Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS) is een Cambodjaanse organisatie die zich richt op het verbeteren van de leefomstandigheden van achtergestelde kinderen in de provincie Battambang, een zeer arm gebied in Cambodja. Tijdens het Festival Tini Tinou kwamen circusartiesten van over de hele wereld naar Cambodja om workhops te volgen en ervaringen te delen.
Het doel van het Tini Tinou Festival en de uitwisseling met andere circusscholen is om circusartiesten de kans te geven elkaar te ontmoeten en om ervaring te delen door workshops of door acts te zien die gecreëerd zijn door artiesten uit andere landen en om hun professionele netwerk uit te breiden. Voor de 2008 editie van het Festival nodigde de PPS 15 artiesten van het “Centre d’Art Acrobatique Keïta Fodéba”, uit Guinea uit als speciale gast. Ongeveer 80 andere artiesten kwamen uit onder meer Cambodja, China, Frankrijk, Duitsland, Palestina en Vietnam. Activiteiten vonden plaats op diverse locaties in Cambodja gedurende vier dagen (er waren rond de 2000 toeschouwers per dag). Het festival is afgelopen maar de 15 artiesten uit Guinea blijven in totaal 3 maanden in Cambodja waar ze allerlei extra training krijgen en aan diverse optredens zullen deelnemen. De workshops zijn in maart 2008 van start gegaan en er zullen tot eind mei 2008 samen met de artiesten uit Guinea shows gegeven worden.
Day 3
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.
Tini Tinou Closing
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.
Website van Phare Ponleu Selpak:www.phareps.org
Om het culturele debat te stimuleren, organiseert en steunt het Prins Claus Fonds, over de hele wereld, evenementen die interculturele uitwisseling mogelijk maken. Deze uitwisseling vindt plaats in de vorm van (internationale) congressen, lezingen, vergaderingen en/of tentoonstellingen.
De resultaten van deze uitwisseling worden aan een breder en groter publiek gepresenteerd in de vorm van artikelen, boeken en websites.
Een creatieve omgeving wordt gecreëerd waarin nieuwe opvattingen kunnen worden gepresenteerd en nieuwe partijen kunnen deelnemen aan het debat. De evenementen zijn ook richtinggevend bij het bepalen van richting voor de te leveren bijdragen op het gebied van cultuur en ontwikkeling.
