kSea: This is kSea again, interviewing Maya (MamaFou) from Fou Fou Ha! for Big Top Magazine, sitting outside at some café in San Francisco... So, Fou Fou Ha! was created in 2001, correct?

Maya: Yes.

kSea: And I’m assuming this is your brainchild?

Maya: Yes.

kSea: Okay, let's see if I can ask a question that you can't answer with one word. Where did you come up with this idea?

Maya: Well, to go way back to when I was five years old, six years old, I would gather all my friends and orchestrate little dance performances. This was in Israel. I loved the Eurovision. It’s a big festival of all these pop songs from all over the world, and I always loved to gather my friends and tell them what to do and have little dance numbers and dress them up, and all that. I just continued dancing and choreographing throughout most of my childhood. I started really seriously choreographing when I was 12. I won an award when I was 13 for choreography, and just always loved, loved, loved to choreograph and loved comedy. I realized that the shows that I would go to that really resonated with me were the ones that would make people laugh. I would always remember the numbers that made me really think about reality in a different kind of way. I did a lot of ballet, I moved to Israel after going to School of the Arts. At School of the Arts I was really exposed to a lot of different genres and did some slapstick training, theater and all that. I moved back to Israel when I was 18 and I did a lot of musical theater there. I got exposed to a lot of different styles. Then I moved back to go to college at UC Irvine, and there is where I got a grant for a couple thousand bucks to put on my own show. I decided to base the show on comedy and the healing effects of making people laugh, and that regardless of how wealthy you are or how intelligent you are or how not intelligent or whoever you are, whatever culture you come from, everybody’s on the same page when they’re laughing. We’re all coming together.

kSea: Laughter transcends everything. There are no borders.

Maya: Exactly, transcends all boundaries, and everyone is coming together when they’re laughing. It’s just such a healthy release of energy. Again, it impacted me always, whenever I would see something. I would kind of get bored of all the dance numbers and the one that would make me laugh would be the one that would stick out, so I really wanted to experiment with that. I did a thesis on comedy and the origins of comedy and the pain underneath the comedy, slapstick and all that, so I decided to do a show called ‘The Really Dynamite Show.’ Most of the music was Frank Zappa. It was totally absurd. I love absurdity. I love choreographers like Tina Dao [spelling?]. She was this amazing German dance theater choreographer who is absolutely amazing with making people just crack up, but in such a refined, beautiful way. Absolutely amazing choreography and amazing composition, and sets that have red wood tree trunks on the stage, really epic things – this is in Germany so they’re funded really well – but she did so well, to really show the absurd moments within reality that you can really bring out. Anyway, I did this show and it was really successful. It was pretty much like a band of characters that go through life, and I was doing different vignettes of the funny moments that you can find yourself in life, like going to the bathroom. One piece was about having to go to the bathroom and there’s always a line in front of you. I used all these characters to always get in the way of this one particular character that was doing this whole dance that was all about, you know, having to pee. She finally pees on her pants.

[kSea laughs]

kSea: So you choreographed a ‘waiting in line’ dance.

Maya: Yeah, a waiting-in-line-to-go-to-the-bathroom dance. She finally goes, we see her go to the bathroom and she comes back and she has toilet paper trailing out of her dress and there’s this whole interweaving between all the dancers of the toilet paper. There’s another piece that was about how ridiculous love can be in relationships – There are these two guys that are totally oblivious that they have girls that on their back, like actually sitting on their back, and they come up to one another and they’re just having conversations and they’re also checking out other girls, but there’s a girl actually on their back. They’re doing this whole dance, totally oblivious to the fact that that’s happening. It was an experiment with how to look at life through the lenses of humor. It was really well received. From that, I actually got a Fulbright, which is a pretty nice grant to go to Holland. I chose Holland because I just love the culture in a lot of different ways.

kSea: And the way dey talk, yah?.

