Tupa’i and Circus back in town

By Vatapuia Maiava 27 September 2016, 12:00AM

The Magic Circus of Samoa is back. Tupa’i Bruno Loyale and his team have brought the magic back home after what many would describe as a successful circus tour.

The team of 40 with 80per cent being Samoan and the rest being from Ethiopia, India, France and Cuba have began setting up to wow audiences here at home.

Ringmaster Tupa’i says Samoa is up for a big surprise.

“The people of Samoa have the biggest surprise coming from the Magic Circus of Samoa,” he told the Samoa Observer.

“As a matter of fact we have so many things both new and great coming your way that’s it’s hard for me to tell you all about it.

“We just finished with our tour of the Indian Ocean where we met with tremendous success in the Islands of Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives and so on. 

“We have just arrived and I think everyone is excited to be back home. We have been delegated this area here at Tuanaimato which is our home base.

“It’s a beautiful place and we just put up our tent; we are starting our practices now. We have started assembling our Samoan performers, we train the ones we have to do new acts and we’re bringing in about another ten or so Samoans.”

According to Tupa’i, the circus is set to open their doors around late December to early January before leaving for a show in American Samoa, Tahiti and New Caledonia.

But aside from the exciting show they have planned for Samoa, Tupa’i and the circus are simply just happy to be home.

“Being back home feels so good I don’t know how to express how good it feels,” he said.

“We travel a lot, we go to go to other countries and see their cultures; we get to make friends and I think the more we travel we will understand that there is no place like home.

“If you look at the world today and the mess it’s in; and then you look at Samoa, it’s just a blessing to be back here.

“I wake up in the morning and I don’t need to use the hot water because it’s beautiful and I take my showers. At night time I look at the stars and I breathe in fresh air.”

With the Magic circus being one of Samoa’s biggest promoters on the international stage, Tupa’i is happy to say that they met with tremendous success in their last tour.

“The Samoan circus has met with incredible success,” he said.

“The days of what you see in our circus is gone now. A lot of people put up big beautiful tents but when you go inside there is no show; because of economics, it’s too expensive to put together good performers.

“So they have a juggling act that takes 20 minutes and even I fall asleep at that. We don’t do things like that here; our show is actions.

“We have beautiful people, its pure entertainment you’ll see two and a half hours of great thrills and fun. We never cut corners and we have gotten a really good reputation.”

 But what is the key to running such a big circus show?

“The main key of our success is Samoa; the people who make the circus,” Tupa’i said.

“From the moment you walk in, our circus is elegant; everyone looks so good. You smell the popcorn, the lights are beautiful and the people say good evening and welcome to the circus.

“You sit down and the atmosphere is beautiful. When the action starts then there’s that certain excitement that you don’t see in other circuses today.

“Don’t get me wrong there are some great circuses out there but when you see their show you won’t be able to remember one face.

“But when you finish the circus of Samoa you will remember the face of Toetu the clown, you can remember another person; you remember because you feel a certain something.”

Another key for Tupa’i is discipline.

“I think we promote Samoa in a great way,” he said.

“Another key to our success is we have a strict policy against any hanky panky. We don’t allow drinking here because that destroys a show. “If you want to be part of the circus then you have to forego a lot of things and one of those things is drinking and acting crazy because we want to show Samoa in a positive way.

“A lot of places around the world; when you say circus they say Samoa; when you say Samoa they say circus. That’s because they don’t have a circus and we are the only ones who visit. I’m so happy to promote Samoa.

“What we are doing right now is going out on a six month tour, then we return for about a month then we go back for another six months in the Pacific then six months to the Indian Ocean or the Caribbean.”

After doing much for Samoa; Tupa’i’s only problem is with age.

“I wish I was 30 years younger so I can do this for another 30 years,”

“I’m getting old but I’m still trying to do my best and I still feel young. I think my highlight is when Papali’i Sonja (C.E.O. of S.T.A.) said to me ‘Tupa’i, Samoa and our government cannot afford to pay you for what the magic circus has done for us’.

“That really made me feel great because that means people know what we’re doing. They understand that this little circus has spread its joy and happiness around the world.”

By Vatapuia Maiava 27 September 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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