Course conditions | escoladeclown

How to enrol on a course

The basic requirements are: the commitment and interest necessary to complete the course. No previous experience is necessary.

The minimum age of students is 18. We admit up to 16 students to the course.

Please send us an email indicating your interest. We will let you know if there are places available.

To reserve your place, you will then need to pay the course cost. Please read the conditions of the course before making your payment. Payment of the course implies that you have read and accepted these conditions.

via PayPal: escoladeclown@gmail.com

(option Family and Friends)

Or to:

Account name: Clara Guillermina Huerta Cenoz

IBAN: BE33967299476146

Bank name: Wise

BIC TRWIBEB1XXX

Bank address: Avenue Louise 54, Room S52, Brussels 1050, Belgium

Please include your name as a reference.

Please note: any exchange fees or sending charges or commissions should be covered by the sender, or reimbursed to the school.

Please check before sending the money, that no deductions have been made to the total due to currency exchange.

The price includes:

The hours of class every day corresponding to each course in the tent or surroundings at Cal Clown.
The use of facilities at Cal Clown: the tent with costumes and props, the Clown Library and DVD library, wifi.
Transport to Figueres when this is a performance or clown practice.
When accommodation is at Cal Clown this may also include use of bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and kitchen utensils and equipment, as well as water, gas and electricity supply).

Price does not include:

Meals not included in the course description (see each course for details)
The price does not include expenses of transport for leisure or shopping trips to Figueres.
Students who come with their own vehicle should be prepared on occasions to help with trips, and the cost of petrol will be covered by the school (for shows and classes) or the group of students (for leisure and shopping trips).

Staying at Cal Clown

A course at Cal Clown is, for the vast majority, an unforgettable and unmatched experience. What makes it such a special experience is due to several factors which are rarely found at the same time and on a Clown course. Firstly, the Escola is situated in beautiful place, in the middle of the woods in the Alt Empordà, very close to the River Fluvià and to the Costa Brava. Cal clown, the name of the country house which is the centre of the Escola, is a magical place isolated from the noise of the mundane world, which allow you to concentrate on the process of learning Clown. Another factor is that at the Escola the students live together all day, and everyone living here is there for a common reason: their love for the Clown and for the values incarnated in it. Moreover, at Cal Clown we aim to encourage love and respect towards nature and animals, meals are vegan and students often discover a new way of eating and cooking which they then maintain in their lives. As well, we recycle used water for the toilets, making students more aware of our use of water. At Cal Clown we understand the Clown as a wide concept which embraces Love, Respect, Truth, Honesty, Heart, Freedom, Autonomy and Responsibility, and we aim to live those concepts both in and out of class. As it is a process of liberation for each person, becoming Clowns not only increases our happiness and personal development, but also makes us more aware and respectful with our environment, and makes us more capable of transmitting these values to others, imbuing them with our Love and Joy. If to this we add a more self-sufficient and ecological lifestyle, we have what for us would be an ideal world, and in this way, bit by bit and with humility, we try to create a little version of what a future society could be, freer, more loving, happier, more human and more connected to nature. And that is what Cal Clown is, or, what some have called it, “Payaíso” (from the Spanish for ‘clown’ = ‘payaso’ and for ‘heaven’ = ‘paraíso’).

Conditions for courses

Food made and consumed at Cal Clown is always vegan.

At Cal Clown live several dogs. We ask that you treat the animals with respect. The dogs are very affectionate with people and share generously their living space with visitors, and we expect that you treat them with the same care.

At Cal Clown nature is important to us and we do all we can to treat it with respect, we believe in recycling and we ask you to recycle during your stay with us. We have containers for each type of rubbish.

Students use outdoor ecological toilets, or bathrooms in the house when available. In the latter case, we re-use the water from the washing machine, from washing up and from rainfall in order to flush the toilets instead of using cisterns.