Maya: [Dutch accent] Yah, dey talk good. They have good fried cheese and, ah, very nice people. Anyway, I got a grant to for a full year to study dance theater, experimental dance theater, in Holland. There, I experimented more with children’s theater and comedy. When I came back to San Francisco in 2000, I said, ‘Alright. I’m going to try to get a troop of dancers together.’ I put up a really funky little handwritten sign in all the dance centers and it had a disco ball. I drew a platform boot and something really cheesy.  It said, ‘Looking for theatrical dancers interested in creating a new company.’ I had about four different dancers that were interested, and during that time it was under the name Liminal Dance Theater. We put on a show at the Cell Space. That was around the end of 2000. I was very influenced by Burning Man. It was the first time I had gone, so it was all techno music. [laughs] I was trying to be really serious, because in Holland I was studying with all of these really serious modern dancers. I was trying to do something really dark, and of course the one section that got the most response was the comedy section. I thought, ‘Okay, I’m going to play with that a little bit more.’ I started to experiment with different types of choreography. Then, I was asked to be part of a supper theater. It was called The Funky Puppet’s Supper Club at the Cell Space, and it was kind of like a dinner theater. It was all organic food, sustainable, conscious ingredients to the whole show. They were doing a lot of comedia del arte, all the different characters – The waiters were all different comedia characters and they asked, ‘Will you put a dance troupe together, or dance number together, for the show?’ I said, ‘Sure, why don’t we gather,’ and I started just experimenting with some of the music that I’d used for The Really Dynamite Show – some Frank Zappa music, Lumpy Gravy and all that. There was a costume designer who was a puppeteer. Her name is Lana Turner? [laughs] No, not Lana Turner. Lana… something with a ‘t,’ not ‘Turner.’ She was really wonderful and she helped me. I sketched my idea, which was to have the big goofy Krusty the Klown wigs and have these frilly skirts and tu-tu’s. That’s all I knew. For the rest, I just wanted them to have different hybrids of black, white, and red; stripes and polka dots. So, she created these wigs. It was definitely her vision. At first we were all red wigs, and each person had a different look. I had Raymond, who’s still in the company now, and Slim, who’s still in the company, and then I had four other dancers. One was a really tall guy. He was, like, 6 feet with a big pot gut. He was one of the dancing girls. Then another really short little Asian girl. It was just all these different characters.

kSea: That sounds like a wonderfully eclectic mix, perfect for comedy.

Maya: Exactly, exactly. It was totally an eclectic mix. They were all performers and they were all ‘the dancing girls.’ That’s where the whole drag aspect came out of wanting the dancers to all be girls. That was the origin of Fou Fou Ha!, and then Dr. Abacus, Justin, was also performing in The Funky Puppet’s Supper. We just totally connected right away. He loved what I was doing and I loved his music so we started performing in little clubs. I don’t even remember where, just little shows here and there. There would be trios or quartets. It was more about having fun and drinking whiskey and dressing up and being crazy. We saw that people were, again, really liking it, so it developed this momentum. Then I took a hiatus in 2005 when I got pregnant. Fou Fou Ha! didn’t really exist for about 2 years. I was focusing on being pregnant and being a mom. I was starting to be a psychotherapist and all these other things, so it was dormant for a while.

kSea: I was out of town. During that time, I think I was in New Orleans and came back for a year. Before I left, I hadn’t heard about you at all. I came back and all of a sudden, ‘Boom!’ at the Bohemian Carnival. It was like, ‘Who ARE these people? Where did they come from?’

Maya: Who ARE these people, yeah.

kSea: It was wonderful. Boe (of GOOFERMAN) himself has said that you’re some of his favorite people to perform with. It was so much fun to watch, and such a delight. What I love about it the most is the Seussian aspect – you reminded me of characters right out of one of Dr. Seuss’s books

Maya: Yeah.

kSea: You were essentially bringing his characters to life and making it incredibly fun.

Maya: Thank you.

kSea: I actually grew up less than a mile from Dr. Seuss – Edward Geisel. I don’t remember meeting him, but my parents told me I did when I was a wee pup – and my folks don’t lie. (because they would go to hell if they did, the good Christians that they are....)

