American movement artist Dan Kamin will collaborate with the National Symphony Orchestra to give three performances in two cities in Taiwan this weekend. The orchestra and Kamin will perform 'The Classical Clown,' which combines classical music and mime, at the National Concert Hall in Taipei April 2-3 and outdoors at the Wei Wu Ying Center for the Arts in Kaohsiung on Children's Day on April 4. The show is designed to make classical music 'very real to the children, ' said Kamin, who trained Hollywood movie stars Robert Downey, Jr. for his Oscar- nominated starring role in 'Chaplin' in 1992 and created Johnny Depp's physical comedy sequences for 'Benny and Joon' in 1993. In 'The Classical Clown, ' Kamin will act like a poorly behaved child fighting with the conductor for control of the orchestra to draw laughs from the children while also showing them the beauty of classical music. 'I will dance with a life-size doll to the music of the 'Emperor's Waltz, '' he said. Kamin told the Central News Agency that he started his performance career at an early age, beginning as a magician when he was 12 years old. But because he did not want to be a magician all of his life, he was thinking of attending Carnegie Mellon University to study industrial design when he saw the eye-popping movement illusions practiced by master mime Jewel Walker. The experience changed his life, and be soon became Walker's apprentice. He was also inspired by Charlie Chaplin's silent movies, which he describes as 'a combination of mime and music.' Asked about the first time he worked with an orchestra, he said it happened 30 years ago, when the Pittsburgh Symphony wanted to turn kids on to classical music. Since then, he has created 'Comedy Concerto ', a show blending comedy with classical music that has received acclaim worldwide. Though this is the first time he is performing in Taiwan, he is confident audiences here will understand his show and find plenty of reason to laugh. Even orchestra musicians will show their inner clowns at the concert, Kamin promised, because 'they love funny things too.' 