Ever wonder if you have an inner clown? Find out this weekend.

When I was growing up my Mom would often threaten to send me to "clown school in Florida." She probably didn't know that my actions may have just been my inner clown trying to get out and - just maybe - some time in clown school may have led me down a path similar to Krin Haglund. On September 8 and 9 Haglund is offering Madisonians the opportunity to discover their inner clowns with a workshop at the Madison Center for Cultural and Creative Arts. Haglund, a Madison native, has been a professional clown for six years and spent the previous four years performing with Montreal’s Cirque Eloize “Rain” - one of the most critically acclaimed circuses in the world. Haglund was hand picked by director Daniele Finzi Pasca after he saw Haglund's work with the Bay Area’s New Pickle Circus. She was the first woman to perform the Cyr Wheel (the single wheel) professionally.

Haglund said she is coming back to her hometown after she suffered a fall, "my highwire was rigged incorrectly and the rigger didn’t have the lines. I’m recovered, humbled and completely committed to expanding the art of emotive circus. I plan to move back to Madison and start my circus operations here."

The first part of that move to Madison includes the clowning workshop. She said that while growing up in Madison there was little opportunity for actual circus training, "As a kid I trained at MadTown Twisters, Ballet Madison and then Kanopy for 5 years. My professional circus training came from San Francisco’s Circus Center and the Clown Conservatory, as well as many professional workshops
in Montreal."

However, it was the ballet training in Madison that gave Haglund her first clues that she may be destined for a...more amusing route, "As a dancer, my missteps and quirky moves were a liability. When I found clowning, my strange way of moving became my signature."

Haglund says everyone has a clown inside, "Anyone with flaws can be a clown. The trick is understanding what makes you vulnerable and showing that onstage. Most people fit naturally into one of the large groups of clowns--high status, 'White-faced,' or low status, "Auguste," clowns.

This requires first understanding and then exaggerating what makes you unique.

Children are tricky, though. Kids are naturally very funny, but when they try to be funny they are not. It takes a lot of light-hearted repetition to get them to look "naturally" funny."

The type of clowning that she teaches is different from the clowns you may see at a three-ring circus passing through town, she explains, "I work in a very natural type of clowning influenced by European, one-ring traditions. The movements can be small and subtle and I encourage my students to talk to the audience. American-style three ring shows require the clown to be huge in their gestures and gags.

Personally, I don't wear a red-nose, although I have in the past."

She also encourages anyone who may have coulrophobia (a fear of clowns) to come out to the workshop. She insists that clowns "don't bite."

More information on the workshop:

Introduction to Clown
Intensive workshop led by Krin Maren Haglund
Saturday, 8 September 200, 10-1:00, 2-5:00 pm
Sunday, 9 September 2007, 1-5:00 pm
Madison Center for Cultural and Creative Arts, 306
West Dayton Street, 608-251-ARTS
Enrollment: $125.00 Limited Space
Please email

to register.
Movement or performance experience is helpful, but
enthusiastic adult and teen beginners are welcome!