The history of École Philippe Gaulier and our teachers
École Philippe Gaulier was established in Paris in 1980 by Philippe Gaulier. At that time, he was already a very famous clown and had a strong desire to bring a new wave to the European theater scene. As a result, the school quickly gained an international reputation and has continued to lead the European theater world from the 1980s to the present day.
École Philippe Gaulier has produced many great artists, actors, writers, directors, and stars of the theater world. Their success owes much to the unique educational program offered by the school and Philippe Gaulier’s innovative teaching methods.
Today, Philippe Gaulier, now over 80 years old, no longer teaches directly, but his legacy is firmly carried on. All classes are now led by his trusted assistants, many of whom are graduates of École Philippe Gaulier. They faithfully adhere to the methods cultivated by Philippe while standing at the forefront of the theater world as experienced artists. Philippe’s spirit of inquiry into freedom and creativity remains deeply rooted in his assistants.
École Philippe Gaulier is a unique and special place where artists from all over the world gather. Both professionals and amateurs, regardless of age or experience, have the opportunity here to confront themselves and refine their souls. This school is not merely a place to learn techniques but a space for true self-discovery and artistic growth.
Michiko Gaulier
Director and Teacher
Michiko Gaulier (from Japan) is Philippe Gaulier’s teaching partner and has been co-running École Philippe Gaulier for 25 years. Michiko is a multi-talented artist – actress, director, costume and stage set designer, and teacher. As a result of her unique teaching style, people call her a “witch”.
In Japan, Michiko performed with the Japanese State Theater in Hyogo. In 1989, she won the Piccolo Theatre Award for Outstanding Achievement as Best Lead Actress for her role as Hecuba in Women of Troy. In 1993, CATFISH, which she wrote and directed, was televised for a month. In 1999, Michiko was awarded the Emerging Artist Overseas Training Grant from the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan and was sent to London for one year.
In 1997-2001 Michiko studied at École Philippe Gaulier and completed the two-year program. Since then, she has been performing, directing, and teaching across Europe. In 2002, she moved to France and began working as Co-Director of École Philippe Gaulier. Together with the school, she has led workshops in the EU, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Brazil, Tokyo, Hong Kong, China, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan.
“The stage is your playground, ready and waiting in front of us. Jump in, forget everything, turn on your fun machine, and switch on your imagination box as if you were a 5 year old child. Then you will Invite the miracle of theater!”
Dain Rubin
Main Assistant and Teacher
Dain Alexandra Rubin (from USA) is an actress, comedian, director, and theatre teacher. Dain has trained extensively in theatre and acting receiving a Bachelor of FineArts Degree in Acting from Emerson College in Boston Massachusetts and going on to study with many master teachers including Wynn Handman, Chris Bayes, and Kendall Cornell. Eventually she found her way to France and completed the two-year program at École Philippe Gaulier. Dain is a founding creator of the theatre collective La Tete De Babel based in France, with whom created, wrote and performed the Klietoris Ballet, a bouffon show that had a successful run at the prestigious La Théâtre De La Ville in Paris. She worked with many companies including La Mama Experimental Theatre Company, Theatre for a New City, The Greene Theatre, Narrows Theatre Company in productions such as Noises Off, The Maids, Trojan Women, The Seagull, Richard III, And Then There Were None, and more while also working in films and commercials.
Dain currently directs children’s theater in Paris, continues to create work with her creative partners, perform, and teach at École Philippe Gaulier Through games, dance, and physical movement, she instills her love of playing with the walls of story to the students. How to break the “meaning” of the words on a page or the “meaning” of an idea behind an improvisation, and bring your own unique beauty, imagination, and play to create worlds and dreams.
Carlo Jacucci
Teacher
Carlo Jacucci (from Italy), an actor and clown, born in Rome in 1970. He spent seven mischievous years of childhood in Orsay, near Paris. Carlo’s most famous clown show, “Vitamin”, was shortlisted among the best comedies at Edinburgh Fringe in 2014 at the “Assembly Festival Venues”. Vitamin has been performed throughout Europe and Asia to audience and media acclaim. He continues to travel the globe with original performance and collaborates with many theatre companies and circuses. This has included acting with Théâtre de l’Opprimé of Paris, and clown in residence for circuses in both London and Italy.
He has been teaching at École Philippe Gaulier since 2011 and conducts workshops internationally.
“I am creating a playground where artists can face great challenges to gain freedom, take monumental risks, and, by chance, create something beautiful—whether through triumph or spectacular disasters.”
