Camila Ariza: 'My work as an actor, clown, and comedian focuses on the universe occupied by immigrant women in Canada'
Leaving their home in Bogota, Colombia, in January of 2022, Camila Ariza and her family relocated to Canada looking for a better life for themselves and their young seven-year-old daughter. They chose London, Ontario, because of the vibrant Latino and to be close to extended family.
Camila came from a family of actors and was always the funny one at home and school. She discovered clowning when she met her husband over ten years back, and he introduced her to the art form. It is something that she finds incredibly empowering. "Clowning is a magical way to connect with people because you do not need words. You just need feelings, and everybody has those," says Camila. She says the idea of failing is important, and clowning works on making people laugh by failing and failing again. "It's going to hurt, but I'm going for an objective," she says, "and it's transparent because the mask is only a nose."
Camila came from a family of actors and was always the funny one at home and school. She discovered clowning when she met her husband over ten years back, and he introduced her to the art form. It is something that she finds incredibly empowering. "Clowning is a magical way to connect with people because you do not need words. You just need feelings, and everybody has those," says Camila. She says the idea of failing is important, and clowning works on making people laugh by failing and failing again. "It's going to hurt, but I'm going for an objective," she says, "and it's transparent because the mask is only a nose."
Reflecting on her move to Canada, Camila says, "We faced different challenges with new jobs, a new language, in fact, new everything, but we just needed to put our roots in a new pot and grow from there." However, Cami felt deeply that she could not live without her art, so she explored different opportunities to be on stage, building her artist community, and connecting with people in the art world in London and across Canada.
Camila says it has taken years of training, countless hours on the stage, attending workshops, and learning from different teachers to get her to this point where the performance seems light and effortless. "But comedy is complex, you have to find new ways to move, new ways to perform and timing is everything."
When asked what she considers to be the hardest thing about comedy, Camila instantly responds, "To make people laugh, you must be authentic. And to be authentic is to accept yourself as you are. And this is hard because as we are growing up, we start to put on little masks to protect our pain and vulnerability."
Over the past two years, Camila has honed her comedic skills at MalPensando, a comedy school in Toronto, and through her work with Culturx in London. "Along with my husband, we created a comedy brand for all audiences where we provide tools from the comedic artistic field so that art would go beyond entertainment and have an educational purpose," says Camila.
Her work as an actor, clown, and comedian has focused on women's issues, and she has developed several artistic pieces, including one related to motherhood. This has opened opportunities for Camila to explore this topic further through artistic residencies awarded to her in Colombia and recently in Montreal. Camila explains that the theme of motherhood can transcend languages, cultures, and borders. "It is incredible to realize that an idea that seemed like a simple opinion is a cross-cultural theme that has resonated so much." She has worked on a short film here in London with a local production company. Earlier this year, she collaborated with three other recent Latina migrant singer-songwriters from London and created a piece called AGRACIADAS. The performance commemorated International Women's Month and combined standup comedy and original songs, connecting the audience through music and comic stories.
Camila encourages newcomers to Canada to keep creating; she adds, "Please do not stop creating; the world needs art. We must share our talent as immigrants so we can provide cultural spaces that encourage diversity in London and Canada."
Today, along with her performances, Camila works as an event planner/coordinator at Fanshawe College, where she studied Event Planning.
You can find Camila's work at:
www.camiarizacomedy.com
Instagam: https://www.instagram.com/camiariza.comedy/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/CAMI-ARIZA-Comedy/100082626497370/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@camiarizacomedy/videos
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camila-ariza/
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