June 2008, 15 Gesundheit! Institute clowns participated in the third annual Gesundheit! Ecuador clown trip. We were hosted by Ecuadorian clown group” Narices Rojas”, from Guayaquil with logistical support of Quito-based “Fundacion Cecilia Rivenderia”. Both these organizations worked very hard to give Gesundheit! clowns an amazing experience. Although we clowned in Guayaquil, in hospitals and special needs facilities, most of our time involved clowning in the Galapagos, the archipelago of volcanic islands noteworthy for their unique plant and animal wildlife. There are small towns on three of the islands and we visited two of these, Santa Cruz and San Cristobal, where we clowned in schools, hospitals, and two large public gatherings celebrating International Children's Day. Our clowns, a collaborative collection of clowns from Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, Canada, and the United States, were surrounded by throngs of children and adults in these large group settings.
Large group clowning requires a different skill set than does bedside clowning, particularly when children are involved. The "piranha" effect occurs spontaneously when balloons or toys are presented in the presence of many children. Each child of course wants toys or gifts, and a frenzy of grabbing, pushing and shoving typically erupts. We have learned that the best tools, in large group clowning settings are simple- music, dancing, physical play. Our group of young adult clowns, who have clowned with us since their mid-teens, are ideally suited for this type of interaction. They are energetic, playful, and creative. We have clowned in large groups from China and Sri Lanka to Cuba and Cambodia. Large-group clowning involves spontaneous and usually improvisational play. No shared verbal language is necessary. The only requirement is that it be fun.
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One day the clowns boarded a boat to go snorkeling in the crystal clear waters of the Galapagos. We approached an island where a sea lion colony was basking in the sun and we jumped in the water, fifteen feet deep. Within minutes, a group of 6-8 juvenile and adolescent sea lions swam towards us. They circled us and gracefully, even playfully began to swim close. As we squealed through our snorkels in astonishment, they sea lions swam around and amidst us, diving and surfacing. Their movements were graceful, confident, and acrobatic. They were interacting with us, and patterns of movement became more obvious. Different “games” spontaneously evolved. A clown snorkeler would drop a tennis ball-sized rock and a sea lion would swoop down, catch it in his mouth, and bring it to the surface. A clown and a sea lion would spin and twirl together underwater in a tandem spiral, like a moving DNA double helix. Follow the leader, chase, other games fluidly began and ended. Clowns and sea lions would hover face to face, in the weightlessness of the chill Galapagos waters. There was joy and fun. The sea lions were clowning with us in spontaneous improvisational play.
Human beings are not the only creatures who play. Play behavior is commonly observed among primates and other mammals, and birds. Play is “adaptive,” meaning that it gives advantages favoring survival. Play has been demonstrated to increase social bonding, creativity and problem solving, and it decreases stress. In a predatory world, play enhances a hormonal physiology favoring nurturance and care, and healing. And it is fun, and pleasurable. And fun is medicine.
We played in the water till it was time to leave, and we were very cold. We were, at the same time, exhilarated and amazed by our inter-species play time with the sea lions. They clowned the clowns.
Later, on shore, we also clowned with large terrestrial Galapagos turtles, but this clowning was very very slow. As always, clowning, and play takes on the spirit of the moment, and the styles and capabilities of the participants.
Gesundheit! is deeply grateful to Raquel and Patricia Rodriguez from Narices Rojas, and Wilson Merino of Fundacion Cecilia Rivenderia, for their hard work and generosity in giving our clowns this extraordinary life experience.