The ulan bator trick

The circus has come to town,from a land far away. The 70-year-old Great Mongolian Circus is on at a Gurgaon amusement park,Kingdom of Dreams. A troupe of 20 artistes from Mongolia acrobats,jugglers,hula hoop dancers and red-nosed clowns along with a manager and a translator arrived here last month,and have been performing a 90-minute spectacle every evening,bar Mondays. Though the youngest member is 17 and the oldest 34 years old,most members of the troupe have been training for over a decade.

Traditional dances,acrobatics,contortion and juggling are part of the show called Acromania. One act that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats is the pyramid act: Six acrobats form a human three-tier pyramid and fling 18-year-old Khaliunaa Enkhbat from one person to another.

While rehearsing Khaliunaa got minor injuries on the knee and back. But its astonishing that troupe members always have a smile and give impeccable performances every day, says Suchita Bhasin,project head of Acromania.

The troupe,which has travelled around the world,has had a good run in India. The only hitch: the spicy food. But no member has missed a performance so far.