Ethiopian Dreams - Circus Abyssinia

“Extraordinary, irresistible circus” – Daily Review

Biographies

Brothers Bibi and Bichu Tesfamariam are Ethiopian circus artists currently residing in the UK. Their story began some twenty years ago on the streets of Jimma, where as children they would spend every spare moment flipping and tumbling and wowing the crowds. The young brothers dreamed of joining the circus, but no circuses ever rolled into town, only rumours and televised glimpses from lands overseas.

Inspired by these glimpses, Bibi and Bichu grew up driven by a joint fascination with the feats of circus magic, acrobatic mastery and glamorous illusions achieved by the superhuman figures in the ring. However, living in Ethiopia, a country without a circus tradition, their dream remained out of reach at first.

At 10 years old Bibi and Bichu discovered the art of juggling. They sowed seeds into their socks, carved their own juggling clubs from blocks of wood and honed their skills on the city streets. Self-taught and determined, they moved to the UK in 1999 where they met their mentor Sean Gandini, one of the foremost figures of experimental contemporary juggling, at London’s Circus Space. Under his tutelage they began to seriously explore the choreography of the art form as a duo.

Since making their home permanently in the UK, Bibi and Bichu have juggled in thousands of shows across dozens of countries and participated in some of the most vibrant and challenging tours and festivals in the world, including the Millennium Dome celebrations in London and the Fuji Rock festival in Japan. Their performance credits range from the avant-garde experiments of Gandini Juggling to English National Opera’s Olivier-Award winning production of Akhnetan. Bibi and Bichu have also made numerous Television appearances across the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 on shows including CBeebies’ Justin’s House, The Paul O’Grady Show, and Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, and were recently cast in Tim Burton’s Dumbo (2019), where they feature heavily in the circus scenes.

Bibi and Bichu also actively support the next generation of circus artists, regularly holding workshops and attending conventions. Since 2010 they have been sponsoring Circus Wingate, a circus school in Ethiopia. When they discovered Wingate, it was fighting a losing battle to stay open despite its burgeoning talent. Now Circus Wingate is flourishing and it was there that they discovered the incredible artists who now tour with them in Circus Abyssinia – artists who started out like they did, learning their skills on city streets, with no expectation of pay. Together they perform a celebration of dreams, of the people who make them possible and the power in all of us to fight for them. They use the wonderful surreal language of circus to tell their stories – how they dreamed up the circus as children and how they live out their dreams today.