The circus adventure has been amazing... We've been with the group for about a week now, and it's incredibly exhausting, inspiring, and a load of fun. There have been about 20-24 of us involved in the project. Each day we dress up in outrageous, colorful costumes and pile into the back of two pickup trucks to head out to schools full of Burmese refugee kids. (A site to see, for sure!) When we arrive, we spend a few minutes getting organized, and then we do a "day show", as we like to call it. It's filled with clowny acts, physical humor, juggling and acrobatic acts, magic tricks, etc.. Usually it involves members of the audience- the Flame Oz girls lasso a couple of teachers and get them to try to hula hoop in front of the kids- which is always a big hit with the children.
After the show, we do a warm up with the whole group, getting them to stretch and hoot and holler with us, before we send them through an obstacle course of hula hoops and limbo sticks and jump ropes. Then we split them into workshop groups, which are typically between 10 and 40 students each, and we teach them circus skills like poi; hula hooping; spinning staff; juggling; balancing objects on hands, elbows, & face; devil sticks; acrobatics and tumbling. Usually the workshops are about 15-20 minutes, and then we rotate groups and teach again. Meanwhile, there is face painting, bubble blowing, and general laughing, being silly, and tickling of kids going on... Usually we close with some more whole group activities.
After that, we typically share a quick group meal of Thai and Burmese food, change our clothes, and prepare to do a fire show. Our fire shows typically run between 40 minutes and an hour, and are quite impressive, in my opinion. We've got jugglers, amazing poi spinners, double staff, staff, fire hoop, fire fans, fire ropes, and several choreographed partner pieces. We've even got a crazy tool that creates a HUGE fireball as a show closer.
The circus group is made up of people from all over the world- Sweden, Japan, Canada, Germany, Thailand, USA, UK, and Austria. We're called "Spark", and it's all organized by a Canadian woman named Andrea. The project itself has been going on for 5 or 6 years, and used to be called "Laughing for Life". It's an entirely grass-roots, volunteer effort. Because we work with schools and refugees that are not always "legitimate" in the eyes of the government, we can't apply for grants. So all funds are generated through volunteer performances and donations, and all the time and effort is completely volunteer. Andrea isn't paid for any of it, and all of us performers/teachers/clowns are paying for our own housing, transport, water, food, etc. while we are here. Andrea has donated most of the costumes we use, although some have brought their own. Funds raised through performances and donations are used to sponsor the Thai performers, purchase toys for the schools, and buy little gifts for the children (like bracelets and pencils). It's pretty awesome to be a part of a project that is so direct and grassroots and intimate... And you really feel it when a little Burmese child with a painted face and a huge smile runs up with arms outspread to give you a hug. And last night, we had a group of Burmese dancers perform and INCREDIBLE traditional dance for us after a day at their school. It was quite a memorable experience- very very far removed from being a "tourist".
All the people involved have been incredible to meet and work with. Wonderful, friendly, fun people. There's been a lot of skill-sharing going on, and a lot of silliness and laughter. We all stay together in a guesthouse about 20 minutes from town, about 6-8 people to a room, so we have quite the family-style living arrangements. It's a lot of organization to get people in and out of town, and try to work around everyone's individual needs, but we manage. It'll be a relief to have some peace and quiet and a bit of privacy again, when it's over, but we still have 2 more days of visits to schools, orphanages, and a woman's shelter. It has been exhausting, but AMAZING, and well worth the effort.
