The Circus Life: Traveling Show Challenges And Rewards

Working for a travelling circus is a romantic yet challenging lifestyle. Circus workers must be adaptable, enduring long nights and physical work. Circus life involves constant movement, with workers travelling from town to town, setting up and performing shows, and then packing up again. It can be an exciting life, full of unique experiences and amazing people, but it can also be dirty and painful. Circus workers must be prepared to live in a different environment every week, with varying weather, altitudes, crime rates, and living conditions. They must be able to take care of themselves and adapt to new situations.

Performers and their living conditions

Life as a circus performer is not easy. Performers live a life of constant movement and face stresses that are not experienced in a typical 9-5 job. They must be prepared to live in a different environment every week, which means that the weather, altitude, crime rate, and general living conditions will vary drastically in each new city. Living conditions can be uncomfortable, and one must be able to adapt to challenges such as power outages, lack of heat or water, and limited access to groceries in certain locations.

Circus performers live, work, and travel together, often facing the challenges of the road as a community. They travel by RV, train, or bus, sometimes for days at a time, and may encounter problems and accidents along the way. It is a lifestyle that requires a strong sense of commitment and resilience.

Circus life is akin to camping, and performers must be self-reliant and adaptable. They may experience close living quarters and face issues like claustrophobia or motion sickness. The work is physically demanding, and performers must be able to handle the strain of constant travel and the unique challenges of their profession.

Despite the hardships, many circus performers find their work rewarding. They get to travel across the country, meet unique people, form tight-knit communities, try new foods, and work with amazing animals and talented colleagues. The sense of excitement and romance that comes with the circus life is often worth the challenges and sacrifices.

Circus communities are like small towns, with their own language, traditions, and culture. They often have their own schools, cafes, convenience stores, laundry facilities, and even religious leaders to conduct Sunday services. The family unit is strong, and everyone works together and looks after each other, creating a sense of belonging and camaraderie.

Types of acts

Circus acts can be categorised into several groups, including aerial acts, acrobatics, object manipulation, equilibristics, fire performance, clowning, animal acts, and magic and illusion.

Aerial acts take place in the air and require strength, flexibility, balance, and grace. Common aerial acts include the trapeze, aerial hoop (lyra), Spanish web, and aerial straps. Acrobatics involve physical acts of strength, balance, and agility, often performed on the ground or on apparatuses such as trampolines or teeterboards. Common acrobatics skills include hand balancing, tumbling, contortion, and partner acrobatics.

Object manipulation involves controlling and manipulating objects with skill and precision. Examples include hula hooping, poi spinning, staff spinning, and plate spinning. Equilibristics include skills of performers using their balance and coordination in acts like tightrope walking, unicycle riding, slackline, stilt walking, and rola bola.

Fire performance includes acts where fire is a central element. Common fire acts involve fire juggling, fire spinning, fire breathing, and fire eating. Clowning includes comedy, theatre acting, and improvisation. Clowns combine different techniques like humour, slapstick, and mime to engage and entertain the audience.

Animal acts are traditional in circuses and may include training and performing with animals like horses, elephants, lions, and tigers. Magic and illusion involve acts of performers using elements of illusion in their shows, employing sleight of hand, misdirection, and visual tricks to surprise the audience.

Animals and animal rights

Where do circus animals come from?

In some cases, circus animals are illegally poached from the wild, despite laws that prohibit this. In other cases, animals are bred specifically for the entertainment industry.

Circuses often force animals to perform unnatural tricks, such as elephants standing on one leg and spinning in circles on top of small stools. These tricks can cause long-term damage to the animals' physiology and are often taught using negative reinforcement (e.g. physical abuse). For example, elephants are beaten with bullhooks and young elephants are savagely constrained and beaten in a process known as "the crush". Big cats often have their teeth and claws removed, and they are trained with whips. Other investigations have uncovered moon bears riding motorbikes, macaques riding dogs, and orangutans spinning plates. Circus animals are also often underfed to keep them hungry and eager to please.

The living conditions in circuses often fail to meet the animals' basic needs. Animals are typically kept in small, barren cages and are unable to interact with their own kind. They are also often transported over large distances, which can be unsuitable for certain species.

