by the Hopi, Hopi-Tewa and Zuni peoples and certain Keres People, Keresan tribes, as well as in most Pueblo tribes in New Mexico. The kachina concept has three different aspects: the supernatural being, the kachina dancers, and kachina dolls (small dolls carved in the likeness of the kachina, that are given only to those who are, or will be responsible for the respectful care and well-being of the doll, such as a mother, wife, or sister). Overview Kachinas are spirits or personifications of things in the real world. These spirits are believed to visit the Hopi villages during the first half of the year. The local pantheon of kachinas varies from pueblo community to community. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pueblo Clown
The Pueblo clowns (sometimes called sacred clowns) are jesters or tricksters in the Pueblo religion. It is a generic term, as there are a number of these figures in the ritual practice of the Pueblo people. Each has a unique role; belonging to separate kivas (secret societies or confraternities) and each has a name that differs from one mesa or pueblo to another. Roles The clowns perform monthly rituals, summer (for rain), November - for the gods, for curing society, black magic. Among the Hopi/Tewa there are four distinct clowns: the (also called , Tewa ); ; or ; and (or "arrivals"). In order for a clown to perform meaningful social commentary via humor, the clown's identity must usually be concealed. The sacred clowns of the Pueblo people, however, do not employ masks but rely on body paint and head dresses. Among the best known orders of the sacred Pueblo clown is the ''Chiffoneti'' (called in Hopi, in the Tewa language, among the Keres people, at Jemez, New Mexic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Court Jester
A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town markets, and the discipline continues into the modern day, where jesters perform at historical-themed events. Jester-like figures were common throughout the world, including Ancient Rome, China, Persia, and the Aztec empire. During the post-classical and Renaissance eras, jesters are often thought to have worn brightly coloured clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern. Jesters entertained with a wide variety of skills: principal among them were song, music, and storytelling, but many also employed acrobatics, juggling, telling jokes (such as puns and imitation), and performing magic tricks. Much of the entertainment was performed in a comic style. Many jesters made contemporary jokes in word or song about people or events well know ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mime Artist
A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a theatrical medium or as a performance art. In earlier times, in English, such a performer would typically be referred to as a mummer. Miming is distinguished from silent comedy, in which the artist is a character in a film or skit without sound. Jacques Copeau, strongly influenced by Commedia dell'arte and Japanese Noh theatre, used masks in the training of his actors. His pupil Étienne Decroux was highly influenced by this, started exploring and developing the possibilities of mime, and developed corporeal mime into a highly sculptural form, taking it outside the realms of naturalism. Jacques Lecoq contributed significantly to the development of mime and physical theatre with his training methods. As a result of this, the practice of mime h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in Ancient Greek theatre, theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing ''agon'' or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses which e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clown Society
Clown society is a term used in anthropology and sociology for an organization of comedic entertainers (or "clowns") who have a formalized role in a culture or society. Description and function Sometimes clown societies have a sacred role, to represent a trickster character in religious ceremonies. Other times the purpose served by members of a clown society is only to parody excessive seriousness, or to deflate pomposity. In the sense of how clowns function in their culture: * A clown shows what is wrong with the ordinary way of doing things. * A clown shows how to do ordinary things the "wrong way". By doing ordinary things "the wrong way" the clown reveals what would otherwise be perceived as the serious or true state of things in a different fashion. Members of a clown society may dress in a special costume reserved for clowns, which is often a ridiculously extreme or improper form of normal dress. Some members paint their body with horizontal black and white stripes, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heyoka
The heyoka (, also spelled "haokah," "heyokha") is a type of sacred clown Shamanism, shaman in the culture of the Sioux (Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota people, Dakota people) of the Great Plains of North America. The heyoka is a contrarian, jester, and satire, satirist, who speaks, moves and reacts in an opposite fashion to the people around them. Only those having visions of the thunder beings of the west, the , and who are recognized as such by the community, can take on the ceremonial role of the heyoka. Social role The is thought of as being in charge of above and below, or are more in charge of the dead, instead of the living. This manifests by their not always doing everything like the others. For example, if food is scarce, a may sit around and complain about how full he is; during a baking hot heat wave, a might shiver with cold and put on gloves and cover himself with a thick blanket. Similarly, when it is freezing he might wander around naked, complaining that i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Physical Theatre
Physical theatre is a genre of theatrical performance that encompasses storytelling primarily through physical movement. Although several performance theatre disciplines are often described as "physical theatre", the genre's characteristic aspect is a reliance on the performers' physical motion rather than, or combined with, text to convey storytelling. Performers can communicate through various body gestures (including using the body to portray emotions). Common elements Certain institutions suggest that all physical theatre genres share common characteristics, although individual performances do not need to exhibit all such characteristics to be defined as physical theatre. Research into the training or "work" of physical theatre artists cites an amalgamation of numerous elements adopted as a means to further inform the theatrical research/production. These elements include: * Inter-disciplinary origins, spanning music, dance, visual art, etc., as well as theatre * Challengin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
