The songs of Circus Abyssinia: Ethiopian Dreams take the audience on a journey through the country’s rich musical landscape.
These are songs that Bibi and Bichu carried in their hearts and played over and over in their heads when they first ventured forth from Ethiopia as young boys, travelling to work in circuses overseas. They reminded them of home. These songs, plucked from all corners of Ethiopia, have been chosen partly for the stories they tell of Ethiopian life, partly for what they personally mean to every Ethiopian.
This exhilarating musical mix of the old and new is drawn from cultural memory, ritual and tradition, and rocks with the joy of the show’s artists and creators. Ranging from the oldest Ethiopian Jazz to the tent-shaking beats of electro house, these songs feature the top artists performing in Ethiopia today: musical and political hero of the people, Teddy Afro; the country’s Edith Piaf, Haymanot Tesfa; the irresistibly cool Teddy Yo; Jano Band, the most famous musical group in Ethiopia today; and the extraordinary Fikreaddis Nekatibeb, Ethiopia’s Shirley Bassey.
All the songs are sung in the Amharic language, and resonate with the playful, plosive rhythms of the Ethiopian tongue. They weave their lyrical themes of love and peace through the infectious beats and sounds of Ethiopian music, which transcend language barriers, and connect us in ways that words cannot.
The songs of Circus Abyssinia speak from the great heart of Ethiopia, plunging us all into a thumping, joy-driven soundscape, and invite us to join the cast in celebration of their country’s extraordinary cultural and artistic heritage.
Meanings of the Songs
Pre-show Music: Mulatu Astatke’s Ethiopiques Vol. 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969-1974
Mulatu Astatke is a musician born in Jimma, where Bibi and Bichu were also born and raised, and is known as the father of Ethiopian Jazz – or ‘Ethio-jazz’, as it’s commonly known. A fusion of ancient Ethiopian scales with syncopated jazz, soul and Latin rhythms, this is an album very close to Bibi and Bichu’s hearts – they grew up listening to it (their parents played it constantly) and they associate its haunting, otherworldly sounds with childhood, Ethiopia and dreaming.
“Abebayehosh” by Teddy Afro
“Abebayehosh” is a modern take on a deeply traditional song, written in celebration of Ethiopian New Year and sung early New Year morning by young girls who come like carol singers to the door, singing in exchange for bread and fruit. “Abebayehosh” means “blessing,” and this is a song that bestows blessings and well-wishes on its listeners. This song accompanies the show’s opening act and pulls out all the musical stops to celebrate the power of community and immaterial values.
“Ambassel” by Haymanot Tesfa
Ethiopia is experiencing something of a renaissance in Jazz and live music with a focus on traditional tunes. This haunting song is old and very famous in Ethiopia, inspired by one of the country’s most ancient places: Ambassel is a mountain fortress once ruled by the Jantirar (an aristocratic family said to be one of the most noble in Ethiopian history), and is now also the name of a district famous for the many musicians it has produced over the centuries. It is also the name of one of the Ethiopian musical scales, often used for ballads and children’s songs, signifying how deeply rooted and integral the relationship between land and music is to Ethiopia’s national identity. “Ambassal” is a type of song in Ethiopia known as tezita (which means “melancholy”)—sometimes described as Ethiopian blues.
“Hambel” by Selamawit Yohannes
“Hambel” is a young woman’s celebration of Habesha (Ethiopian) men for being humorous, playful, charming and brave. It accompanies the Skipping Act in the show, a feat of competition and cooperation where the Abyssinia boys one-up each other impressing, outdoing, helping. Their self-created, organic rhythms play with and against the infectious beat of Selamawit Yohannes’s song. As acrobats ricochet across the stage, creating seemingly endless permutations as they dodge and flip through the ropes, the performance suggests and celebrates the circus artist’s indomitable courage to create, to perform, even in the face of fear and adversity.
“Darigne” by Jano Band
Jano Band is currently Ethiopia’s prime musical group, a leader in the creation of New Ethiopian music, and the very first pioneer of Ethiopian Rock. “Darigne” roughly translates to “permission” and also refers to a ceremonial send-off for a bride. In this song a woman sings about how she fell in love with a man for his eyes, and how she’s going to marry him. In the show it accompanies the four girls’ cloth-spinning act—the girls perform in response to the woman’s story in a scene of playful, gossiping sisterhood.
