The Company

Uniquely Cambodian. Daringly Modern. More than just a circus, Phare, the Cambodian Circus performers use theater, music, dance and modern circus arts to tell uniquely Cambodian stories; historical, folk and modern. The young circus artists will astonish you with their energy, emotion, enthusiasm and talent.

Phare artists are graduates of the Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus School in Battambang, Cambodia. The school was founded in 1994 by nine young men returning home from a refugee camp after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. They had taken art therapy courses at the camp and wanted to share the power of art to heal among the poor, socially deprived and troubled youth in Battambang. They started with drawing classes taught to a handful of students. Soon they opened a public school, then a music school, theatre school and circus school. Today more than 1,200 pupils attend the public school daily and 500 attend the vocational arts training programs.

The Show: Khmer Village

The storyline, music and acts of ‘Khmer Village’ were created in a unique collaborative process between international choreographers and Cambodian performers. The show presents an upbeat view of present-day Cambodian life and the cast features nine Cambodian artists–six acrobats and three musicians. It is an opportunity for American audiences to see something completely different, a truly spectacular, rousing, energizing, and sometimes surprising performance by a group of highly trained, talented artists.

This is a Doudna Fine Arts Center New & Emerging Artists Series production