Circus talents awarded

HÀ NỘI — Three acrobatic performances by the Việt Nam Circus Federation, Việt Nam Circus and Variety Training School and Phương Nam Art Troupe won first prizes at the National Circus Talents Contest held in Hà Nội between December 4 and 10.

The acts won due to the artists’ high quality skills and advanced combinations between circus arts and other kinds of arts, according to experts.

Organisers also gave nine second prizes and three prizes for directors, coaches and performers.

The event gathered more than 60 artists from six schools and art troupes throughout the country.

“This contest shows a clear advancement against that of 12 years ago,” noted People’s Artist Lưu Văn Phúc, chairman of the judging board. “The advancement has resulted in directors staging items following modern circus trends with a proper blend between the art of circus and other kinds of arts. They care much about the costumes, make-up, light and music to create great performances.

“The circus sector can be proud of them, as they have been trained properly and have modern creative ways of thinking. This lifts circus performance quality to a new level, beyond the traditional simple performances,” he said.

Phúc also said that more than 80 per cent of artists joining the contest are very young.

He said most of circus artists in art troupes have been trained from the school.

“Over time working at professional troupes, the artists have become key performers of the troupes,” he said. — VNS