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31.05.2012 General News

Circus Mobbed

By Daily Guide
The crowd at the showThe crowd at the show
31.05.2012 LISTEN

The last-minute attitude of Ghanaians came to play when hundreds of them rushed to the Italian IL Florilegio Circus during their last performance in Accra.

The crowd was so large that the organizers were overwhelmed.

Since March 2, 2012, the organizers have been staging two shows daily in Accra at the Efua Sutherland Children's Park, and at a point had to extend the closing date from April 22 to May 20, 2012.

Hundreds of people thronged the venue where the circus had pitched its tent, giving the organizers a tough time as the crowd appeared to have gotten out of hand.

Some of the people had tickets in hand while others had come to the venue with the view of purchasing the tickets at the counter positioned at the entrance.

Checks revealed that most of the people with tickets were either employees of sponsors or relations who might have gotten free tickets.

'The first three weeks, we recorded low patronage, the place was empty,' said Mrix Togni, owner of the Italian Circus which made its first stop in Ghana.

Mr Togni, who also owns three other circuses based in Algeria, Morocco and Lebanon, added, 'We have to give many free tickets, about 30, 000,' and 'we believe we have been able to whip up the appetite of Ghana for such shows.'

Mr. Togni, who explained that the circus was expensive to put together, failed to disclose the total amount of money used to bring down the 50-member crew including artistes and technicians from four continents of the world. The crew includes Georgians, Iranians, Brazilians, Colombians, Italians, Venezuelans, French, Mexicans, Turkish and Albanians.

'It is very expensive to bring the show here,' said Mr Togni. We thank our sponsors who paid for all our expenses that is why we are able to give out free tickets.'

The Mohinani Group, which owns Polytank, LG-Somovision, is one of the sponsors of the circus in Ghana.

Pallav Rastogi , Marketing Manager of LG-Somovision Ghana Limited told BEATWAVES that the company decided to sponsor the circus to bring family entertainment to Ghana as part of its corporate social responsibility.

Hamed Rouzebehani, an organizer with the Italian IL Florilegio Circus, said there was the likelihood of extending the six-month tour in the country.

The tour, which is under the auspices of the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture, has ended in Accra and has pitched camp at the cultural centre in Kumasi, after which it would move to Takoradi.

In Accra, IL Florilegio dazzled the audience with graceful clowns, acrobats, jugglers and animals in its two-hour breath-taking, enchanting and spectacular performances show.

The shows comprise a magical fairy tale story, which encapsulated the most aesthetical and exceptional performances with an international appeal, ribbon trapeze and motorcycles that move in what is called the 'globe of death'.

  By Emelia Ennin Abbey
 
 
 
 

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