Maya: Now, we’re actually doing children’s theater. We got picked up by Young Audiences of Northern California, and what we proposed to do is to take Dr. Seuss stories – The Lorax and the Better Battle Book, which are so needed right now – and to create theatrical pieces to those stories and to perform them for schools, for kids in schools. That’s our new project. We’re going to start that in the fall. We actually just got a nice grant for a couple thousand from Cash Grant, especially to make costumes and props. We’re going to make really huge foam props that are very Dr. Seuss-y, all the crazy weapons that they create. We’re gonna definitely go all out to make Dr. Seuss, the reality of these stories, come to life – and, you know, deliver a good message and also story-tell and have a good time with that.

kSea: You just covered my next question, which was what your plan for the future are.

Maya: Let me add that, after the hiatus, I decided that I wanted to bring the troupe together. There were only 5 of us at that point and I had done a Sea of Dreams, and I met Melissa and Elisabeth, who are the twins. They were in a dance number that I choreographed and I asked them if they would be a part of Fou Fou Ha! They were like, ‘Fou Fou what? Who?’ I invited them over to make some wigs. We called it ‘Wigging Out.’ At first they wondered, ‘Pillow stuffing? What? What do we do with this?’ They were confused. Eventually they started making these amazing creations with their wigs. Then they invited a few other members, people they were living with – Ben and Locust and Johnny. Suddenly it went to from 5 people to 11 people, and all of these people making these amazing costumes. All of us were bringing a whole other look. The whole colorful look that we have now is something completely new. It has only existed for about a year, year and a half. Before that, it was black, white and red – the very stereotypical circus thing. Now, these particular looks are the signature for Fou Fou Ha! and it’s only been around for a year. What’s beautiful about that is to see how, as a director, you have a particular vision, but then the more people that you invite to come in and add their flavors – you never know where a company’s going to go. That’s really what happened. The vocabulary, the style of what we are doing is definitely influenced by all the different elements that they’re bringing in. Working with Mike and Justin has been really great. The Spectra Ball was our first ‘showcase’ of Fou Fou Ha!, the first time that we actually came together and did some thing. Ever since then, it’s been like a tornado.

kSea: You seem to be on a pretty serious roll. I’ve looked at your schedule on the site, and wow, you guys are rocking.

Maya: It’s good to see how after only a year we’ve been working and actually a lot of Fou has been happening. People are really responding to it...

kSea: I trully admire your future plans, working with children and going in to schools and things like that, bringing such fun to them.

Maya: That’s one of the plans, working with children, for sure – just reminding kids of their own creativity and seeing the world through their own lenses, allowing their imagination to come to fruition. Also, while delivering the message of ‘war is dumb’ through The Better Battle Book, and also being conscious of your environment, through The Lorax. That’s one avenue that we’re focusing on. The other avenue is with this grant. We’re bringing in different master teachers to teach us comedia and physical theater and improve and working with Tim Barski a little bit, workshopping some stuff. We’re working on a full show, a variety show that’s influenced by Laugh-In. We want to do something very Laugh-In style but in a very contemporary San Francisco, where it’s variety with a lot of different acts. I’m bringing in different people, different musicians, different clowns, whatever, and MC it just to make it like a full standing show. Ideally what I’d like to do is to branch out of this circle and start traveling nationally, internationally, doing fringe festivals, Japan, whatever – getting it out there in a different kind of way. At the same time, we’re also interested in just creating a production company that has a lot of different talents creating – well, everybody says Cirque du Soleil, but for lack of a better example – a ‘cirque’ kind of show with a different edge that’s more comedy, but also having an entertainment company that could be hired for also commercial stuff and corporate things, to feed the engine of doing our art. There are three different branches that we’re focusing on right now.

