Former Nepalese Child Circus Slaves Turn Adversity to Art

Two Nepalese performers will use skills forced upon them as child slaves in Indian circus to stage the heart-rending tale of their lost childhoods in the London debut of As a Tiger in the Jungle.

Performing at Jacksons Lane on 10 and 11 October 2017, circus artists Renu Ghalan and Aman Tamang present the harrowing story of being taken from their families - the 'tiger' representing child traffickers - and the inspiring account of their ultimate triumph over adversity.

Circus will mix with spoken word and ceremony in the artistically innovative, technically dazzling piece, in which the two Nepalese aerialists - specialising in straps, acrobatics, silks and double hoop - are joined by Loan TP Hoang, a Norwegian-Vietnamese movement specialist.

As a Tiger in the Jungle is produced by an international partnership between Ali Williams, ex-Artistic Director of the pioneering Welsh circus company NoFit State, and Norwegian company Circus Xanti.

When Renu was 5 years old and Aman was 6, they were taken from their Nepalese villages and sold into circus across the Indian border, where they faced beatings and emotional abuse amid exhausting four-show days.

They were eventually rescued - Aman at the age of 9 and Renu when she was 14 - by members of ChoraChori Nepal, a charity set up to secure the freedom of Nepalese child slaves.

Renu and Aman joined a group of ex-circus slaves who decided to make positive use of the skills once forced upon them to form Circus Kathmandu, dedicated to making socially conscious, contemporary circus - as opposed to that of the traditional Indian circuses from which they had been freed.

The 11-person Circus Kathmandu developed their intense circus training into artistic expertise with help from 50 international volunteers, including Ali Williams, who joined the company in 2013 for a year-long sabbatical. She worked with Sverre Waage from Circus Xanti to arrange an international tour for Circus Kathmandu's first full-length show, Swagatam ('Welcome'), which included stops at the Circus Village Festival and the Circus Big Top at Glastonbury Festival.

In 2017 Renu and Aman were picked from the company to develop As a Tiger in the Jungle, working again with Ali Williams and Circus Xanti to arrange an international tour.

Ali Williams said:

"We are pleased to have created a meaningful and engaging performance based on true stories from the performers' lives. I was inspired by the young artists from Circus Kathmandu and am delighted to be able to employ Aman and Renu in a professional capacity and utilise the skills they learnt in captivity in a positive and empowering way.

"This gives the performance an authenticity rarely seen on stage today".