By Kharisma McIlwaine
Cirque du Soleil — which translates to “Circus of the Sun” — is one of the largest producers of contemporary circuses in the world. The Canadian entertainment company, founded in 1984, continues bringing the joy of circus arts to audiences with both permanent and touring shows. Each Cirque du Soleil show combines circus styles from around the world, and their global appeal is represented by incredible talent from a wide array of countries.
Cirque du Soleil BAZZAR premiered on November 14, 2018 in Mumbai, India. It is a high energy story that features live music, trapeze artists, aerialists, rope artists, dancers and playful casts of characters.
The show also features a Mallakhamb act. Mallakhamb is a traditional Indian sport in which a gymnast performs incredible feats of strength through aerial yoga, gymnast postures and wrestling grips on a vertical wooden pole. Rajesh Mudki and Kalpesh Jadhav, two of the Mallakhamb performers in BAZAAR, spoke with the SUN about their love for the sport and their joy in exposing audiences to Mallakhamb.
Mudki and Jadhav began their careers with Franco Dragone’s circus companies in 2008. Mudki has been part of BAZZAR since the show premiered in India with his Mallakhamb act, and since then toured through over 15 countries. Jadhav has also been performing with BAZZAR since 2018. Mudki has trained in various disciplines including silks, hoops, and harnesses, while Jadhav has focused solely on Mallakhamb.
“I think both of us started when we were nearly 5 or 6 years old and we both have two different stories,” Mudki said. “The reason why I began Mallakhamb training was because my father wanted me to practice something which was more of a traditional sport.”
“The Mallakhamb institution was just across the road and I used to watch them every time I would go out of the house. That’s how I started loving Mallakhamb and why I wanted to join… that’s how I started,” Jadhav said.
Mallakhamb is a sport that requires an immense amount of physicality and upper body strength that is built through years of training.
“Every discipline has basic training like gymnastics or silks — really any discipline you take,” Mudki said. “I’m very happy to say that Mallakhamb itself is calisthenic. It requires strength, flexibility, power and speed — it’s a complete package of fitness. You start with basic exercises, all on floor, before going on Mallakhamb, but once you start with Mallakhamb you don’t need anything else. It has been over 35 years for both of us practicing Mallakhamb and we still don’t think we are complete… keep practicing. It’s a lot of antigravity because you’re going against the weight of your body, so I think that’s one thing that makes it more special.”
“For me flexibility was important because I wasn’t flexible at all. I had strength as per my coach, so I did more of the flexibility exercises. My training included more flexibility than strength.” Jadhav said. “What makes Mallakhamb different is most circus apertures are horizontal. With Mallakhamb you’re straight, and it is really difficult to be on the pole.”
Cirque du Soleil BAZAAR is a unique show that blends various circus art forms with live music, choreography and a very energetic cast. Mudki and Jadhav are also making history as the first Mallakhamb artists in Cirque du Soleil.
“I think we do feel special being part of Cirquae du Soleil BAZAAR, because we are the first Mallakhamb artists in Cirque du Soleil,” Mudki said. “We also feel very responsible because the more we do, and the better we perform, the people who practice Mallakhamb are inspired by us. That’s the idea, they should also join circus schools and companies like Cirque du Soleil and perform Mallakhamb. I think BAZZAR keeps in mind how the old Cirque du Soleil shows used to perform 30 years back, giving that modern contemporary vision to the show.”
“I think what’s special about BAZZAR is that it is more of a human performance show,” Jadhav added. “There isn’t much technology in it… it’s humans that are making the show go on. It’s very artistic.”
Cirque du Soleil BAZAAR offers audiences a playful interactive experience that brings out the inner child from everyone in attendance.
“With every performance I do I feel blessed,” Mudki said. “Watching the audience and how they react to every act. When they go out of the tent, they take a lot of love from us with smiles on their faces. Every day you perform for a new audience and you do your best. It gives so much love and happiness to me seeing the different emotions in the audiences face… it’s beautiful!”
“We also have a little freedom to be ourselves on the stage,” Jadhav said. “We are told to stay in character, but there’s dancing and moments where we can be ourselves through the choreography. We are dancing with the professional dancers and it’s a lot of fun.”
In addition to the wonderful gift of joy Cirque du Soleil BAZAAR offers audiences, Mudki and Jadhav share their gratitude for being able to travel the world while performing Mallakhamb.
“I’m from Mumbai, and I’m not from a financially stable family, but I always had the dream of traveling the world and I didn’t know how,” Mudki said. “This gave me an opportunity through performances and working with such a big company like Cirque du Soleil. It’s been great traveling with them, meeting different people, new audiences and trying different cuisine. It’s about different nations and people, and people with different thought processes, how they react, think and how they meet you.”
“For me it’s about the audience.” Jadhav said. “We see different types of audiences everywhere. In Brazil the audiences were different. Then when we were in the Middle East, the audience was quiet, and they only clapped in some parts because they didn’t want to disturb. Audiences in Japan didn’t clap until the finale. It’s always a different experience with the audience, but it’s always good.”
Cirque du Soleil BAZZAR will be under the iconic Big Top in Oaks, Pa. on the grounds of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center for a one month stay now through October 22. For more information on tickets and showtimes, visit: https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/bazzar. To keep up with Mudki and Jadhav, follow them on IG @rajesh_mudki and @kalpeshjadhav1504 respectively.
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