Animal-free Zirka Circus is all about beauty and skill
Zirka Circus, which is animal free and recruits performers from Heibei Acrobatic Troupe and Magic Group (HATMG) in China is touring NZ
For the second time in three years China’s Zirka Circus returned to Cambridge over the Labour weekend bringing 56 new performances.
A popular point of difference about Zirka is that it is an animal-free circus to make for a happy family environment.
Owner of the Zirka Circus Jeni Hou said the circus is more about identifying the beauty and skill of the artists throughout the show.
“There is so much prepping for animals and it’s not fair to make them travel everywhere. People come to see the beauty of the show and the performers, it’s a very hard life for animals on the road all of the time.”
The Zirka Circus is strictly a New Zealand performed circus with all artists selected and trained at Heibei Acrobatic Troupe and Magic Group (HATMG) in China. Every tour a new team of performers debut.
The HATMG established in 1970 by Jiquan Hou is based in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China. It is sanctioned as the official Acrobatic and Magic Troupe of Hebei province and is one of the largest acrobatic troupes in China.
Zirka is also the first contemporary circus to be owned and operated by a woman in New Zealand but Jeni said that she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“I was born and grew up with the circus life. My father, grandfather, sister, and my brother have all been circus performers, but I’ve never performed. It’s just too hard – I’ve never had that kind of balance. My brother is also in charge of the circus school back in China.”
Most circus performers will join HATMG at the age of five. It will generally take them a good five years to be trained up to Zirka’s standards, Jeni says.
“A lot of students aren’t lucky enough to get the chance to go abroad. A new routine will be made back at the school then students will audition for the upcoming rolls. Our youngest performer on this tour is 11.The young ones are very close; they have grown up together because they live at the circus school. The circus is more like a family.”
Audience member Ursula Johnson said that she watched the Zirka the last time it toured but said that this year was definitely a more “skill-based show”.
“It was mind blowing how young and talented these performers are.”