“Kal” by Jano Band
“Kal” is another wild rock song from Jano Band, this time taken from Jano Band’s most recent album, Lerasih New (2018). This roughly translates to “For Yourself,” and most of the songs in the album urge listeners to be conscious of their actions. “Kal” means “vow” and the song describes a young woman’s promise to herself to never be impressed with money or material things and to never forget that love is the most beautiful and precious gift of all. In the show, we also see this vow transform into an artist’s promise to herself to never lose touch with sheer joy of performing: the song accompanies a rambunctious, carefree hula-hoop act, which symbolizes the wild and hectic nature of Bibi and Bichu’s initial induction into the circus world: how they took on every discipline they could, throwing themselves into every possible opportunity in pursuit of their dreams.
“Meneshaye” by Bewketu Sewmehon
“Meneshaye” means “starting point,” and the song celebrates Ethiopia as a land of origins—as the cradle of humanity, the source of the Blue Nile, the birthplace of coffee—to which the beginnings of human history and culture can be traced. It also celebrates the Emperor Tewodros II, whose rule brought unity to a divided country and is generally considered to mark the emergence of modern Ethiopia. Bewketu Sewmehon is an artist of New Ethiopian Music, and this particular song blends the hallmarks of reggae – such as call-and-response, jumpy ‘ragged’ rhythms and lyrical themes of love and peace – with a high tempo and sounds of flutes, whistles, strings that seem reminiscent of Gaelic folksong. The song accompanies the hoop-diving act. In the context of the show, the passion of the song has to do with Bibi and Bichu’s return to origins: how they remembered where they came from and dove into the risk of creating an Ethiopian circus, a dream they put aside to follow in the footsteps of their idols on the European circus scene.
“Bibi and Bichu” by Sarah Llewellyn
“Bibi and Bichu” accompanies Bibi and Bichu’s juggling act. The only English track in the show (signifying the realization of their dreams in the UK), this was written especially for Bibi and Bichu by a composer famous on the UK circus scene, with lyrics that riff upon their names.
“Dunya” by Anteneh Minalu
“Dunya” means “earth” in Amharic but in this song the word resonates beyond its literal meaning to incorporate the sense of ‘universe’ and ‘mankind’. This is a lament about time and destiny—a complaint that no matter how hard we work or what we do, time will catch us up and cut us down. The singer also laments that something is missing in this world: peace, enough love. There is beauty, even joy in the human struggle captured by “Dunya.” And in the connection between Hanna’s aerial act and the song there is something to be said about the artist’s relationship with an audience, and about the relationship of both with time—with the sound and feel of the moment, which is always passing and so ephemeral.
“Misekir” by Fikreaddis Nekatibeb
“Misekir” in English means “witness,” and this exquisite song bears witness to the triumph of love over money. “Misekir” accompanies the final contortion act performed by the four girls: a celebratory, life-affirming exploration (through human pyramids, human towers, and choreographed dance and contortion) of what is possible when the limits of the individual are surpassed by people working and performing together.
“Tikur Sew” by Teddy Afro
The title of this song means “the African people.” The lyrics asserts Ethiopia as an example for all African nations to follow, describing the country as the cradle of humanity, the only nation to be ruled (until recently) by an African monarchy, and a country that has resisted all attempts to colonize it (with specific reference to Ethiopia’s victory against Italy’s attempted colonial invasion during WW2). This song accompanies the rigging of the Chinese Poles in the show, a scene which relates to Bibi and Bichu’s boyhood pursuit of their circus dreams. As young boys, Bibi and Bichu would get up at 3am, walk 5 miles to the Boye dam and pluck its heavy reeds to create safety mats so they could perform acrobatics after school. While they carried the reeds from the dam in the dark, they warded off their fear and tiredness by singing favorite and familiar chants and songs. When the troupe rigs the Chinese poles for the show’s final act, they reenact this scene from the brothers’ childhood, engaging as well in the age-old work tradition of keeping time and spirits up by joining voices in song.
“Utopia” by Bang La Decks
“Utopia” scores the boisterous dance finale, where the show descends into the organized chaos of an acrobatic party: a celebration of dreams come true. This infectiously upbeat song is a modern electro dance-track which plays on a traditional Amharic saying: “Ethiopia Hiwote,” meaning “Ethiopia, my life,” or “my life is Ethiopia.” The lyrics extend an invitation to dance in celebration of Ethiopia’s “Utopia.” Although mostly sung in Amharic, the song’s elision of the English words “Utopia” and “Ethiopia” throughout the lyrics and in the refrain “Utopia, Ethiopia, hiwote” carries the message to an English-speaking audience too.
Post Show Music: “Hagera” by Jano band
“Hagera” means “My Country,” and the song celebrates Ethiopia as a land of origins—as the cradle of humanity, the source of the Blue Nile, the birthplace of coffee—to which the beginnings of human history and culture can be traced.