Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus
We spent our second night in Siem Reap at the Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus. It started in a refugee camp on the Cambodian Thai border in the 1980s, but then moved to Battambang when it was safer in Cambodia.
We bought tickets, and because I’m Khmer, ethnicity I got in for $4, Mum had to pay $16, but it didn’t matter because the money goes to the performers - they get a salary for their work which they should.
I love what Phare Ponleu Selpak means: The brightness of the Arts.
It’s a non-profit Cambodian organisation which works with orphaned and vulnerable children and young adults, nurturing their creative outlets in performing, music and visual arts.
It was amazing. The performers were so agile and masterful. They had such control and flexibility which must have come from years of discipline and training, but I especially loved their animated faces and movements - they seemed to love performing. Even when they didn’t quite get the movement perfect, they just gave broad warm smiles and gave it another try. The audience loved it even more.
We spent our second night in Siem Reap at the Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus. It started in a refugee camp on the Cambodian Thai border in the 1980s, but then moved to Battambang when it was safer in Cambodia.
We bought tickets, and because I’m Khmer, ethnicity I got in for $4, Mum had to pay $16, but it didn’t matter because the money goes to the performers - they get a salary for their work which they should.
I love what Phare Ponleu Selpak means: The brightness of the Arts.
It’s a non-profit Cambodian organisation which works with orphaned and vulnerable children and young adults, nurturing their creative outlets in performing, music and visual arts.
It was amazing. The performers were so agile and masterful. They had such control and flexibility which must have come from years of discipline and training, but I especially loved their animated faces and movements - they seemed to love performing. Even when they didn’t quite get the movement perfect, they just gave broad warm smiles and gave it another try. The audience loved it even more.
I got some of this from the website: http://www.phareps.org
“Phare Ponleu Selpak passionately believes in the power of the arts as a tool for human development and social change”
In the Visual arts the children learn painting, sculpture and video, as well as graphic design, web design, animation films. It gives kids vocational skills.
The founders of PPS realised the drawing classes weren’t enough to channel the “energies of the most volatile, damaged and vulnerable children. At that time, the Anch Chanh village was home to a lot of abandoned children and street kids in conflict with the law. The Circus School in Battambang is an open-access space where students are trained in juggling, acrobatics, aerial arts, clowning, balance and dance.
“Phare Ponleu Selpak passionately believes in the power of the arts as a tool for human development and social change”
In the Visual arts the children learn painting, sculpture and video, as well as graphic design, web design, animation films. It gives kids vocational skills.
The founders of PPS realised the drawing classes weren’t enough to channel the “energies of the most volatile, damaged and vulnerable children. At that time, the Anch Chanh village was home to a lot of abandoned children and street kids in conflict with the law. The Circus School in Battambang is an open-access space where students are trained in juggling, acrobatics, aerial arts, clowning, balance and dance.
And, here's me with one of the performers:
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