BENGALURU: It’s been a tightrope walk for circus artistes who have been significantly hit by the pandemic. But now, they are back in action, and how! Through this month, the St. John’s Auditorium in Koramangala will be action-packed with a medley of performances by artistes of the popular Rambo Circus.On Saturday, which happened to be ‘World Circus Day’, Rambo Circus made its debut here.
From death-defying acts like the flying trapeze to the aerial ring, the show also features acts like hand-to-hand, slinky, bubble act, bouncing ball, laser, and rolla bolla, among many others. Around 40 artistes from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Ethiopia, and India are performing in the great Indian circus festival taking place in the city till April 23.
“Be it a child or an adult, everybody likes to see a circus which is a non-stop entertainment of stunts and tricks. It was a difficult time for us during the pandemic when everything came to a halt. When many of our fellow circuses were forced to shut down, it was the trust of people that made us search for innovative ways to reach our viewers. Online circus shows and special shows for school students via social media held high the spirits of our artistes,” says Sujit Dilip, the proprietor of Rambo Circus.
Watching Kamila Khametova, an aerial ring acrobat artiste from Uzbekistan, doing acts is breathtaking. The 35-year-old, who is visiting India for the third time, has been involved in the art for the last 20 years. “I have mostly been doing acts like balancing steel rods. However, for this festival, I am doing aerial ring acrobats which I learnt in just a month and a half.
This act is my favourite because I get to do it on my own,” says Khametova when we catch her at the rehearsals. India is a memorable place for Khametova who remembers her first show with Gemini Circus many decades ago in Kerala. “I started performing in my childhood as I was always fascinated by the profession. Working in the circus has helped me explore different countries as well. I practice for over three to four hours at a stretch every day,” Khametova says. Along with the foreign artistes, Indian artistes too are putting up their mind-blowing performances.
Kolkata-based Pinky Khan’s performance on a cycle is a jaw-dropping act, to say the least. “My parents were also in the circus so I always wanted to follow suit. I do cycle and hula hoop tricks. The audience is quite energetic in Bengaluru and we are looking forward to more shows here,” says 34-year-old Khan, who, admittedly, is quite nervous to perform with Russian artistes.
Christina Sangma, a native of Assam is an expert in candle contortion and juggles myriad candles at a time by twisting her body. She says, “Being a circus artiste is quite difficult. You need to be fit and flexible. You need to be very active every moment. Meal times can vary due to continuous shows.”
(The show will be held every day till April 23 at 1.30 pm, 4.30 pm, and 7.30 pm. For tickets, priced at Rs 500, visit bookmyshow.com)
From acts like the flying trapeze to the aerial ring and rolla bolla, circus artistes are pushing limits to keep alive the age-old art as B’lureans will witness at the Rambo Circus shows taking place till April 23