Cambodia: Circus Skills Team Warm-Up Under the Big Top

Circus Skills Team Warm-Up Under the Big Top, Cambodia

Context

In post-conflict Cambodia, arts have been more than entertainment; they have been a way to rebuild community. That conviction underpins Phare, The Cambodian Circus, whose founders grew from refugee-camp art therapy to a nationally beloved social enterprise linking creativity, confidence, and livelihoods. In Siem Reap, Phare performs several nights per week under a 330‑seat red big top, and Phare reports that profits support the free arts‑and‑education programs at its sister school, Phare Ponleu Selpak, in Battambang, a model that marries culture and community development. * *

What’s less known is how Phare has turned its rehearsal rituals into corporate team-building. Phare runs hands-on “circus arts workshops” in which groups go through the same warm-up, learn-and-practice, and cool-down cycles that performers use before shows, only simplified and safety-briefed for first-timers. Juggling, balance drills, and partner coordination become the medium for trust, communication, and fun. Corporates book these sessions at the big top or as off‑site pop‑ups; Phare’s MICE offer explicitly positions the workshops as team‑building with direct transfer to daily work by targeting priorities like cross‑team collaboration and faster onboarding for product‑CX groups, while excluding on‑call teams or customer‑critical windows. * *

The idea fits the Siem Reap tourism and arts setting rather than representing Cambodia as a whole. A decade of productions has raised Phare’s profile within Siem Reap’s performing‑arts and tourism sectors and attracted international press coverage, and its social‑enterprise structure channels ticket and private‑event revenue back into arts training by self‑report, offering managers a practical example of aligning community benefit with business goals. Corporate clients from finance to tech have tapped Phare to energize staff events, signaling that learning novel physical skills together without alcohol, food, or speeches is one option among Siem Reap teams, while other Cambodian offices may prefer karaoke or meal‑based bonding, and comfort with touch or partner work varies by age, gender, and religiosity. * *

Meet the Company/Cultural Tradition

Phare’s origin traces to the late 1980s at Site Two refugee camp on the Thai border, where art teacher Véronique Decrop used drawing as therapy for Khmer youths processing trauma. In 1994 she and nine former students founded Phare Ponleu Selpak, commonly translated as “Brightness of the Arts,” in Battambang, and this guide follows official spellings from Phare and PPS sites for Khmer and English names. Over time the campus expanded from visual arts to music, theater, and circus; in 2013 they launched a social enterprise, Phare Performing Social Enterprise, to provide paid work for graduates and to fund the school sustainably. * *

The Siem Reap big top opened the same year and now runs shows several nights per week depending on season, weaving Cambodian stories with contemporary circus. Media such as the Christian Science Monitor (2023) have profiled the model’s impact, and Phare reports in its 2023 materials that a majority of profits flow back to the school’s programs, with sessions scheduled around nightly shows, trainer‑to‑participant ratios published for safety, and pricing tiers that differentiate local NGOs and schools from corporate clients. That civic tailwind makes companies comfortable bringing teams into the ring: they aren’t just playing games; they’re learning in an artist‑run Cambodian circus space adapted for visitors yet rooted in Phare training, amid ongoing debates in Siem Reap about cultural commodification. * *

On the corporate side, Phare offers team‑building calibrated to workplace objectives such as “push the envelope” (expand limits), “move beyond comfort zones” (try new skills safely), and “apply the experience to daily work” (make explicit transfer). The workshops are run by the same artists who perform each night, but the content is accessible: warm‑up, basic juggling, balance‑building activities, paired coordination, and cool‑down, with an emphasis on safety and inclusion, and a simple run‑sheet (space ~8m×8m with mats, scarves/balls and water, first‑aid‑certified coach or movement educator facilitators, clear scripts for pre‑brief and debrief, and accessible variants). Past corporate clients for Phare events include names like MasterCard, Citibank, and Allianz. * *

The Ritual

Minute	Scene	Purpose
0–10	Arrival, safety briefing, light dynamic warm-up led by Phare artists	Establish psychological and physical safety; signal “new mode” of learning *
10–25	Juggling basics (scarves → balls), fail-friendly drills	Build focus and coordination; normalize mistakes as data *
25–40	Balance blocks and simple “balance-building” stations (no acrobatics beyond comfort)	Practice micro-risk with clear guardrails; foster self-efficacy *
40–55	Partner coordination (mirroring, weight‑sharing at standing level)	Trust, clear communication, consent cues; flatten hierarchy *
55–65	Team micro‑routine: each trio strings 2–3 skills into a 30‑sec sequence	Co-creation under time-box; shared pride
65–75	Cool‑down and guided reflection (What helped? What transfers to work?)	Make learning explicit; link skills to projects *
75–90	Group photo under the big top; optional spectator tickets for evening show	Closure and memory anchor; reinforce Cambodian cultural context *

Note: The workshop focuses on juggling, balance, and coordination, not dance, drumming, or singing, and all physical contact and photography are opt‑in with explicit consent, with no lifting permitted, coach‑to‑participant ratios of ≤1:8 on mats or non‑slip flooring, clear contraindications (e.g., recent musculoskeletal injury, vertigo, late pregnancy, balance disorders), and safety provisions for hydration, heat, first aid, insurance/waivers, and incident protocols.