Susana Alcantud
Teacher
Susana Alcantud (from Spain) is an actress, clown, singer, director and teacher. She went to university to study Biology and started to act in theatre on the side. Susana quickly changed to Dramatic Art at ESAD in Murcia. There she met Anton Valen, a former student of Philippe Gaulier, with whom she discovered the world of clown and comedy and began her journey as an actor specializing in comedy and clown.
She founded the company Les Bouffons with Anton Valen, Pablo Bermejo, Pablo Gomis, David Garcia and Manu Hernandez, and toured throughout Spain. She continued studying in Europe with teachers such as Norman Taylor, Antonio Fava, Eric de Bont, Antón Valén, Aitor Basauri, Jos Houben and others. During this time, she also travelled to Paris to attend Gaulier’s school in 2003 and began to discover how to play with fun and lightness. It wasn’t until 2007 that she came back to Gaulier and enrolled in and completed the two-year program. From there she started to work internationally, joining the English company Freedom Studios with the show Happy and Married, directed by Madani Younis. In 2010 she began her collaboration with the company The Last Baguette for which she worked as an actress, directed by Aitor Basasuri, and continues to collaborate as a director. Since 2012 she has been co-artistic director of the Cabaret “La Puta Calle” in Paris and a member of the Rouge Rouge artists collective.
She lives near Paris and has been a teacher at École Philippe Gaulier since 2011.
Manu Figueiredo
Teacher
Manu Figueiredo (from Brazil) is an actress, producer and educator. She completed her training at École Philippe Gaulier in 2017. In Brazil, she was directed by Maristela Chelala and Eduardo Leão. Her teachers included Ricardo Pucetti, Esio Magalhães and Tiche Vianna. She studied masks in Hamburg, Germany, participating in workshops with the director John Wright. She has performed on the stage in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Paris.
In 2022, she presented “Entre-Cy” and “Cartas a ele” in São Paulo. Since she has worked as assistant director for the “Les Heroides” produced by La Cie Brutaflor. The show was part of the Festival d’Avignon 2024, played at Théâtre du Soleil and other theaters in France. Currently she is performing in “Jeux Croisés” in São Paulo, Rio and at Chaillot Théâtre National de la Danse in Paris.
Thomas Toppler
Teacher
Thomas Toppler (from Austria) is an actor and percussionist. He completed his master’s degree in classical Percussion and has since played with many different orchestras worldwide, including the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Vienna, Volksoper Wien and Concentus Musicus. He completed his theatrical training at Ècole Philippe Gaulier in 2012. He is co-creator of the bouffon theatre company Ship of Fools, which consists of 6 alumni of Philippe’s school. Based in London, their last show, From the Cradle to the Bin, enjoyed a successful tour throughout the United Kingdom in 2014 and 2015. In mid 2016 he directed their most recent show called Birds of Paradies.
In 2013 Thomas was invited to Geneva to act in Albahaca, a production of the Theatre Spiralè Company. In April 2015, he made his film debut in an Austrian feature entitled Blockbuster. In March 2014, Thomas directed a musical cabaret featuring the Austrian brass band Da Blechhaufn and the Louie’s Cage Percussion Ensemble. In late 2015 he was commissioned to create and direct a new show for Da Blechhauf’n which premiered in February 2016.
In 2022 he produced, wrote, directed and performed in his first bouffon theatre show Ein bescheidenerer Vorschlag, which premiered at the TAG Theater in Vienna in March. This won the Austrian theatre prize “Nestroy” for Best Fringe Production. He has conducted workshops at the International Summer Music Academy, WDR Orchester Cologne and at the music festival Allegro Vivo. Thomas has a university teaching position at the Music University Vienna for Stage Presence and continues to teach at École Philippe Gaulier.
Patricia Rodríguez
Teacher
Patricia Rodríguez (from Spain), performer, director and dramaturge. She is a Gaulier-trained multi award-winning artist who has collaborated with a number of highly regarded international theatre companies. Patricia is also joint Artistic Director at Little Soldier Productions (UK) where she has co-directed, co-created, and performed in ‘Journey to the Impossible’ ‘Derailed’, ‘Don Quixote’, and ‘Nothing Happens’. Her appearances include, Told By An Idiot’s (UK) ‘Heads Will Roll’ and ‘Get Happy’ (Beijing, Luxemburg), Muckers by Caroline Horton (Theatre Royal Bath, UK/Conde Duque, Spain) and ‘No Way Out’ with Flight of the Scales (Berlin) awarded Best show at the Commoona Festival in Alytus (Lithuania). Her creative collaborations include ‘As You Like It’ for the Royal Shakespeare Company (UK), ‘The Threesome’ for the National Theatre (UK) and ‘El Jardin del Arte’ with Aitor Basauri (Spymonkey) for La Jardineria Teatro (Spain).
