White Gold – Cambodian circus
Image: White Gold by Phare Circus. Image: Ranuth Yun.
In Cambodia “white gold” refers to rice, the grain that is eaten three times a day and sustains life.
White Gold is also the title of an astonishing Cambodian circus and acrobatic show that is part of this year’s Sydney Festival program, and one that will feed your soul and that of your entire family.
The show is the creation of Phare, a volunteer organisation that bills itself as a “circus with a purpose”.
Phare was founded in 1994 by none young men after the fall of the terrifying Khmer Rouge regime.
Now based in Battambang and Siem Reap, Phare, The Cambodian Circus offers schooling to over 1200 students, with another 500 attending outreach programs.
The circus school, based on theatre, music, dance and modern circus arts tells a unique Cambodian story while affording the students a place to hone their skills and earn a decent wage.
The story that White Gold is bringing to Sydney is that of a young person banished from his village into a world where rice means hard labour and Buddhist teaching comes under threat from the desire to earn more profits.
Many of the skills (juggling, tumbling and teeterboard) on display in White Gold date back over 1200 years into Cambodian history.
