Before our winter break, we had in in-class workshop presented by New Victory Theater and then had the opportunity to see the show White Gold performed by Phare Circus at New Victory Theater in NYC. The artists traveled here from Cambodia. The show is advertised as follows-
Nourish your soul and savor Cambodia’s artistic heritage with a circus that celebrates healing and joy… and rice, known throughout Southeast Asia as White Gold. Founded by refugees, Phare brings to the stage the special gifts of Cambodian culture, which nearly disappeared at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Cheer hypnotic dance, mesmerizing music and dramatic live painting mixed with juggling, tumbling, teeterboard and other circus arts dating back twelve hundred years.
One of our memorable moments of the show was when the performers were dancing underneath the shower of rice. We also really loved the closing of the show when they put all of the different paintings together. It was special because every painting represented each act and was created in real-time during the performance.
Latfiyah pointed out how important it was to provide an audio description, “It helps me to understand what is happening on the stage. It really made my experience so much better than not having it. I would have been lost. I was glad that the Deaf audience also had sign language interpreters. Giving them access as well.”
The presentation was in four different languages. Cambodian or Khmer, English, Cambodian Sign Language (CBDSL) is an indigenous Deaf sign language of Cambodia and American Sign Language. We recommend this show to anyone from Cambodia (Deaf or hearing) and blind because they provide audio descriptions and interpreters.
