What was so compelling about the circus?
At the moment, what sets the circus apart from other performance art in my eyes is the fact that it's all about breaking borders and doing "impossible" things. I'm not one of those people who go to the circus to see dancing elephants or balancing seals. To me, the magic of the circus is all about seeing human beings, ordinary people like me and you, do all kinds of amazing, breathtaking things, without heed to fear, physical pain or, seemingly, the laws of nature.
Nothing else than the circus gives me that magical feeling I have when I'm leaving a performance and I have seen at least one "impossible" thing. Something that, until then, I would not have thought humanly possible. I watch circus performances for the same reason other people read superhero comics: to watch people do things that most of the rest of us "mortals" cannot. Only, of course, the circus doesn't use special effects or CGI. Everything you see in the circus (well, for the most part, we have some tricks up their sleeves
) is real.
The reason I joined up back then, however, was that I wanted to be a flying trapeze artist. Never got quite that far, but I got quite proficient with the
static trapeze
. Ended up buying my own at a
circus school in Stockholm. Practice whenever I get the chance, and my 11-year old cousin seems to be even more hooked than I am.
Have you ever had
circus peanuts?
No, but I know where you can purchase various kinds of
home cotton candy machines. Haven't gotten around to buy one yet, but I seriously want one
.
Edited to answer a couple more:
Is it true that circuses have their own "society" and hierarchy.
I don't know if contemporary circuses do, as they're often location-bound and thus don't require as large staffs as travelling circuses, but I'm pretty confident the classic circuses do. I believe the artists are pretty high up on the "pecking order", but I don't remember how it goes from there. Either way, this order supposedly determines a number of things beyond pay grade, such as the placement of trailers around the tent or who get to eat first. An aquaintance of mine who had worked at the Ringling Brothers circus told me that they fed and provided medical care to the animals before the artists
.
Florida State University has a circus program:
There is actually a
"clown college" in Palmetto, FL, which is part of the Ringling Brothers facility there. In order to apply, you must provide a DVD showing your consummate skills.
There are actually quite a few circus schools around these days. Don't know for how long they have existed, but the European Federation of Professional Circus Schools (
fedec.eu) lists quite a few. You can even take a formal education and get a bachelor degree in circus now. It's quite a different world from the classic circuses you pretty much had to be born into.
Some schools allow students on a first-come-first-serve basis, others require DVDs or, more commonly, that you show up for an audition where you have to prove your mettle against fellow aspirants. This depends on the level of the school -- the
University of Dance and Circus in Stockholm, situated on the ground of
Cirkus Cirkör, Scandinavia's largest contemporary circus, requires you to first send a DVD for a chance to attend an audition, and then holds a second audition for the best applicants from the first one. A talented, determined and highly skilled classmate of mine sent a DVD application, but wasn't even invited to the first audition.
Half my class went to such an audition at the
AFUK school in Copenhagen, Denmark. It consisted of two days of intense circus training, in which we were tested in dance/movement skills, coordination, drama, trapeze, strength, flexibility and so on. At the end of the second day those who wanted to could have a three minute performance in the discipline of their choice. Big fun.
Of the 62 or so applicants (many of which held a very high level), I think only 10-20 were admitted. I don't know if any of my classmates were among them, I certainly wasn't... all I got out of it was a back that hurt like all heck from bending too far forward during stretching
. I was fine after a couple days, but I still consider making a custom "I went to AFUK and all I got was this lousy injury" t-shirt
.
