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Demise of the Circus
One can never entirely forget it. The motley collection of people big and small, of animals timid and strong, bikes and cannons and cars, fire and ice, color and general chaos. There is probably no other manmade event in a kid’s life that has so much variety (or used to have); a relentless attack on all senses (don’t forget the popcorn, soda pop, ice-cream and potato chips). No wonder they call it a Circus. And what a draw this mayhem used to be. I still remember my first circus show. My mom took me to the visiting “Royal” Circus. They always had names like Royal or Imperial or Jumbo, implying something bigger than the middle class life of B cities or perhaps a hint to the pecking order of the competition. It was different in other countries, as I later realized where the name of the promoter was more prominent. But whatever the name this show were awesome – the big red tent, the biggest I had ever seen, with that flag fluttering at the top. The concentric circle of seating with the pit in the centre, the cannon at the side and the general chaos of the rapidly filling tent. The clink of the soda bottle opener, the vroom of the daredevil bikes being tested. And the show itself - the introductory antics of the “small people”; the birds and the beast (where did they get those parrots from?); the band at the top playing music from the movies. Those uber flexible bodies, moving around, bending, twisting and generally wriggling from ring to ring, doing the cloud swing, the tigers jumping from stool to stool, the lead up to the acrobatics at the end, the well of death, the flying man from the cannon and then of course the final parade. Well worth every rupee spent. One could talk about it for days, and even write an essay on it at school when the holiday ended and the teacher asked for the customary “what-I-did-during-summer” travelogue. Some say that the circus originally came from the Roman amphitheater concept, where athletes show showed off their prowess (and sometimes won their freedom) by fighting wild beasts, daring equestrian rides and thrilling chariot duels. As cities grew, the Roman circus lost some of the charm and its talented offspring mainly took to town squares and busy market places, performing shorter acts. It was in England that the circus had its rebirth – with horse riding as its main draw. They did it outside the cities, in a circular fenced field. The format traveled to America, where it grew and thrived, innovating as it passed through towns and villages. Once a prominent circus owner had such success displaying an African elephant that soon he started displaying even more exotic creatures, complementing the display with acts of fire eaters and a jester, leading to what the circus is today. It is a hard life for man and beast, things and beings – moving from city to city, town to village, scouting for the next town, getting the crews to rig the tents, set up the generator and the wiring, the rigging the tents and then packing of them back, learning new tricks and perfecting old ones, putting the paint on the face for two, sometimes three shows in the day. This ritual is repeated again and again, regardless of weather, fatigue, or pain, with or without enough paying customers. And therein lies the rub. There don’t seem to be enough paying customers. Not even enough non paying ones. Jostling for space and time with television has not been easy for the best of entertainment products, and most have lost, the circus being no exception. Even for outdoor activities, the circus- with its requirements for space, in already space crunched cities - ranks as a non-option for most kids and their hassled parents. Who would want to go see the elephant catch the ball standing on a stool on one leg- one would rather catch that on TV, probably an even better version? Then there is the other American export – “The Mall,” to compete against. The popcorn is better, the soda can be customized, and there are some shows there too! Plus it is air-conditioned. The economics of the Mall – where the performers help sell the good, rather than the other way, are much more generous. Maybe we going back to the days when the cities were growing and the performers had to act in the market place! Then there are the animal lovers. Or should we say free-the-animal lovers. They decry the cruelty (read training) that the animals are subjected to make them perform and want to shut down the circus. This has resulted in the traditional circus formats being changed to move towards jugglery and ventriloquism and magic, smaller individual based acts, more amenable to television than to the big tent. The spiral is vicious. As the kids keep away the paint on the performers grows less lustrous each day, the pit a bit dustier and the big top more rickety, and there are less and less people who would want to come and see the slipping show. The ringmaster cracks his whip, the animals do their act, but the zing is missing. They have an old circus saying – Never look back during a parade because it brings bad luck. Maybe it is time to look back to see if the parade is over. Chillibreeze's disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article.
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