Why It Works

This ritual converts an elite art’s warm‑up into an egalitarian learning lab and follows a classic separation–liminality–incorporation arc (arrival/safety as separation, drills as liminality/communitas, and debrief/photo as incorporation) aligned with Phare’s rehearsal idioms. Novel motor tasks like juggling and structured balance drills demand attention, timing, and feedback loops, precisely the specific coordination and attention skills cross‑functional teams need. Research shows in small, lab‑based samples that learning to juggle and related motor challenges can improve facets of executive function and induce neuroplastic changes, while also enhancing postural control; any transfer to workplace outcomes is plausible but untested here and should be framed as a hypothesis rather than a guarantee. The gains are modest but meaningful when practice is well-scaffolded. * * *

Equally powerful is the social design. In a circus setting, job titles matter less than spotting cues and eye contact, and the format works best when leaders participate as peers, while high power‑distance norms, acute fatigue or safety‑critical rules, and fully remote teams may require adaptations or risk assessments. Phare’s MICE program explicitly emphasizes moving beyond comfort zones and then “applying the experience to daily work,” so facilitators translate each drill into a workplace analogue—handoffs, shared load, and clear consent before weight‑sharing—and make the metric chain explicit (e.g., partner‑coordination drills → smoother handoffs → fewer handoff defects per sprint or lower task rework rates). Because the session is embodied rather than talk‑based, it welcomes multilingual teams, provides Khmer and English facilitation where needed, and avoids the pitfalls of speech‑heavy bonding. *

Outcomes & Impact

At the individual level, participants tend to leave with a concrete, transferable skill (a three‑throw cascade or a stable stance) and a renewed tolerance for iterative failure, visible wins for growth mindset. Phare frames these outcomes as the core of its corporate offer: learn basic circus techniques together, then connect the dots to collaboration and problem-solving back at work. *

At the organizational and societal levels, choosing Phare compounds impact while also requiring fair partnership practices such as clear rates, schedules that respect nightly shows, language access, and artist welfare protections. Revenue from private workshops helps fund free arts education in Battambang; the enterprise exists precisely to create artist jobs and route profits to the school. Media profiles have documented how this loop revitalizes Cambodian arts while providing dignified work for graduates, meaning teams bond in a way that also affirms place and purpose. * *

Lessons for Global Team Leaders

Principle	Why It Matters	How to Translate
Embodied challenge	Novel motor tasks sharpen attention and teamwork	Use juggling/balance drills to practice handoffs and timing *
Guardrails = courage	Safety briefings and opt‑in levels unlock risk‑taking	Offer tiered progressions; celebrate attempts, not perfection *
Local authenticity	Rooting the ritual in Cambodian arts deepens meaning	Partner with credible cultural institutions, not generic venues *
Translate explicitly	Make the “so what” to work visible	Close with facilitated transfer questions and next‑week commitments *
Purposeful spend	Bonding that funds education multiplies ROI	Favor social enterprises that reinvest locally *

Implementation Playbook

Choose a cultural partner with a credible safety record and a learning frame (in Siem Reap, contact Phare for workshop + show packages), assign an accountable owner and owners for facilitation, communications, and data, publish a one‑page comms that links to strategy, states voluntary nature and equivalent alternatives, lists time/place/attire/norms, and explains how anonymous feedback is used and retained, and include an estimate of vendor fee per person plus loaded time cost.
Define constraints: schedule in core hours to support caregivers, check prayer/holiday calendars, confirm ADA/ramps/seating access, set clothing/footwear/hydration norms and consent norms for any partner exercises, and offer a remote‑friendly alternative (desk scarf‑juggling kit + video) for distributed or night‑shift staff.
Co‑design the arc: warm‑up, one focus skill (e.g., juggling), one partner task, mini‑routine, cool‑down, reflection, and offer a lowest viable version (60‑minute, juggling‑only, ≤20 people) that is 30–50% cheaper for pilots.
Signal inclusion: define equivalent alternatives such as observer/spotter, reflection scribe, logistics coordinator, or a parallel non‑physical coordination exercise; ensure opt‑in/opt‑out is socially safe without penalty and adapt for mobility needs with seated juggling and equal recognition.
Capture transfer: end with a three-question debrief: What did we try? What helped? Where do we apply this next week?
Reinforce the memory: take an opt‑in group photo only with explicit consent, publish a one‑page comms note reviewed by Legal/HR that states minimal data collected and intended use, store photos/feedback in restricted folders for 30–60 days with access controls, and add a one‑line story to onboarding materials.
Iterate cadence: run a 6–8 week pilot with 2–4 teams and 2–3 repeats, keep three must‑haves (safety brief, tiered progressions, consent cues) and allow safe adaptations (time/space/language), set success thresholds (e.g., ≥70% opt‑in and +0.3/5 on belonging) with stop rules if thresholds are not met.

Common Pitfalls

Treating it as a show instead of a practice: spectating doesn’t build trust.
Pushing physical contact without clear consent cues: trust erodes fast.
Skipping cool‑down and transfer: without reflection, gains stay on the mat.
Over-indexing on difficulty: keep progressions fun, not fear-inducing.

Reflection & Call to Action

Rituals bind best when they are felt, not just said. A 90‑minute circus warm‑up asks colleagues to look up, toss, catch, and coordinate, simple acts that open a door to bolder ones back at work. In Cambodia, doing that under Phare’s red big top carries extra resonance: you’re borrowing a community’s rehearsal to rehearse your own better version of teamwork.

If your team has been stuck in slides and speeches, try this: book an artist‑led workshop, credit the Cambodian circus lineage (e.g., Phare), partner with local practitioners rather than DIY, seek permission for branding or storylines, avoid costumes or Khmer motifs without context, and share benefits (fees or donations) with the community while ensuring safety. Start with three throws; finish with three takeaways for Monday. In a world of abstract strategy, a few real catches can change the story you tell about what your people can do.