kSea: One thing I found watching you perform, is that no matter how serious someone might think they are or find themselves, you’re able to bring out the child in them and remind them of laughter and happiness and wonder, those kind of magical things, which is one of the most important things and unfortunately one of the things we are most lacking. I don’t recall who wrote this quote, but it’s something like ‘being happy in public is the most revolutionary thing you can do in this society.’
(Revised – “The most revolutionary act you can commit in today’s society is to be publicly happy.” – Patch Adams, MD)

Maya: I believe in that. I really believe in the fool archetype, the archetype of the fool in the tarot. I think that’s the archetype that I resonate with the most because the fool is the one that is able to ask the dumb questions, able to say a lot of truths because, sometimes, they’re not even taken seriously but they’re able to transmit some really serious, serious truths. Like the court jester – he was the one who was actually questioning the king and making fun of the situation, making fun of the social structure because he is the fool. He’s able to.

kSea: Through comedy, making you think. Once they’ve walked away, after the laughter, they think, ‘Hmm.’

Maya: Exactly, exactly. Bob Marley realized that revolution is a lot more potent when you can make people actually love the music and move and dance, then you can actually drop some truths, because they’re feeling it. They’re moving. They’re unified. In a similar way, I would love to eventually develop material that will make people laugh, then also think about the social elements – which comedia dell’Arte, for instance, spawned in Italy. It was a bunch of characters that would really make fun of the monarchy and make fun of what was going on. Again, they were allowed to because they were playful fools but they were totally cracking jokes about what was going on. People were really influenced by that. I try to live my life in that way, because I think that having the humility to laugh at yourself and show your absurdity and show your grotesque side is so much more empowering because then you’re comfortable with that. You’re not so afraid of revealing that. I think that in this culture we try so hard to be so refined and show our prettiness and that we know everything and we’re ‘experts.’ If you can’t also laugh at yourself and laugh at your mistakes and show that you actually are clueless and that you have no idea what’s going on and that you just tripped and you fell and you have snot coming out of your nose. There are so many moments in life that are absolutely ridiculous, and to celebrate that has been really empowering for me and, I think, for other people as well. I love it.

kSea: You do it very well! Laughing at yourself -and letting other people laugh with you.

Maya: So much so that I can’t even take myself seriously anymore.

kSea: There’s no point. I tried to for a while, and the makeup that I do is kind of dark, but there’s a strange dichotomy inside of me – dark and mysterious, just ‘cause I like that - but at the same time – there is an ingrained absurdity to me which can’t help but laugh at everything. You said you were going to take it to other countries and to fringe festivals and to things like that. Have you ever thought of starting locally, taking it to hospitals, to possibly cancer wards for children but not only for children, because people who think they’re ‘adults’ need to laugh as well. There is nothing so powerful and so incredibly healing, as laughter. There is a line from the movie Patch Adams that says essentially ‘you can treat the disease, and you may win, you may lose – but if you treat the person, without question, you will win 100 percent of the time.

Maya: Well, I hope you’ll put this in the article: Me saying ‘thank you’ for that inspiration, because actually I did not think about it, but I guess this is part of the reason why we needed to meet and talk about this. I would love to be able to do that and to bring smiles. Laughter is so healing. The ability to have those joyous moments and remember that, within the darkness – there’s always that ability to find the light, to find the whimsy. To make people remember that they have it within them would be such a beautiful thing to be able to give to the world, locally to people to people who might not have that opportunity. I would love to research that, and thank you.

kSea: My sincere pleasure. It’s not just me, I was inspired. I watched the movie Patch Adams the other day. The way he went about things was… wow. Watch it.

Maya: I will, I will.

kSea: I was crying through laughter. On top of that, much of the inspiration comes from my own personal life and the way I tend to look at things – the way I have needed to. There is nothing more natural than laughter, and nothing so incredibly beautiful. I want to get Patch Adams in the August issue, if that is at all possible - possible, if I am able to contact him. He basically travels all over the world bringing laughter, and heals that way. His way. Brings life, love. Incredibly powerful. Unfortunately the friggin' Clown doesn't do email...

