Everyone needs to have fun
After 5 mornings of workshops with these young people from three diverse groups – street kids, ex-child-soldiers, kids from poor areas, orphans – I am amazed and delighted with their speedy learning and teamwork. We have now completed the Phase 1, next we go out to visit them all in their places – with more circus arts and juggling and photography training.
If you’ve been following our facebook feed you’ll know that the Serious Fun community juggling workshops have begun in Yangon, led by Jules and Lin Thet Naing (who is doing a great job translating juggling terms and instructions) as well as training the young people.
The first workshop took place at Thanlyin Boys Training Center last week with a group of 20 boys. The Training Center is home to 150 boys aged from 6-16 who are are mainly orphans and children found living on the streets. They live at the center and attend school until they turn 16.
Second workshop on 22nd Decemeber – The Headmaster looks on
The boys have free time from 2.30pm to 5pm and Principal U Kyaw Oo is happy to host the weekly juggling workshop, as it gives them a chance to learn something new and fun. Eventually the kids will become teachers themselves and pass on their skills to the other boys. Jules has just run the second workshop there and is astonished how fast the boys are picking up all this juggling stuff.
This week we’ve done 5 half day workshops with the 33 children and young people taking part in the youth leadership project we’re running in conjunction with the Yangon Photography Festival.
This group is learning juggling and circus skills from Jules, and photography from reknowned Myanmar photographer U Kyee Myint. The setting is the beautiful garden of the Institut Francais de Birmanie (IFB), which hosts the Photography Festival.
These young jugglers come from four different organisations – Scholarships For StreetKids Myanmar, Ratana Metta Foundation, Shwe Minn Tha Foundation and the Save the Children demobbed child soldiers programme.
Firstly the kids take part in workshops in juggling, circus skills and photography over the next two months. Later on, the Photography Festival brings the fabulous Sangeeta Isvaran to the mix, culminating in an “Inner Light” performance on stage at IFB on February 13.
More regular workshops start soon in other locations around Yangon. Thanks so much to all the organisations and people helping to make all of this happen. Like Serious Fun in Yangon on facebook to follow the action.
Alice Vernat’s Photos from the Great Day Out. On 7th Dec 2014 the British Ambassador’s Residence in Yangon was overrun by happy Burmese and Expats, delighted to be in the Gardens and enjoying cucumber sandwiches, tea and entertainments such as coconut shy, whack-a-rat, bouncy castle and a circus workshop from Serious Fun Committee
The Great Britain Day Out – 7th December 2014 at the British Ambassador’s Residence Yangon was a whole load of fun. Hundreds of westerners and Burmese guest enjoyed a fun day out in the gardens. We provided a circus workshop, without which no 21st Century British Fete would be complete.
This is our tag-line for the Festival in Yangon “everyone needs to have fun!” In the long rainy season comes to an end in Yangon, Jude and Virginia from the Serious Fun Committee have been running around the city, dodging floods and traffic jams, talking to people about plans to stage the International Juggling Festival in February. They may be potential sponsors or supporters, have venues we would like to use, or looking to join in as participants. Without exception the magic happens when we open our presentation book with an outline of our plans and photographs of some of the very special performers who are coming “I want to see this. I’ve never seen this before” seems to be the most common response. People love the idea of international jugglers making their own way to the city to create some fun with and for the people there. And they enthusiastically embrace the tagline for the festival “everyone needs to have fun.” After decades of uncertainty, this seems to fit in with a more optimistic view of the future. We were hoping to come across people who might have heard something about Myanmar’s remarkable juggling heritage, but so far we’ve been telling them about jugglers from Burma taking Europe by storm in the late 1800s. See our earlier post. This history seems to have been lost. We’ll keep asking though. The Serious Fun programme kicks off with community workshops in December, run by Mr Jules who will be teaching juggling and other circus skills to children in different parts of the city. The aim is for the children to develop a show that they can perform for their community along with international jugglers in February. Jude Serious Fun Committee
Thanks for the Props!
Alice Vernat and Lin Thet Naung display our Thank You For The Props banner in Yangon. Thank you to PLAY, Beard, Just Juggling, Gora and Ballaballa.
Since we printed the banner Henry’s and Oddballs have donated too.
We’re gonna need a bigger banner.
www.seriousfunglobal.net
“Everyone needs to have fun!”
Updated 28 October 2014
International Juggling Festival
Yangon, February 2015
Entertainment, laughter and fun will take center stage as the first international
juggling festival ever staged in Yangon, Myanmar, invites local, regional and
international jugglers, street theatre and circus performers to come together for a week of extraordinary activities from 9-15 February 2015.
The festival is organised by the Serious Fun Committee which has successfully
staged similar events in neighboring Laos and Thailand, in partnership with the
Smile Education and Development Foundation in Yangon. It has a serious
mission behind the fun. The festival aims to bring people together and bridge
gaps, teach new skills to disadvantaged children, provide training and promote
regional and international linkages for local performers, and celebrate Myanmar’s remarkable juggling heritage.
To achieve these aims, international jugglers will travel to Yangon to perform and teach for free, making their own generous contribution in support of this exciting ground-breaking initiative.
Planned highlights include:
Fun in the park – a day of activities, amusement and performance for all,
featuring walkabout theatre, games, workshops, juggling olympics, and a
free big show featuring top international performers starting at 6pm.
Children’s juggling project – workshops with disadvantaged children
including disabled groups, giving participants a chance to learn new
skills, have fun, build confidence and experience success. The finale of
takes place during the festival when children and adolescents trained by
Serious Fun join international jugglers in shows for their communities and
the public.
Training and development for talented local performers, delivered by some of the world’s best jugglers.
Serious Fun co-ordinators are working with local groups to identify locations for
community workshops, which will start in December. We are seeking sponsors,
raising funds for specific activities and arranging venues for public events.
The festival will reach out to diverse communities across the city and bring
people together in a spirit of fun. This unique event will be a valuable, rewarding and entertaining experience for all involved.
Concept developed by Jude Smith and Virginia Henderson
Mobile: 09 250156750 Yangon. Email: festival@seriousfunglobal.net
Serious Fun Committee
for your nostalgia-based indulgence. Sure YOU have some photos somewhere. You keep promising to send them too us, you I AM talking to YOU!
C’mon, you know you want to. Just one wafer thin photo… pretty please.