Bans and restrictions on the use of animals in circuses

Due to concerns about animal welfare, several countries have banned or restricted the use of animals in circuses. Some countries have banned the use of all animals, while others have only banned the use of wild animals. Here is a list of some countries that have implemented bans or restrictions:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• England
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• North Macedonia
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Portugal
• Romania
• Scotland
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Armenia
• Bolivia
• Costa Rica
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• India
• Iran
• Israel
• Columbia
• Lebanon
• Mexico
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Singapore
• Taiwan

Circus history

The history of the circus is a complex one, with historians disagreeing on its origin. Some say the circus began in the 18th century with Englishman Philip Astley, a cavalry officer and skilled equestrian, who has been credited as the father of the modern circus. In 1768, Astley began performing trick horse-riding shows in an open field in London and soon began hiring other performers, such as acrobats, jugglers, and clowns, to fill in the pauses between his equestrian demonstrations. This chance combination of acts would later be named a "circus".

However, others argue that the origins of the circus go back further to Roman times. In Ancient Rome, circuses were roofless arenas that exhibited horse and chariot races, staged battles, and gladiatorial combat. The circuses of Rome were similar to the ancient Greek hippodromes, differing in design and construction, and sometimes involved re-enactments of naval battles, for which the circus would be flooded with water. The first circus in Rome was the Circus Maximus, which, in its final form, could seat 250,000 people.

The modern circus continued to evolve in the centuries following Astley's pioneering shows. Large-scale theatrical battle re-enactments became a significant feature in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and the format of a ringmaster introducing a variety of choreographed acts set to music, often termed 'traditional' or 'classical' circus, developed in the latter part of the 19th century and remained dominant until the 1970s. The venues also changed over time, from open-air structures to custom-made wooden circus buildings, and then to the large tents known as "big tops", which were introduced in the mid-19th century and eventually became the most common venue.

The circus continued to spread internationally throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, with the first modern circus in the United States founded by John Bill Ricketts in Philadelphia in 1793, and the first circus in Canada established by Ricketts in Montreal in 1797. Circus companies also began extensive international tours, with early pioneers such as Giuseppe Chiarini taking the circus to Japan, South America, China, and Australia, among other places.

In the late 1970s, a revival of the circus tradition began as a number of groups experimented with new circus formats and aesthetics, often avoiding the use of animals to focus exclusively on human artistry. This movement, often termed 'new circus' or 'cirque nouveau', favoured a theatrical approach, combining character-driven circus acts with original music to convey complex themes and stories. Since the 1990s, an even more avant-garde approach, sometimes called 'contemporary circus', has presented traditional circus techniques in ways that align more closely with performance art, dance, or visual arts.

Joining a travelling circus

If you think you're up for the challenge, the next step is to decide on the type of circus you want to join and make a list of those you'd like to apply for. If you're looking in America, there are many to choose from, ranging from larger circuses such as Cirque and Ringling to smaller "mud shows" like Big Apple Circus or Circus Vargas.

Once you've decided on the circuses you're interested in, you can start the application process. Many circuses will have career websites, while smaller circuses may only provide a contact email. If applying online doesn't work, you can try applying in person. One way to do this is to buy a ticket to a show and use the preshow or the option to arrive early to meet performers to ask about current openings and the hiring process. Another option is to simply hang out where the circus is staying and approach circus workers to ask about job opportunities.

If you're having trouble getting your foot in the door, networking through social media and organisations like Circus Fans of America can be a great way to make connections and gain insight into which circuses might be hiring.

When it comes to the day-to-day life of a travelling circus worker, it involves a lot of hard work and constant movement. For example, Megan O'Malley, a musician with Ringling Bros., describes how her circus arrives in a city and sets up in an arena, with both crew and performers involved in the setup process. Rehearsals and shows follow, and in between, there may be some time to explore the city. After the show schedule is completed, everything is packed up again, and the circus moves on to the next location.

Travelling with a circus can be an exciting and romantic life, offering unique experiences and the opportunity to meet interesting people. However, it also comes with stresses and challenges, such as the potential for accidents and unsafe housing conditions.

If you're considering joining a travelling circus, be prepared for a lifestyle that requires adaptability, endurance, and a willingness to endure hard work and physical discomfort.

Frequently asked questions