Clowning could be serious

Imagine staying for one or two weeks in a hospital. Consider that, during this time, you cannot even get out of bed. Consider that, the most contact with a different environment you will have, will be with a television, a cellphone or a few close relatives. Imagine those scenarios from the perspective of a five-year-old child. It sounds boring, doesn't it?

The clowns make hospitals better by avoiding trauma and deconstructing a stressful, hostile and impersonal place into a humane and enjoyable place.

To be able to connect and bring to the kids this new look, the clowns are supposed to follow rules. They are supposed to guarantee that the connection between the clown and the patient will be pleasant, without noise or trauma. This is why clowns are trained and qualified to deliver 100% success.

Professional clowns can bring games and entertainment in exchange for smiles, transforming the boring and hostile site into happy memories.

While many in the US associate the image of the clown with iconic Halloween beings, on other continents such as Asia, Europe and even Latin America the clown figure is still associated with the beauty and subtlety of the imaginary world, also related to childhood and words. Keywords: beauty, purity, creativity, joy, hope and faith.

The original clown figure is believed to have been lost in America due to Stephen King's fictional tales. This includes ultra-colorful beings such as Bozo the Clown, Ronald Mc Donalds and others. That character that in other cultures would be the principle for the adult audience, where he interpreted life's ironies, was implanted for American culture as a child audience character. With many colors, noise, information. So they often scare rather than please.

In Brazil, hospital clowns are quite common and are present in almost all hospitals in the largest cities in the country. The Esparatrapo group (former member of the group Inaiá Ambrosini) for over 10 years has visited the main hospitals, as well as artistic presentations in São Paulo (the largest city in Latin America) and in other states of Brazil. The experience adds up to 14 years of learning in pediatric, oncological and geriatric wards, as well as artistic performances in theaters.

The clown who performs and artistic interventions inside the hospital must undergo training that extends beyond understanding the hospital environment, such as hygiene, pathologies, etc. The hospital clown is trained to know the clown figure in a wide, historical and practical way. He acts in pairs, or threesomes, never more than 3, never less than 1 member. In addition, the clown must wear minimal makeup, do not wear perfume, do not make alarming noises, do not carry balloons, do not enter without the permission of the child, do not speak or do anything that generates stress (such as religion, sports teams, politics). All of these rules make the work specific to a hospital clown, and ensure the clown's visit is memorable.

This is me, Inaia, known as Coriolanda, aka Coco. I have been studying and developing clown skills since 2002, when I first got the challenge to entertain children in a cancer hospital. Aside from all the discoveries and challenges in my life, clown is the language that has given me a greater sense of self-knowledge and joy, in addition to thousands of other benefits.