Maya: I’d also love to connect with him somehow. I’m familiar with Clowns Without Borders, also. They do that, they go to a lot of these impoverished countries, and see it as medicine.

kSea: It is. Probably the most powerful medicine.

Maya: I am definitely interested in that, possibly even to get some sort of financial support, like a grant to be able to travel and to do this would be wonderful.

kSea: What are some of the most important things you’ve learned through working with people and Fou Fou Ha! about working with people and about yourself?

Maya: One thing I’m learning constantly is to put my ego aside and to be humbled by the process. I feel that sometimes when it’s all about you knowing everything and you being in control and you being cool and you being great and you holding on to your control of where the direction is going to go – is so stifling. It also makes people feel like they’re not being respected or heard for what their expression is, so I’m grappling with that because I think it’s a balance of really needing a clear director and someone who has a clear vision to hold the group together for everyone to really know exactly what they’re doing, and to grab onto that. That, balanced with also just honoring all the talent that you’re working with. Everybody has so many great ideas and such wonderful flavors to bring in to the group and allowing that to also exist while I guide the vision. It’s the balance, and also to not be the only-child that I am that wants to [laughs] always be the one who [high-pitched voice], ‘It’s my vision, it’s my baby, I wanna do it, and I thought of it.’ You know, the fear of losing something, or losing ‘the baby,’ is really strong. Just like being a mother, it’s been a very similar process where at first it’s your creation and you’re so protective of this entity that you brought into the world, but then eventually you have to just open up your arms and let this being really learn from their environment and to develop their own way of being in the world, but still also being there to be the touch-stone. As my son is two and a half years old, and he’s really in that place where it’s, ‘Me, mine, I wanna do this, I wanna try it.’ I’m really learning how to give him the power and to let him explore and to not try to control. I see a lot of mothers trying to keep their child under their control out of fear, out of wanting to own, out of a lot of different things.

kSea: That’s the way I grew up, and I think this is all pure rebellion.

Maya: Right, right. I think rebellion, in a lot of ways, is absolutely wonderful because a lot of the most creative folks are the ones who really looked at the control in the system and said, ‘Well, shoot, I have so much more that I want to contribute to the world, so I’m going to rebel against that and find my own way.’

kSea: There’s got to be a different word than ‘rebelling,’ though. I think it’s just ‘finding yourself.’

Maya: Yeah.

kSea: I don’t know. Something like that.

Maya: Freedom. Not having someone else tell you how to live your life but you actually find your own. In a similar way, I think that’s the direction that I’d like to definitely head in, to develop that balance of also being more confident in my word and more confident in how to guide and direct and inspire people to work hard and to really give me more by knowing exactly what I want to do and where we’re going and to have them trust me, so that’s been a big challenge for me to be confident enough to be able to hold that. There are times when I think, ‘I don’t know, what should we do?’ I can see how their motivation becomes like, ‘Ehh, well, if she doesn’t know, I don’t know and I don’t really care.’ That’s been a huge, huge experience for me to believe in what I know and what I’m doing while at the same time being open enough to receiving what they offer.

kSea: Excellent. One last thing, which I didn’t tell you about because then it would just ruin the surprise: Tell me a secret.

Maya: A secret! [laughs]

kSea: Sometimes I ask, sometimes I completely forget to, but I find it’s a fun way to end an interview.

Maya: Wow, gosh, which one should I... [laughs]

kSea: It could be something from your childhood or just something silly. Because it’s difficult, you can even email it to me. Honestly, if someone asked me that, I have absolutely no idea how I would answer...

Maya: Yeah, let me think about it. Let me think about it. I could think of quirky little ones, like ‘I secretly love Barbara Streisand’ or something like that.

kSea: Nothing wrong with that.

Maya: I like Britney Spears.

kSea: Ummmmm....

Maya: Well, let me think about it.

kSea: Right on. Maya, thank you so very, very much!
Maya: Of course!

For more fou fou HA! Please visit www.foufouha.com