i'm lila
I am Lila Monti .
I am a clown, singer, actress, teacher / guide of clowns.
I was born in Buenos Aires, on a Saturday in June 1972. I am a Gemini, with a Gemini ascendant. But I have a Moon that saves me. My mom, a psychoanalyst; my dad , a writer. I lived in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires for several years: afternoons cycling, playing in the street, walking to school. Then I moved to the city: always something to do, dozens of bookstores / bars / theaters / cinemas, a school that gave me a lot of freedom, the hours of the day that were never enough.
Since I was a girl, the theater was with me, in different ways. As a child, I loved the smell of dressing rooms, free entry to the control booth, falling asleep at post-premiere dinners, in the bustle of a restaurant. I started singing and performing for the family first, then for friends, and for office colleagues later. And, at some point, it occurred to me to take it more "seriously." While working in offices and studying careers that I never finished at the University, I devoured all the Shakespeare, Chekhov, Becket that came to my library; I memorized texts in bars and buses; and I sweated all my clothes in classes and rehearsals.
THE WORKSHOPS
At some point, around the year 2000, I started teaching clown classes. First, a little timidly, to a group of theater classmates who were curious about other techniques. And, little by little, with more and more passion and dedication, I was getting fully into that other space of acting that is theater pedagogy, in my case, more specifically clown.
I gave, uninterruptedly since that year, hundreds of workshops to thousands of people.
Long courses, short courses.
Intensively, monthly, yearly.
In Spanish. In English. In "frenpanish".
In presence. On-line.
In Argentina, in Brazil, in Uruguay, in Spain, in France, in Germany, in Austria, in Belgium, in the Netherlands.
Tambourine in hand, I became a nomad in love with thousands of clowns from all over the world.
And I had and have, luckily, a LoveFamily that accompanies me, always.
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los malos
In the middle of all that: singing . Singing always.
To help my daughter, Juana, sleep. To celebrate. To "say" what cannot be said by speaking. When I shower, when I cook, when I plant tomatoes.
Sing to feel free, to have fun, to be a bit of land and a bit of air.
Sing on stage to move, to make people laugh, to provoke.
And in those scenarios, always on the side: Agustín Flores Muñoz. Because with him, we are Los Malos and we give "Our Life for a Hit"
povnia
And then: Povnia . The world of Una. Her house, her language, her people, her tragedy, her resilience, her comedy. Povnia is my clown show, the show that took me to a lot of National and International Theaters and Festivals where I saw, met, and interacted with clowns from many different places and styles, that were inspiration, guide and impulse.
More than 100 shows. More than 9000 people. More than 30 Theaters. More than 15 Festivals.
Much more than just a show, for me.
Here I speak of Povnia, and -as a bonus- in Portunish ...
Here I also talk about Povnia, but-luckily- in Spanish.
Here, some of the many articles that appeared in the newspapers about the work:
And, here, what the audience said about Povnia.
DIRIGI
I had the happiness, the luck and the pride to direct incredible shows and people.
María Inés Santanera chose me for her show " Hilvanada "
With Maite Guevara we reached the incredible "Now!" , which has already participated in a lot of Festivals.
With Olivia Platzer and Bryce Kasson, who are FortWilly , we created "Snowflakes Deliveries"
And now, with Diego Bailén , we are moving slowly but firmly towards "Eliot"
CANCIONERO ROJO
In Los Papota was the seed of the Cancionero Rojo , a clown show in which Lorena Vega directed Darío Levin and me so that, making our particular journey through universal history, we could have an incredible time on stages all over the world, collecting lots of applause, love, and some awards.
A video of rehearsals
A backstage video
Here , one of the articles about the Cancionero Rojo
los papota
For 7 of us, in addition, the Clowns No Perecederos were the gateway to Los Papota .
Los Papota Payasos Grup. A troup of clowns of which I was a participating and motorizing part: Marina Barbera , Erica Ynoub , Darío Levin , Camilo Pulmari , Fernando Ramos and Agustín Flores Muñoz . Also, for a time, Hernán Carbón . Los Papota was a tremendous training, an inexhaustible search and work, a good refinement of the technique while leaving the comfort zone, tons of fun, almighty empirical clown training.
Noches Payasas, a weekly clown varieté, dozens of numbers, many hits, several failures, a few theaters, some trips and festivals.
LOS NOPE
Before everything, also by the hand of Cristina, there were Clowns No Perecederos . An unstoppable hotbed of incredible clowns. A very large cast, driven by the need to act: on stage and in the social context. "There is a need that shouldn't exist, and because of that need that shouldn't exist, we 'Non-Perishable Clowns' exist," wrote its director and joined many of us in her project. A barter: laughter for non-perishable food = food on one side and food on the other, in all its forms.
my background
Those first Theater workshops, led by Felisa Yeni and Javier Daulte , were joyous. But it was when Guillermo Angelelli appeared in my life that something changed forever. Not only because his Body and Vocal Training for Actresses and Actors was the most beautiful and precise way of knowing better and fine-tuning my expressive tools, but because it was through working with him that I truly knew the pleasure of acting and provoking laughter, the joy on stage. Guillermo Angelelli was the gateway to the whole clown universe, and to mine in particular. Hinge moment of my life, I jump to an infinite freedom and an enormous wealth of knowledge.
After Guille, many other teachers came, but - to make a liar display of a synthesis that does not characterize me - I am going to name only Cristina Martí . Cris, Crista, Cristo. Clown teacher, director, creator of many of the most fertile and creative spaces that I have ever inhabited, door opener, wing spreader, tireless seeker of truths, loves, creations, commitments, laughter.
Cris and Guille were my guides, my tutors, my promoters, my beacons. And that's why I chose them to help me get to Povnia , my clown show.
