VietNam
In Hoi An, Lune center at Dong Hiep park,
Extraordinary art birthed from the ordinary
In Vietnamese and other Asian cultures, both “bamboo” and “circus” represent the ordinary rhythms of simple country life. However, familiar and simple do not mean mediocre. In Vietnamese Bamboo Circus, the two elements are intertwined to give audiences the unforgettable experience of a captivating performance.
Bamboo Circus is the Vietnamese art form that has received the most invitations to perform abroad - with over 500 overseas shows and 200,000 attendees in 17 countries on 4 continents.
No animals are involved, the Vietnamese Bamboo Circus uses bamboo props and live music to depict unique Vietnamese culture and tradition.
1. Storytelling Circus - A Circus with a Tale to tell
A good circus grabs the attention by riveting the audience with dangerous acts and skillful performances. Vietnamese Bamboo Circus is all this and more. The flow of the action goes beyond expectations to tell stories that evoke emotion from the audience: the tormenting separation of a couple brought out in a dance of sorrow, and farmers’ joy and pride in the farming season bubbles over in a fast-paced juggle and somersault.
2. A Bamboo World
Bamboo has long been essential in every aspect of Vietnamese rural life: from the village entrance’s bamboo hedge to bamboo working tools and household items.
In the Vietnamese Bamboo Circus, bamboo is so much more than that. The artists use bamboo to create performances that stretch the imagination. The picture of a performer juggling a bamboo pole twice the height of his body, dancer swinging and dangling on bamboo, the whole troupe balancing on high towers of bamboo, and then flipping acrobatically among bamboo baskets. Stepping into the Theater brings the audience to a whole other world that crafted of bamboo: a peaceful river, a majestic mountain, or a cityscape with its high-rise buildings and bustling traffic.
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3. Enchanting Music from Another World
Unlike the usual circus with its canned background music, the music of Vietnamese Bamboo Circus is performed live, creating the stimulating atmosphere for each show. The musicians sweep us up into the action, or dive us deep into the raw emotions of the characters in the story. The instruments used are unique to Vietnam, and bring out the color and the flavor of each region they represent: the Central Highlands gongs; the traditional lute in the Northern Folk tradition (Ca Tru); the two-chord fiddle of Southern Folk. These are all recognized by UNESCO as cultural treasures.
4. The Color and Flare of Every Region
Each scene of the show paints a lively picture of a certain region in Vietnam, brings the audience closer to the essential parts of Vietnamese culture and tradition, such as duck-herding under the Southern moonlight, rituals for blessings for a successful crop season in the Central Highland villages, or the romantic date nights of the young souls in Northern communities.
Vietnamese Bamboo Circus does not merely demonstrate traditional and cultural activities, it represents the soul and the spirit of the nation through the craft of lighting, sound effects and mise-en-scène.
Vietnamese Bamboo Circus is a harmonious play of juxtapositions: the toughness of the bamboo pole versus the flexibility of the body, the stillness of a rural village versus the excitement of the circus. Combined with the flare of Vietnamese genius, the adventurous heart who walks into the Theater for Bamboo Circus will walk out an hour later with the exhilaration they will never forget.
Performances of Vietnamese Bamboo Circus:
- Lang Toi - My Village: The first bamboo circus of Vietnam that toured Europe for three years from 2009 to 2012. Lang Toi – My Village performs regularly in Hanoi Opera House and Vietnam Tuong Theatre.
- À Ố Show: The signature cultural show in Ho Chi Minh City, performing in Saigon Opera House. À Ố Show is the most frequently toured show around the world since 2015.
- Teh Dar: The only bamboo circus about Vietnamese highland culture, performing in Saigon Opera House and Hoi An Lune Center for the Performing Arts. Teh Dar has been continuously on tour around Europe from 2018 to 2020.
Cre: Lune production
