[img]396|left|Alex Campbell||no_popup[/img] I went to the circus today. I’ve been going to this particular circus with my preschool for the past 12 years. It’s a great show; very intimate. There’s only one ring, so you can always see the action. The only animals they have are horses and dogs that are rescued from animal shelters. Most of the acts focus on acrobatic stunts and clown pratfalls.
Today’s show wasn’t as flashy as it has been in years past; guess the cutbacks are everywhere, even at the Big Top. They even had a repeat act from a couple of years ago. When my co-worker gasped at the stunt, I leaned over and whispered, “That’s nothing, it gets bigger!” Times are certainly hard when you know what’s going to happen at the circus.
This circus is great because the acts are very simple. The clowns fell down a lot. One of them did a smokin’ air guitar number, complete with a mullet wig. Another clown casually ate popcorn as his partner was “stuck” on the high wire.
The act I had seen two years ago involved a Chinese man and porcelain vases. First he balanced a small one (that’s when I whispered to my co-worker) on his head, then he did the same with a medium-sized one. Not only did he balance the vase on his head, but he then spun around. He moved, and the vase stayed still! He then balanced a gigantic vase, much to the delight (and cowering) of the crowd.
A Little History, Maestro
I began daydreaming about how this man had come upon his line of work. How does one decide to balance giant vases on his head? Was he a former moving company employee? I imagined the scene—he’s in the mansion of a very rich old lady. He’s packing up the truck, picks up a vase and brings it outside. The old lady’s grandson, who is visiting from the city, is shooting hoops. He spins a basketball on his finger. This gives Moving Man an idea! He spins the vase on his hand, and when the grandson eggs him on, he balances it on his head. Turns out the rich old lady owns a circus, and the rest is history. Want to know the real story? I looked it up. His father was a master Chinese vase balancer, and I guess he wanted to be like his dad. Ho hum.
One of my favorite parts of the show was the dog act. The dogs are different every year. They’re all rescued from the pound; there are mutts of every size, shape, and color. This year, all they did was run up and down a ramp and jump through hoops, but they were so cute and scraggly! One of them looked really old, and his tail was missing, but he went up and down that ramp like a champion.
There’s always one act for the grownups. This year it was Sarah, who did a wire act that had a burlesque feel to it. She twanged the wire and strutted under it before doing a nice job of balancing on the wire. I was too distracted by her hips and shoulders, which kept moving every time she wasn’t on the wire. She looked like she had to go through the wire-walking part just to get through what she really wanted to do, which was dance seductively. My dad, may he rest in peace, would have loved her.
Memories of My Dad
When I was a kid, my dad would take my brother and me to the circus. When the scantily clad female trapeze artists came out, he would say, “Ooh, check out ring three!” It was very embarrassing, but it stuck with me. To this day, when I see a female circus performer in a barely-there outfit, I think of my dad.
Ah, the circus. Good music, junk food, laughs, and surprises. It really is fun for the whole family.
Ms. Campbell may be contacted at campbellalexandra@hotmail.com
