Day 68: the acro-circus

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This week I had the privilege of seeing the Phare show. They call it a circus (which I could not attend due to animal love and standards), but what it is is the most incredible acrobatically, musically entertaining displays EVER! The show they did was called Same Same But Differentwhich "explores the different habits and ways of living between Cambodians and foreign visitors." I laughed so hard and had my jaw drop at the strength, athleticism and poise of these individuals.

This company is actually pretty amazing outside of their stunts and music compositions. They tell Cambodian stories and all artists (musicians, circus artists, and dancers) all graduated from Phare Ponleu Selpak which is an NGO school and professional arts training center located in Cambodia. The school was founded in 1994 by nine Cambodian men returning from a refugee camp after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. At the camp, they learned to draw and found comfort and healing in the process. They began offering free drawing classes to street children and now offer formal K-12 education and professional arts training in visual arts, theater, music, dance and circus. They currently have more than 1,200 students and 500 attend vocational arts training programs for free. Phare Circus opened in 2013 and performs nightly in Siem Reap with almost 75% of the profits going to the school. The missions of Enterprise are:
<ul style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 23px 18px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 26px; color:񧤲 font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, Lucida, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial;">Create meaningful employment opportunities for Cambodian artistsCreate financially sustainable social businesses that provide a reliable income streams for Phare Ponleu SelpakRevitalise the arts sector in Cambodia and promote Cambodian art locally and internationally


It was amazing to see what the body was capable of and to have so much theater put into the show. I wonder if they are capable of teaching any young kid how to do any of the art trainings or if there is a special screening process to help best fit each student. I have found kids are so malleable. Often we say things are going to be too hard on the kids, but I think what we mean is as adults we can handle the change. Their potential and adaptability seems limitless. To harness the trust, desire, will, and flexibility of a kid and maintain it for life should be the goal.

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Photos

Phare Cambodian Circus
Same Same But Different