She has recently written and directed various shows in Spain to critical acclaim: Orsai with Teatro del Cuervo, caLORCAlor with Guayomini, Deadpan Karaoke with Ibuprofeno Teatro and the awarded Las Ganas (El Principio) with her own new theatre company Las Ganas. Patricia currently opened a new version of Hamlet with Guayomini where she has collaborated as a performer and director.
Paddy Waters
Teacher
Paddy Waters (from Ireland) has been a professional performer for over 15 years. Recently he has been branching out doing more directing and teaching to share his creative practice with others.
Paddy has been on stage from a young age. He went to the UK and studied Circus and Physical Theatre at Circomedia, Bristol and the National Centre for Circus Arts, London. Spending his time learning various circus skills and always applying them in a clowning theatrical way as he developed his physical capabilities. He has performed in more than 15 different countries in a wide variety of contexts. All this work led him to study for 2 years in Etampes with Philippe Gaulier to further develop his performance skills. He recently did an MA in Directing and has been teaching at the National Centre for Circus Arts in London, while still performing and directing.
Juri Kussmaul
Teacher
Juri Kussmaul (from Germany) is an award-winning circus performer, musician, sculptor, theatre mask builder/performer and movement/partner acrobatics teacher. He has been teaching and performing internationally since 2015. After finishing his studies of architecture and fine art/sculpture he studied with Philippe Gaulier at his school in France. He trained in Mask Movement theater in Italy with Matteo Destro and Paula Coletto and learned clown and neutral mask with Giovanni Fusetti. Juri continued broadening his knowledge in pedagogy and techniques of partner acrobatics and movement in Spain by joining the “Partner Acrobatics Teacher Training” lead by Emily Baxter, Scott Jumps and Michaela Flies. He is the artistic director and producer of “Barada Street”, a street theater company that performs at theatre & music festivals around the world. He co-created and toured with “Kabaret Kalashnikov” in Germany and Finland.
Through his training and performing Juri has developed a distinctive and innovative way of teaching movement and partner acrobatics, awareness of the performers body, their surroundings and of the audience. His work is filled by exploration for games, detailed acrobatic techniques and the joy and pleasure for movement in a light and trustworthy atmosphere.
Mark Winstanley
Teacher
Mark Winstanley (from UK) trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier.
He is a teacher, actor and director. With his wife Alice he runs the Performers Playground in Manchester, an independent school inspired by the teachings of Philippe Gaulier. Mark has taught at many of the major theatre schools in the UK including RADA, RWCMD, East 15, the Manchester School of Theatre and many more. As an actor he has performed on stages across the UK and is a core member of A Ship of Fools Theatre Company whose brand of bouffon is both playful and provocative.
Jonas Södergren
Teacher
Jonas Södergren (from Sweden) completed the two year program at École Philippe Gaulier, 1999-2001. He has also studied theatre and clown with Mario Gonzalez, Mick Barnfather and Alain Gautre.
Jonas has been teaching and directing theater and clown since 2004. He conducts workshops for Cirkus Cirkör (Swedens biggest contemporary circus company), Helsingborgs stadsteaters ensemble (Sweden), Scenkonst Dalarna (Sweden), Conservatoire de Caen and Theatre d’herouville in Caen, France, Pabellon 6 in Bilbao, Spain, Clown workshop for circus artists in Havana, Cuba, as well as his own. Jonas founded Clownskolan (The Clown school) in Stockholm 2010 currently the Jonas Södergren School.
Jonas has performed solo comic acts across the continent, including Denmark, France, England, Spain, Ukraine, Belarus.
Alvin Chiam
Teacher
Alvin Chiam (from Singapore) has been deeply involved in Singapore’s theatre scene for 25 years. He studied under the late Kuo Pao Kun, a cornerstone of the country’s theatrical legacy. His directorial work and performances have reached audiences worldwide.
In 2007, Alvin received the Arts Professional Development Grant from the National Arts Council Singapore, which led him to study under the great master Philippe Gaulier in Paris. He graduated with distinction from École Philippe Gaulier and later returned as a movement teacher and assistant professor.
In 2013, Alvin was awarded the Arts Scholarship to pursue an MA in Ensemble Theatre at Rose Bruford College in London. He later became an assistant lecturer in the MA Ensemble program and a part-time lecturer in the BA Acting program. Passionate about performance training, Alvin has led workshops globally, including in Singapore, Paris, London, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China, sharing his unique approach with artists and students worldwide.
