ON ISLAND
Coco the Clown
Laughter is Truly the Best Medicine
Anne McCarthy Strauss
What does a clown have to do with the very serious subjects of abuse, bullying and autism? Just about everything if the very human face behind the clown venire belongs to Corinne de Langavant, otherwise known on the Vineyard as Coco the Clown.
As a child, Corinne trained diligently as a skater and an entertainer. The love of movement and the arts stayed with her, and today she is a gifted performing arts professional and movement instructor. A member of the International Association for Voice Movement Therapy (IOAVMT) and the Professional Skaters Association (PSA), she has performed for audiences of all ages and cultural backgrounds.
A master improvisational artist, Coco is widely known and loved throughout the Vineyard. She adapts her improvisational work from mime to leader of organized games, to singer, skater and clown.
It is as Coco the Clown that Corinne does some of the work that she holds closest to her heart – working with people with autism. Her work in this area was inspired early in her life by her two cousins – autistic twins who are now middle-aged men with whom she still works. She travels regularly to work with a state-funded residential program in Connecticut for families living with autism.
Corinne is a firm believer in movement as a healing agent. “As a child skater, I learned discipline,” she says. “I learned that when you fall, you figure out why you fell. And, most importantly, you get back up. I see both movement and art as healing agents – subjects that should be taught every day in school, not just once a week.”
Her background includes: A degree in Community Recreational Leadership Training from Dawson College, Montreal, Quebec; graduate of Lycee College Marie de France, head figure skating pro for the Universite de Montreal and McGill University, and founding director of the Montreal Ice Theatre, The Alternative Figure Skating School for Adults, M.V. Ice and Street Theatre, Friday Night Live, singer-songwriter’s concerts, workshops and open mics for the Island community. Recently, she completed the requirements for her training as a Voice Movement Therapy (VMT) practitioner.
In May Corinne spoke at The 30th Annual YAI (Young Adult Institute) International Conference for Special Needs, based on the findings set forth in her thesis "The Treatment of Autism Using VMT.” She hopes to inspire the scientific community to do impact studies to qualify alternative interventions and viable treatment modalities. Towards that end, she has developed a VMT specific progress evaluation system which she hopes will be put to the test by other practitioners to provide useful, empirical data.
She also recently participated in a conference entitled Love Revolution with Dr. Patch Adams, for whom the movie was named, who uses clowning to treat illness and does missionary work in war-torn and poverty-stricken countries. Ms. de Langavant hopes to join his band of volunteer clowns in their next trip to Haiti.
Coco can be found at most family-oriented functions on the Island including the Featherstone Center for the Arts, the Jabberwocky Run, Built-on-Stilts festivals, Tivoli Day, Agricultural Fairs, the “Crazy Hat” Parades on New Year’s Day, The COMSOG Community Greenhouse Fall Festivals, the Polly Hill Arboretum Summer Festivals, Chilmark Library’s Book Festival, and the Vineyard Haven Library and Oak Bluffs Library Children’s Hours.
Many of Coco’s performances are done for the benefit of people with autism and to benefit children with disabilities. She raises her own funds by signing on sponsors. “Cronig’s is not only a terrific sponsor,” she says, “they also sell the food that people with autism require.”
Another project Corinne is bursting with enthusiasm about is a T.V. show called "Coco and the Kids" with M.V. T.V. This cable station has public access and is allowing Coco to package Voice Movement Therapy practices and principles into short but fun presentations designed to inspire kids of all ages to express themselves in creative, healthy ways.
Asked what her most moving moments as Coco the Clown have been, she had two anecdotes. At a party for Camp Jabberwocky, she was inspired by the carefree attitude of young people in wheelchairs. With autistic children, she takes them outside to give them the opportunity to have an effect on the world around them. Some children went so far as to say “hi” to other kids on the beach.
“It’s a powerful thing to show these people they can affect the world, if only for a moment,” she said enthusiastically, but seriously. Coco wasn’t clowning around.
As a child, Corinne trained diligently as a skater and an entertainer. The love of movement and the arts stayed with her, and today she is a gifted performing arts professional and movement instructor. A member of the International Association for Voice Movement Therapy (IOAVMT) and the Professional Skaters Association (PSA), she has performed for audiences of all ages and cultural backgrounds.
A master improvisational artist, Coco is widely known and loved throughout the Vineyard. She adapts her improvisational work from mime to leader of organized games, to singer, skater and clown.
It is as Coco the Clown that Corinne does some of the work that she holds closest to her heart – working with people with autism. Her work in this area was inspired early in her life by her two cousins – autistic twins who are now middle-aged men with whom she still works. She travels regularly to work with a state-funded residential program in Connecticut for families living with autism.
Corinne is a firm believer in movement as a healing agent. “As a child skater, I learned discipline,” she says. “I learned that when you fall, you figure out why you fell. And, most importantly, you get back up. I see both movement and art as healing agents – subjects that should be taught every day in school, not just once a week.”
Her background includes: A degree in Community Recreational Leadership Training from Dawson College, Montreal, Quebec; graduate of Lycee College Marie de France, head figure skating pro for the Universite de Montreal and McGill University, and founding director of the Montreal Ice Theatre, The Alternative Figure Skating School for Adults, M.V. Ice and Street Theatre, Friday Night Live, singer-songwriter’s concerts, workshops and open mics for the Island community. Recently, she completed the requirements for her training as a Voice Movement Therapy (VMT) practitioner.
In May Corinne spoke at The 30th Annual YAI (Young Adult Institute) International Conference for Special Needs, based on the findings set forth in her thesis "The Treatment of Autism Using VMT.” She hopes to inspire the scientific community to do impact studies to qualify alternative interventions and viable treatment modalities. Towards that end, she has developed a VMT specific progress evaluation system which she hopes will be put to the test by other practitioners to provide useful, empirical data.
She also recently participated in a conference entitled Love Revolution with Dr. Patch Adams, for whom the movie was named, who uses clowning to treat illness and does missionary work in war-torn and poverty-stricken countries. Ms. de Langavant hopes to join his band of volunteer clowns in their next trip to Haiti.
Coco can be found at most family-oriented functions on the Island including the Featherstone Center for the Arts, the Jabberwocky Run, Built-on-Stilts festivals, Tivoli Day, Agricultural Fairs, the “Crazy Hat” Parades on New Year’s Day, The COMSOG Community Greenhouse Fall Festivals, the Polly Hill Arboretum Summer Festivals, Chilmark Library’s Book Festival, and the Vineyard Haven Library and Oak Bluffs Library Children’s Hours.
Many of Coco’s performances are done for the benefit of people with autism and to benefit children with disabilities. She raises her own funds by signing on sponsors. “Cronig’s is not only a terrific sponsor,” she says, “they also sell the food that people with autism require.”
Another project Corinne is bursting with enthusiasm about is a T.V. show called "Coco and the Kids" with M.V. T.V. This cable station has public access and is allowing Coco to package Voice Movement Therapy practices and principles into short but fun presentations designed to inspire kids of all ages to express themselves in creative, healthy ways.
Asked what her most moving moments as Coco the Clown have been, she had two anecdotes. At a party for Camp Jabberwocky, she was inspired by the carefree attitude of young people in wheelchairs. With autistic children, she takes them outside to give them the opportunity to have an effect on the world around them. Some children went so far as to say “hi” to other kids on the beach.
“It’s a powerful thing to show these people they can affect the world, if only for a moment,” she said enthusiastically, but seriously. Coco wasn’t clowning around.