A few days back I was fortunate to witness the ‘Chinese Circus’ show, which was running for the last one month at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium. The show was marketed by its organisers, the Association of Old Nalandians, as a “dream carnival”. As the name implies, it was like a “dream”. For nearly two hours, you are completely taken out from the real world.
After enjoying the show, I came out happily but deeply thinking about what we could learn from this amazing experience. I wish to note two things that struck my mind.
‘Chinese circus’ is a world famous brand name. It is widely accepted and respected by many around the world and wherever they perform, they attract thousands of spectators. It has created and occupied a distinct position in the mind of many and also owns a unique identity.
The performance we saw in Sri Lanka was from the Nanjing Acrobat Troupe and they have performed in many other countries before. How the ‘Chinese circus’ evolved as a powerful brand is a good question to find an answer to.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese Government, following its policy of ‘Let a hundred flowers blossom and weed through the old to bring forth the new,’ brought about a stunning rebirth of the Acrobatic Theatre.
Acrobatic troupes were created in each province and every major city and were given their own theatres. The teaching was (and still is) done within the troupe, with old performers training the new generation. This has helped the ‘Chinese Circus’ to evolve to the stage where it is now.
Even though Sri Lanka has a rich tradition and culture, we have not been able to cultivate anything to have a distinct image similar to what the Chinese have done. We have always been proud of our traditional dancing (up country, low country and Sabaragamuwa) and even things like Ambalangoda puppetry (Rukada), but none of these have been able to create an internationally recognised brand name for Sri Lanka.
Surely the reason for this does not lie in the attractiveness of these performances, which are on par with any form of entertainment available in any country; there are many performers from Sri Lanka who have made appearances around the world.
It is true that Sri Lankan performances get the deserved recognition and appreciation internationally, but we have not been able to make it into a big brand. The reason must be the lack of policy making, attention, support and recognition within the country.
There is no serious attempt to make a brand out of it and market it internationally. This has limited the exposure we would have got out of extremely talented performers and the value of the opportunity we lost cannot be quantified in monetary terms.
The second point I need to stress is what made these performers unique. It is true that all of them are ordinary people, like you and me. They have not been born with any invisible power, but sheer dedication, commitment and continuous training have made them unique and exceptional.
This is the secret behind one who needs to upgrade from good to great. You could make this the motto in your life as well. It’s not anyone who makes you great and it’s only the strong belief you have in yourself and right attitude towards achieving things that others see as impossible.
The troupe from Nanjing has given us many things to process in our minds while providing us an opportunity to witness their exceptional circus performances.
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