Organization
Phare Ponleu Selpak
Phare Ponleu Selpak (ហ្វារពន្លឺសិល្បៈ) is a non-profit arts school and association in Battambang, in northwestern Cambodia. Its name means "The Brightness of the Arts".[1][2] It trains children and young people in circus, music, theater and visual arts, and its graduates perform in Phare, The Cambodian Circus in Siem Reap.[3]
History
The school grew out of drawing workshops for children in Site 2, a refugee camp on the Thai border, beginning in 1986. The workshops were meant to help the children cope with what they had lived through in the war.[2] Their teacher was Véronique Decrop, a French volunteer.[1] Srey Bandaul, one of her students, told Voice of America's Khmer service (VOA Khmer) in 2019 that she gave the children paper and colors and let them draw what they wanted.[4]
In 1994 nine of these former Site 2 children, back in Cambodia, founded Phare Ponleu Selpak in Battambang with their teacher.[2][1] With her help they found funding and a plot of land, and spent a year training so they could teach others.[4] Among the founders are Srey Bandaul, Khuon Det and Tor Vutha. Khuon Det had taken up circus skills in the camp and started a course for young performers.[4] The association registered with the Ministry of Interior in 2001.[2]
The school
The school stands in Anhchanh village, O'char commune, on the edge of Battambang.[2] In 2019 its more than 1,000 students could study dance, circus, applied and visual arts, graphic design, theater, music and animation, alongside their general schooling.[4] The organization also gives families social support.[1] Many of its students come from poor families. Some came from the streets or were orphans.[3]
Graduates have performed in Asia, North America and Europe.[3] Two of them, Dina Sok and Sopha Nem, won scholarships to the National Circus School in Montreal, and Dina Sok became the first Cambodian chosen to work for Cirque du Soleil.[4] Sopha Nem is the star of the documentary Cirque du Cambodia.[5]
Phare, The Cambodian Circus
Phare, The Cambodian Circus opened in Siem Reap in March 2013, in a 350-seat tent behind the Angkor National Museum. Its shows combine acrobatics, dance, music, juggling, contortion and fire with stories about Cambodian life, Khmer spirituality and the country's past.[3] In 2023 Cambodianess counted 150 professional circus artists at Phare, and wrote that its shows take Khmer subjects rather than those of a classic circus.[6] Southeast Asia Globe noted that reliefs of the 12th century at the Bayon show performers balancing, juggling and walking on ropes.[3]
The 24-hour show
With income down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Phare staged a circus show in Battambang on March 7 and 8, 2021, that ran for 24 hours, 10 minutes and 30 seconds.[6][7] Ninety performers took part, with acts from 31 of the troupe's shows. Guinness World Records recognized it as the longest circus show. By its count the show raised more than $150,000 and drew an online audience of close to a million.[7] The event won a gold and a silver Asia-Pacific Stevie Award and a gold Hermes Creative Award in 2021.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Phare Performing Social Enterprise, Phare Ponleu Selpak School (undated)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, CSO Database, Phare Ponleu Selpak (undated)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Southeast Asia Globe, Under the big top (April 10, 2014)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 VOA Khmer, Phorn Bopha, War, Colors and Drawing From Experience: How Art Inspired Young Cambodian Refugees (April 10, 2019)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Phnom Penh Post, Phare wins three international awards for their record-setting marathon circus performance (May 9, 2021)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cambodianess, Nicolò Tissier, Phare, the Khmer Circus That Shapes Artists and Tells Stories (September 8, 2023)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Cambodia Daily, from the Indian Express, Cambodian arts school breaks Guinness World Record for holding 24-hour circus show (November 23, 2022)