Shoulder Exercises and Acrobatics!

I have just finished doing some exercises to try and help my sore shoulder. They are partly what I remember from Pilates, Mum and the rest made-up. My shoulder started getting sore a few weeks before we came, I think feeling a bit tense plus my awful posture. Kirsten's mum Ena incredibly kindly bought me some MBT shoes just before we came out (they are the thick soled shoes which are uneven and make you stand upright like a Masai warrior.) I've been walking about in them, they make me feel a bit like Baby Spice in the 90s and they feel incredibly good for my back, so I really think they'll help a lot.

A bit about Richard's course peut etre? Mais oui! It is called the Ecole Philippe Gaulier. Philippe Gaulier trained with Jacques Lecoq and then set up his own school in 1980, and he teaches physical theatre, movement and clowning. He taught in England for about 10 years before returning here in 2002, and he continues to teach in English. Lecoq died in 1999 and I think Philippe Gaulier's course is very famous in this field of acting. And France has a tradition of physical theatre, mime and clowning.

The year long course is broken into sections of 5 weeks each, and this first section is 'le jeu'. In the morning, they have a movement teacher. Richard said yesterday they were starting to learn handstands, and they do a lot of things in twos. He's already had to stand on a partner's legs, and hoist a partner on his back. It sounds like a serious workout, and fairly acrobatic. So I think he really will be doing backflips and things by the end of the year! Perhaps we will return in a comedy way with him all face painted and flipping down the Eurostar platform lugging me and my lame shoulder on his back. Comedic, but also tragic - the cornerstones of any good clown routine.

(We went out for supper with Richard's friend who is also doing the Gaulier course and his girlfriend, and they told us that apparently each clown's face paint is totally individual, and when they invent their own face they paint it on an egg as proof that it is theirs alone, and the eggs are all in museum somewhere, can't remember where but will look it up! And then... scrambled eggs for all! Just kidding, they'd be bound to be off by now.)

In the afternoon Philippe teaches 'jeu' with them. There are about 40 students in total, from lots of different nationalities, and they've been split into two classes. Philippe speaks with a strong French accent and wears a beret. Richard says he speaks his mind, so if he thinks something is rubbish, he will say so. There is a 'bad student' bench where most of them end up regularly. Being BORING is a bad thing to be, so they are to avoid that, and denounce it in each other too. I think it all sounds really interesting, sometimes funny and very scary.

Off to do some drawings, will post any decent ones, and also want to start taking photos to add to this blog. Thanks for your comments, they have emboldened me!

A bientot!