Students practice acrobatics at the Flower Studio in Ulaanbaatar. Photo: PEDRO PARDO
Circus performers continue to train in a studio in Mongolia after construction. Inspectors in the country have warned that the hall in which they rehearse their performances could collapse at any moment.
The flower studio in Ulaanbaatar is one of the few places they have left to train if they hope to travel the world with their country's best shows.
The crumbling, more than century-old building of the Mongolian circus school, where hundreds of young artists began their careers, many of whom now perform in such famous groups as Cirque Du Soleil.
This is one of the few places left to train. Photo: PEDRO PARDO
Defying gravity in a building shaped like a traditional Mongolian ger, performers practice acrobatics and trapeze while suspended from ropes tied to the building's decrepit rafters.
One performer, 18 years old Uuganbayar Nergibaatar, said he hopes to follow in his sister’s footsteps and take part in international competitions.
“I want to try to become a circus performer,” he said.
The paint in the studio was peeling and rusty. equipment Photo: PEDRO PARDO
With peeling paint on the walls and rusty equipment, the building where performers rehearse is simply unsafe, authorities warn.
But for performers, high vaulted ceilings provide the ideal space to perfect daring feats , which made the Mongolian circus world famous.
“The circus was very popular. We all want to revive it,” Gerelbaatar Junden, the circus’ former artistic director, told AFP. “This is our duty.”
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