Phare Ponleu Selpak aims at reducing the time spent by children in the streets, to provide protection to children in vulnerable situations and to offer them educative and professional solutions, notably artistic ones, so they can develop their own life skills. They are active in the poor province of Battambang, Cambodia. The Circus school department of the PPS organised the Tini Ttinou Festival for circus artists from all over the world. The Tini Tinou Festival aimes at providing young circus artists and senior circus artists the opportunity to meet each other, to exchange experiences and skills through workshops as well as by seeing other performances created by artists and companies from different countries.
For the 2008 edition of the Festival, PPS invited the “Centre d’Art Acrobatique Keïta Fodéba”, from Guinea, as a special guest. Other participants of the Festival came from amongst other Cambodia, China, France, Germany, Palestine, Vietnam and many more countries. The Festival activities with performances that were open for the public took place for four days at diverse locations in Cambodia (with round and about 2000 spectators a day). The public Festvival activities have ended but the 15 artists from the circus school in Guinea are staying in Cambodia for 3 months where they will get extra training and they will participate in diverse performances. The workshops have started in March 2008 and the shows that will be given together with the artists from Guinea will continue till the end of May 2008.
Activities are going really well in this third day. Sometimes it can be difficult to live in the same space… circus school, workshops and theatre classes. John Devaraj, Bornfree Art School artistic director is with us and participates to the conference we have for 2 morning, at Phare Ponleu Selpak. «Action social et arts de la scène» unites artists and humanitary actions directors together to find a way to promote circus social action and their artists. From India, Thailand, Canada, Japan, France, Guinea, Belgium, Taiwan, Cambodia, they are all together united to share their experiences and to creates alliance that might help to develop their will in a near future. It gives to everyone a chance to develop a larger vision of the needs in social circus and, in a more general way, the way of promoting artists and their community. It will also help everyone to enlarge their professional network.
So, John will give a theatre workshop with our young comedian all the afternoon. After a first one with the circus school, him and his team are now moving to the small stage.
The evening began with a wonderful «cadre coréen» short show presented by 3 circus artists and 2 musician from Phare Ponleu Selpak. An amazing surprise that they just finished in their workshop. They wisely combined humour, passion, esthetics at a great skills level. This performance helps Phare Ponleu Selpak to approach in a new way the traditional art of aerial circus art.
International Circus Festival of Cambodia
This 4th and final day of the festival. Under a bright sun, the artists are getting ready. The Chapiteau is invested by the Guinean troupe, the big stage by the Cambodian and the German performers, on the small stage, the duet Ako / Apra are preparing to perform their new show. Thailand finds a moment to rehearse his beautiful tissue show. During the afternoon, an artisan installs his home made bombs. Nobody sees him. Discreet and efficient...
The storm is threatening. The heat is heavy. Each movement is difficult. However, it is not the time to save them. The volunteers clean and refill the bar, in the kitchen, they are cooking restlessly. Every day of the festival, the restaurant serves more than 200 meals. This is the opportunity to make a training course in hospitality and customer service... The garbage truck comes to pick up the rubbish left the day before by almost 2000 spectators / eaters.
We begin to hear the samba... spiced by the recent inclusion of Asian rhythms, then Khmer, who are strangely infected with African rhythm. Ten young musicians of Phare Ponleu Selpak, 3 from Guinea are rehearsing everyday with the artists of UFA Fabrik.
They are preparing a pot-pourri that will set fire for the closing. «Fantastic closing show !!» wrote Jerry the Canadian, a former Cirque du Soleil player...
We noticed that the first day opening, presentation and acknowledgement speech, were somewhat too long with a few dead times during the scene changes or when technical problems were being resolved... So, from the 2nd day, 3 clowns were in charge of animating and teasing of the very serious animators. This is an improvisation work that they were very into, then became a key element of the festival, a show by themselves.
One hour before the show starts, the sky is threatening. Every one is busy looking at the sky thinking... will it hold, it will hold. The acrobatic duet with a hip hop trend arrives. A nice moment... Cloudbursts. It did not hold. The public, acute, is charging like a single man to the big top tent. When there isn't any more space, the bar and other protected areas are inhabited.
The clowns don't waste a single moment. The tissue show of Rajanikara Leng Kaewdee is magicaly filling space... then the Guinean set the Chapiteau on fire !
It stops raining. The big stage belongs now to the musicians... Emotion. The sky illuminated, wave of applause, the central space of Phare Ponleu Selpak becomes a giant dancing floor, that the technicians (who were remarkable during the whole festival), give life to. DJ adviced, they won't leave their console table until past 2 o'clock in the morning.
The 5th edition of the Cambodia Tini Tinou International Circus Festival took place thanks to the support of the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, the French Cultural Centre of Phnom Penh, the French Embassy in Cambodia, the German Embassy in Cambodia, Culturesfrance, ArtVenture, Prince Claus Fonds, Asian Trails
with the help of SDV, APSARA and Capitol.
Tini Tinou Festival 2008
Website of Phare Ponleu Selpak:www.phareps.org
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