Close your eyes and try to recall your first visit to the circus; can you taste the popcorn, smell the sawdust, feel the joy? Now imagine that the big top never rolled into town; imagine that such spectacles were simply rumours, distant pleasures in foreign lands.
For Circus Abyssinia founders, the juggling brothers Bibi and Bichu Tesfamariam, a Cirque du Soleil video was all they had, growing up as they did in famine-plagued Ethiopia. This mere glimpse, though, ignited a passion and inspired a dream; a dream that first came to fruition at the Edinburgh Festival in 2017 and that the brothers are still attempting to process, as Bibi explains.
“I still think I’m dreaming, honestly. We’re so grateful, especially launching it in Edinburgh. We never expected it would get to this stage. Sometimes I pinch myself and ask, 'is this actually real?'”
Image © Andrew Rees
The ebullient and talkative duo were rendered dumbstruck by the rapturous audience response in Scotland, Bichu explains.
“We believed in the show but we didn’t know how people were going to react to it. And after the first show, we thought 'oh my God this is actually happening', and we couldn’t believe it. We were backstage and shaking and we didn’t know what to say to each other; usually we are talking and talking for hours. It meant so much to us.”
The reaction to the debut performances of Circus Abyssinia was not too dissimilar to the response that Bibi and Bichu received from Britain’s juggling fraternity when they first visited the UK. Having honed their skills in isolation, using the props that they could fashion with the materials available to them, they astonished their professionally trained brethren with their prowess. Bibi explains the challenges they faced and the unexpected advantages that came from overcoming these challenges.
Image © Andy Phillipson
“We actually crafted our own clubs just because there wasn’t any juggling shop around in Ethiopia, so we didn’t have the original juggling clubs.”
“They’re quite heavy compared to professional clubs and they hurt a lot and that actually helped us: juggling with those heavy clubs and balls. And when we got here and actually [had] the professional juggling clubs, it actually made it a massive advantage for us.”
While, with their hard work and perseverance, Bibi and Bichu were able to succeed in the absence of an Ethopian circus school, their generosity has ensured that their compatriots need not struggle against such immense odds. The brothers are joined in Circus Abyssinia by the Konjowoch Troupe, a young band of dancers, jugglers, contortionists, and acrobats trained at the circus school that the brothers fund. The Troupe garnered high praise in Edinburgh for their fearlessness. Bibi explains the force that drives these emerging performers.
Image © Andrey Petrov
“Back in Ethiopia, kids are just willing to learn and they’re eager to show 100%. We started this after school activity back in Ethiopia but the kids are fearless.”
“We are doing it with safety and precision but the kids are really brave and trying to prove themselves – that we are good, that we want to go as far as we can go with whatever we are doing.”
Having already played the Royal Variety Gala, Circus Abyssinia's next stop is the Royal Croquet Club this Adelaide Fringe.
