Circus from the slums

22 June 2011 Last updated at 09:37 GMT For many years, the Colombian city of Cali was a byword for drugs and was best-known for the notorious Cali cartel.

There is still poverty and gang violence but today Cali has a vibrant cultural scene.

It is home to Colombia's national circus school - Circo Para Todos, or Circus for Everyone, set up by British unicyclist Felicity Simpson 16 years ago.

Its circus troupe Circolombia is now touring internationally with its latest show, Urban. Circolombia will perform at the UK's Glastonbury festival this weekend, and then at the Edinburgh Festival in August.

Continue reading the main story To see the enhanced content on this page, you need to have JavaScript enabled and Adobe Flash installed. Images courtesy of Ben Hopper, Carlos Arias, and AFP. See captions for full credits.

Audio by Alicia Trujillo, first broadcast on BBC World Service. Slideshow production by Cordelia Hebblethwaite. Publication date 22 June 2011.

Related links:

Circolombia

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.

More audio slideshows:

Audio slideshow: Cowgirls in Colombia

Audio slideshow: Faces of the favelas

Audio slideshow: Argentina at 200

View the original article here