I wish that the circuses that were around now felt like they did then. They're not quite as elegant
or as magical as they used to be. There was something about the old tent shows, the Big Top, the canvas, the lights, the sawdust, the hay and the animals that's just missing now.
Now, it's all urbanized and maybe a little garish. ―Francis Lawrence
Ringling is dead, but small circuses are still with us.
Small and medium circuses were once "farm teams" for the large circuses, but may outlive all of them. Tent shows travel to small towns and set up on fair grounds or mall parking lots. They have horses, clowns, maybe even a lion or two...
My daughter's friend Beatrice
training
in a small circus in France.
Something about the circus stirs their souls, and they ache for it when it is absent. ― Erin Morgenstern
In the late 20th century new troupes honored circus traditions but had a sensibility that reacted against Ringling. They centered their shows around emotion rather than technique.
Street entertainers evolve into solid shows. For example, in 1984 nine performers formed Cirque Plume and
were
in a big tent by 1988.
It's been years since I visited, but I remember their one-ring show in the tent fondly. They also sometimes send wagons out on parade. I found many photographs from their collection online.
This is an extensive, less intimate museum, part of the Ringling Museum which boasts a full-size replica of Michelangelo's David. The Circus Museum includes a marvelous, room-size miniature circus created by Howard Tibbals. It also has a lot of original posters.
Classes and camps are available to teach circus skills all over the country...
My daring sister-in-law flew on a trapeze!
She said it was terrifying,
and that it hurt her hands because the bar is rough.
...and the art and books generated in the glory days
of the American circus
will keep
the spirit of the circus alive.
