Pauline Calmé
Pauline is an actor, teacher & director of Improvisational theatre, as well as a musician and an engineer.
She has performed in 150+ professional theatre shows (improvisation, clown, mask, contemporary and classical).
From 2013 to 2018 she performed in the successful long-form improv show Le Fauteuil as a member of the Parisian company Smoking Sofa. She was part of 15 improvisation festivals as teacher, performer and director in France, Slovenia, New Zealand (New Zealand Impro Festival 2017, Nelson Fringe Festival 2018) and Australia (Improvention 2017 in Canberra).
She has created 2 written solos (Correspondances unilatérales, Paulin.e.s) and she is currently performing an improvised one (Unleash the Beast).
I attended Ira’s workshop in Pula (Croatia) with 18 others professionals artists (clowns, dancers, acrobates…). It is my 4th workshop with him. I attended the 2-weeks project « Cubist clown cavalcade », 1-week project « Shakespeare and Commedia » and the 1-week workshop « Clown - 360 degrees » in Paris. Between these workshops, Ira does distant mentoring with me on my projects.
This last workshop in Pula confirmed what I already knew. Ira is a great teacher and a great clown. His method is healthy and a gift for any artist. When he teaches, he gives us a way to access our own creativity through very clear instructions. The four articulations method (3 loosening, 10 movements warm-up, 7 solos, 2 duets, 3 trio, 1 quartet) is a real treasure. It is very precious. A musician has to train everyday on his instrument, an acrobat has to practice acrobatics. But a clown… or an actor… how do we train? Now I know. I train with the four articulations. I can practice the 7 solos at home. I can take care of my own creativity! I made so much progress since I train with Ira, and the funny thing is I don’t need him to be there all the time. I need the four articulations. I think It makes his method even more powerful, because it is generous.
Ira is also really inspiring in his way of teaching. He is able to give to each of us something that help us to improve our art, regardless our background. His feedback are very very accurate. He can help a beginner as well as a professional artist. He watches what we do and he says what he sees. And because he worked all his life on physical theater, he sees a lot! He looks at the mechanics of the bodies. It’s the secret! He sees the nuclear second when we loose ourselves, when we give up, when we jump out of our skin. And then, step by step, we learn to see it ourselves.
When you work with Ira, you are in a safe space to struggle and improve your art.