__________________________

I've trained, I'm creating work -

am I a "professional"? Can my

artwork support me? How do I

find a community? An

audience? How many different

skills do I need to have to have

a career? What do I want to

express through my work?

Patrick Pennefather is a clown who plays in many different dimensions and likes to write many different kinds of music.

Until recently I had been confused by how I defined myself. There was a revolving door which had a number of exits but the inertia of the door moving forwards threw me into one room filled with zany colours. I played there with a giant red nose stuck to my face. The door never stopped revolving and soon sucked me back into its enticing pull. Whoosh. There I was in a completely different room pastiched with compositions of many wonderful artists, while a zillion musical styles blasted through 101 speakers. Through one window a modern dance evolved -, through another dramatic escapade; through another a noisy bar scene flashed and strobed, still another had a large screen on which moving pictures could be seen. Was that me there? Whoosh. A library. Books with my name on it beside other books. A computer screen flickered... a script? No... An improvisational manual... No? A manuscript about Canadians set in a horror house? Whoosh. A stage. There I could see myself performing silly magic tricks for children. Whoosh. A grand French circus. There I could see myself making myself making people laugh. The confusion settled. The door stopped. Now I was spinning on the inside. A calm gurgle of uncontrollable laughter resulted. To make people laugh. To learn to laugh. A comic with my hands. A master of none but my own.

My schedule is forcing me to be selective for the first time in my life. Music is my backbone. Clowning is my heart. I need the two to survive.

Somehow this business of music and clowning are coming together to inform me of what to do next. I am ambitious, relentless and need to take more risks.

Kimberly Tuson is an interdisciplinary artist currently working with Jumpstart Performance Society and Kinesis Dance.

I was really fortunate to be able to come right out of Simon Fraser University and to start performing with different choreographers. The dancers I ended up working with had totally open arms and were really supportive; now they're good friends. And even though they've been in the community for much longer than me it was really easy, with no strange jealousies. It's kind of word of mouth. Once I got on the inside, it just seemed to unfold from there.

boca del lupo theatre society creates innovative, original works of physical theatre which focus on an intense research and development process. its members are Sherry J. Yoon, Maiko Bae Yamamoto, Tamara McCarthy, Kevin MacDuff, James Long and Jay Dodge.

(kmacduff@sfu.ca)

Kevin

When we started planning our latest show. Terminal, we knew that we wanted to make a really good piece. So we knew that we wanted to rehearse it for three months. It took another three-month period before that of just raising money and doing everything that was needed to give us the space we needed to really work hard on a show.

Sherry

We didn't get our grants and money that we thought we might and that made us pull together. We kept the whole process self contained except for getting a director from outside. We decided to keep it all internal: we will do the lights, we will do the cueing, we will do everything.

Maiko

We didn't have a stage manager and we didn't have a production person.

Tamara

I think that it was great that we managed to do things that way because it shows that it's great to have people doing those things but you can do it all yourselves.

Maiko

We didn't have the option to say "screw it, we'll just pay someone to do it."

Jay

It's easier in Vancouver than in any other city I've been in, to produce your own work.