Date: Wednesday, December 4
Time: Doors open at 11:00
GM Luncheon: 11:30 to 14:00*
Online Streaming: 11:30 to 12:50
*Lunch will be served after the performance and presentation.
Venue: <GM & Luncheon>: FCCJ (Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan)
Address: Fifth floor of Marunouchi Nijubashi Building, Marunouchi 3-2-3 Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005
ACCESS link https://www.fccj.or.jp/article/access-contact
Online Streaming : A Zoom link will be shared with attendees in the registration. confirmation email and also in a reminder email on the day prior to the event.
*We ask for your kind understanding in advance of the unlikely possibility of Zoom streaming cancellation, in the event of unforeseen circumstances.
Fee: <GM Luncheon > Members 7,000 yen / Guests 8,000 yen
Non-refundable after December 1
<Online Streaming> : If you reside in Japan: CWAJ charges a 1,000 yen non-refundable Zoom fee for hybrid meetings. This fee helps to cover virtual operation costs for CWAJ hybrid meetings, including IT support. If you reside overseas: no payment is required.
RSVP: https://cw3saoj.wildapricot.org/event-5935470
<GM & Luncheon> By November 30
<Online Streaming> By December 2
***Members wishing to register guests: please contact the General Meeting Managers (generalmeetingmanagers@cwaj.org) for the registration code. With this code, guests can sign up through “non-members / online.”
Contact: generalmeetingmanagers@cwaj.org
Profile
RONE and Gigi became a theater clown duo in 1990 after graduating from Ringling Ros. and Barnum & Bailey Bown College, an American circus school, in Japan. They started up Open Sesami, a clown theatrical troupe, where RONE, whose father was a Kabuki actor, is the business manager and Gigi, who attended a clown school from 1989, is the artistic director.
The duo decided to go to Russia in 1991 after being inspired by Mimikrichy, a Ukrainian six-member clown troupe. In 1992, the duo went to Ukraine to study more Russian style clowning and then to the U.K. to study clowning and mime from Nola Rae, a famous clown and mime artist based in London. After attending the University of Wisconsin Clown Camp in 1997, they became instructors at the UW Clown Camp for 14 years. Winning numerous awards like the Best Clown Award at Clowns International (U.K),First Prize in Portland Comedy Fest (U.S.A) and the prestigious Silver Clown Award Monte Carlo international Clown Festival (Monaco). They have performed in South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, India,Russia, Ukraine, Monaco, the U.K., the U.S.A. and Canada.
Summary
RONE and Gigi, Theater Clown Duo (Japanese Theater Clown Company OPEN SESAME)
The word clown refers to a Western art form that was not imported into Japan when ballet, opera, and Western theater were introduced. Just as opera is called opera and ballet is not called Western dance, clown has no Japanese translation. A clown and a pierrot are similar, but they are different professions. Just as karate and judo are different, so are noh, kyogen, and kabuki. Clowns are sometime translated as daidougei or pierrot as it has an image of street performers. In Europe and the United States, where clowning originated, it is recognized as an art form, like opera.
Clown is an art form with a philosophy not easily found in Japan. Clowning is a traditional art form with a systematic system of expressions. Not only are clowns well-versed in mime, juggling, dancing, singing, acting, and many other forms of entertainment, but they also communicate with the audience and create a whirlwind of laughter on stage.
Facing the reality of the world, RONE and Gigi work on creating comic scripts to make people feel happy. Clowns value diversity and strive to move the hearts of those who are present. During their training abroad, they were taught that “a sense of laughter is like a sense of taste; everyone has different tastes.” Even if it may not be to everyone’s taste, they continue to improve their art form for the sake of those who need it. That love of art inspires RONE and Gigi to work extremely hard to develop their own special form of clowning.
General Meeting Team:
Director: Mio Ikenaga
Program Coordinators: Emi Doi and Ko Iwata
Meeting Managers: Shigeko Nagaoka and Chamodi Withana