At Cal Clown we respect animal life and we do not support the cruelty of the system created for their consumption. We are vegan, and we ask you to do the possible to follow this diet during your stay with us. We will appreciate your effort!

At Cal Clown there are some spaces and objects which are not for students’ use. These will be indicated on arrival for a course, and students must respect these during their stay.

Sometimes there are exchange workers at Cal Clown helping students with the work, though this does not exempt students from their responsibilities, described in detail below.

Students are responsible for the state of all the spaces they use and the objects at their disposition. They must keep all of them in good state and clean, including all kitchen utensils and all the props in the tent.

Daily tasks will be organised as a group, such as tidying communally-used spaces. It is important that all students understand that looking after Cal Clown is part of the course, and that the positive nature of the Clown includes doing this with joy.

Before leaving Cal Clown students will tidy all spaces in use and will leave them in the same state of order and cleanliness as they found them on arrival. The final day of the course includes time put aside for this work, and all students shall participate together until this is finished.

Students will be expected to collect firewood (in winter) and drinking water when necessary.

Smokers visiting Cal Clown will be completely responsible for the correct disposal of their cigarette butts, and will use the dedicated containers, and will avoid any butt ending up on the ground, knowing the high risk of fire in the region of l'Empordà and in order to respect Cal Clown.

We ask that if anyone is in the habit of smoking joints, that this be done only at night in order not to affect your learning in class, if abstinence is not possible, and in spaces away from the house. We venture to recommend the use of the best “drug” there is, joy, any time and any place!

At Cal Clown there are many objects at the disposition of visitors. Parents will be responsible at all times for their children’s use of them, and in case of negligence will be required to be responsible for the repair or replacement of any damaged object.

Equally if a student damages material of the school by not being careful enough, they will be asked to repair it or replace it.

Finally, all students are requested to respect Clara’s limits of space, rest and privacy. Outside of the hours of class and school activities, please remember that Clara is not in the role of teacher or school director, and consequently is not obliged to be at the service of students, even though she may be present in the same space.

Pictures and videos of the work will be taken during the course. Unless a student gives notice previously, we will assume we have permission to use in our publicity images of the students performing or doing exercises.

Cancellations:

If a student decides to leave a course early for personal reasons, or not to attend a course already paid for, no refund will be given.

In some cases, a future course may be offered, if the reason not to attend or leave is due to extenuating circumstances.

Minimum no. of students: 6. When there are less than 6 students confirmed for a course, it may be cancelled by the Escola de Clown. Notice will be given no later than 15 days before a course begins to those students who have paid for the course. A refund or another equivalent course will be offered. We apologise, but the Escola cannot be responsible for any costs incurred by students such as travel or accommodation arrangements.

Your attendance on the course presumes the full acceptance of these conditions. Failure to observe these conditions will mean that you will have to leave the course. In this case, no refund will be given.

Cal Clown is a place for you: If you like to enjoy yourself, have fun and laugh at yourself; if you like nature; if you like animals and value the affection they give you; if you are open-minded and ready to be surprised positively by life; if you think that we all need to change some things in order to create a better world for everybody; if you enjoy working and are responsible; if you are ready to open yourself to giving and receiving Love; if you love Clown! If you respond “yes” to at least three of the following, you might be very happy here!

Cal Clown is not a place for you: If you are uncomfortable with aspects of nature such as insects, heat, cold, earth, to the extent that it would affect your experience here; if you need everything rigorously planned out beforehand and improvisation makes you uncomfortable even when it is for the good of the group; if you dislike dogs and are not prepared to share space with them; if you are not prepared to tidy up and clean what you make dirty; if you resist being set limits, or being set limits by a woman; if you are bothered by having to throw buckets of water into toilets instead of using flushing cisterns; if you believe that someone with dreadlocks cannot work seriously and methodically; if you don’t want to or cannot abstain from eating meat during your stay here. If you are in agreement with two or more of the following points, and are not willing to change that, we think there may be better places for you other than Cal Clown!

We reserve the right to refuse admission.