VietNamNet Bridge - 50 years after its birth, Vietnamese circus seems to have come to a cul-de-sac. Old items, which used to be popular but are now unable to keep audiences awake are still being performed. 

Golden times

Circus has long been essential to the lives of Vietnamese. A long time ago, many circus troupes wandered from village to village throughout Vietnam to perform. 

At the beginning of the 20^th century, when Vietnam was still under French rule, several French circus troupes visited the country and performed with the cooperation of Vietnamese artists such as André Troupe in Sa Dec (1917), and Nam Tu Troupe in My Tho (1918). 

Ta Duy Hien Troupe is considered the originator of Vietnamese circus. And on January 16, 1956, the Central Circus Troupe was born, ushering in an era of modern circus. Afterwards, other provincial and city troupes such as Hanoi Circus, HCM City Circus and Long An Circus appeared. 
 
In the 50s and 60s of the 20^th century, many troupes in the South became very popular. Some examples are Doc Lap (Independence), Tuoi Tre (Youth), and Huong Mien Nam (Southern Fragrance). 

But the golden years of Vietnamese circus were in the 1970s and 1980s when a new generation of performers came home after professional training in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Such novel acts as balancing on ropes, body curling, riding unicycles, and animal training attracted public enthusiasm. 

Today

For many reasons, the public is now not very interested in visiting the circus. Revenues from shows aren’t enough to be reinvested in creating new items. For weekend shows in a thousand-seat auditorium, for instance, audience members are often enough to fill only one or two hundred seats. 

So it seems that 50 years after its birth, Vietnamese circus has come to a cul-de-sac. Old items, which used to be popular but are now unable to keep audiences awake are still being performed. 

How do circus performers live?

The married couple Phi Son and Thuy Trang, who graduated from circus schools in the USSR in 1983 and are now the main performers of HCM City Circus Troupe, said: “Circus is a type of art whose language is action. But recently, it has sunk into oblivion. Nowadays, only those troupes with government support can survive. Most performers support themselves by having extra jobs. Of the 10 performers sent to study in the USSR, we are the only ones to hang on to the profession still.” 

In the stifling 38 degrees, 60 members of HCM City Circus Troupe patiently practised. Sweat covered their faces and bodies. With strong and nimble figures, Thu Trang and Bich Lien, the two hoop performers, looked much younger than their actual 34 years of age. "We’ve been in the profession for 20 years. One can work in this profession out of passion without expecting to support oneself with it.” 

These performers practise hard from 4 to 6 hours a day to prepare for only 2 performances per week. Their average monthly earnings are VND2million (US$125).  

The animal stock of the biggest circus troupe in the south isn’t very impressive either. There are only an old elephant, 4 skinny and tiny monkeys, and 5 or 6 dogs. It is yet an impossible dream to own such animals as tigers, lions or crocodiles. 

"We don’t have interesting items simply because of lack of investment and professionalism. Foreign performers often have different directors and musicians as well as light and sound technicians for each of their performance items. So how can they not perform well and better than us?” asked Phi Son and Thuy Trang. 

Signs of revival

One year ago, Idecaf Theatre thought about adding dramatic talks to circus performances. This idea proved to be successful with the popularity of the circus/play performance Forest Boy. 

And HCM Circus Troupe and Idecaf Theatre have recently worked together to create another performance of this type titled Adventure on the Wild Island in which circus performers play the main role, while an MC reads the story. 

The familiar Vietnamese folk story, Story of the Watermelon, was also adapted to circus and performed from the first day of Tet, February 17, 2007 to March 25, 2007. Public response was favourable. 

And HCM City Troupe seems to have been reborn. 

"We were so glad, looking at the crowded seats and audience members closely watching our performance. For a long time, we hadn’t attracted such attention,” said Thu Trang and Bich Lien.

(Source: Lao Dong)