New Delhi, Nov 12 - An American circus troupe has joined hands with a Delhi based NGO to perform across the country to sensitise people on various social and environmental issues.San Francisco based circus troupe, Dreamtime Circus, has its members perform on themes like education, environment or gender.Swecha, an NGO, which works on environmental issues, has brought the circus to India that will perform for six months.'Although Swecha has brought them to India, the circus troupe work in association with different organisations and local NGOs in different places. Whichever issue a particular NGO works on, the troupe will perform for them on the very same issue,' Supriya Singh of Swecha told IANS.Dreamtime circus' members are mainly students who have dropped out of their studies and other professionals who emptied their bank balance for this particular trip to India.Performances of the troupe include an array of circus arts, music and storytelling, and will communicate positive messages of hope, dreams, and respect for all.'In addition to performances, the troupe will also hold workshops to teach a variety of basic circus arts to kids of all ages. These performances and workshops will provide a unique creative venue for partnering organisations to raise awareness about their issues,' Singh said.The troupe has, in the past month, performed in Alwar in Rajasthan, Solan, McLeodgunj and Shimla in Himachal Pradesh and in Delhi.They will also perform in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.The troupe performance is free of cost and the members have sponsored the entire trip.Through this initiative, the troupe aims that grass roots NGOs, especially in the rural areas, get publicity by the media on their various projects. Until now, 15 NGOs have registered for this initiative.The Dreamtime Circus was founded by fire dancers and non-profit organisers Chris Dunn and Kara Kfire Voss in 2005 when they first started performing in villages in Indonesia.
(c) Indo-Asian News Service
