the rise of Corporate Circus .

The Rise of Corporate Circus.

(Bigger is not always better)

As with any development from an established norm a look back into it's history to see the changes that have been wrought, usually in slow increments, until the original has been lost to memory will surprise and sometimes shock.

Circus is a prime example .

1778 saw the arrival of Astley, Hughes, Ducrow et al and heralded the introduction of the Circus Owner /Entrepreneur/ Director taking over and employing the independent family units that had until then toured the countries of Europe presenting their travelling entertainment. 

Circus then developed into a crash, bang affair presenting shows with storylines , scripts and non-stop action , death defying stunts ,trapeze artists with gymnastic feats in mid-air , jugglers manipulating clubs , rings, balls, hoops in a gyration of speed and dexterity, animal trainers first showing off waltzing horses, pirouetting dogs ,and later on leaping lions , tigers and much more , performers practised every day to be better ,the better you were the more you earned , well that was the theory of the 'new age' of circus .

This way of Circus continued, with it's ups and down, triumphs and tragedies, surviving wars, civil ,international and revolutionary , of which there were nearly 200 between 1778 and 1950 ( learning to juggle whilst dodging shells and cannonfire must have been quite an art ) until after WW11 when a new phenomenon appeared, television , for nearly two centuries despite music halls , dance halls, cinema , variety theatres , and many other forms of pleasant diversions circus had remained a major source of 'go-to ' entertainment , the rise of television changed all that at a speed that took everyone by surprise and with tv you didn't have to 'go-to' anywhere except your living room.
From it's hesitant start in 1936 and with an interruption for WW11, in the 1950's TV was king and the sales of sets soared , in 1950 only 350,000 households had a tv set, by 1960 that had risen to ¾ of the population of around 20 million, 526,000 were sold just to watch the coronation in 1953. 

The affect on the entertainment industry was dramatic to say the least and everyone tried to adapt to the new situation, Variety theatres had 'Pop' stars to attract a younger audience , pantomimes starred TV personalities , social clubs and night clubs sprang up all over the country with singers, comedians and the like with 'Direct from TV' on their posters , 

Circus did ==== nothing, or at least nearly nothing, the big 3 in the UK had closed or were near closing and by the end of the decade the ones that were left offered the same old recipe as before, jugglers, clowns , acrobats and animals , not until the mid =70's did a sea change sweep over circus both in the UK and Europe.
In the UK in the early '70's Gerry Cottle, a stockbrokers son, ran away to join the circus and within a decade had one of the biggest shows in the country, bringing new energy and fresh ideas such as hosting the Circus World Championships and the TV series 'Seaside Special' , In Germany a similar change was brought about by Circus Roncalli which, under the direction of former graphic designer Bernhard Paul , brought about a mini revolution in European circus , His ethos was 'as soon as you buy your ticket it's our job to entertain you ' 

Many shows tried to imitate these new ideas but with limited success , the majority however carried on as normal with audience numbers going down and expenses going up eventually the quality of the shows suffered .

Over the last 30 years the animal question has haunted Circus both here and throughout the world and although I have dealt with this subject in other publications one aspect has not really been considered , 

Since the early '70's protests against performing animals in Circus had grown steadily, led by PETA and many national organisations they had huge financial support and seemingly a disregard for how they gathered and distorted evidence to back up their allegations, despite the fact that successful prosecutions against circus trainers for cruelty in over 150 years were in single figures and circus had made many changes to accommodate the concerns of the protesters it was never enough.
many circus owners who had always featured animals in their shows 

suddenly had a Damascene conversion which in retrospect probably had nothing to do with the morals or ethics of travelling with or employing performing animals , it was pure business,
One of the first and most vocal was Gerry Cottle who in the early '90's announced to the press that he would never again have animals in his circus and all circus owners with animals were , in his words, 'dinosaurs'.
Whether or not his motive was pure is speculation but for many others this was an opportunity and the bandwagon quickly filled up.

An explanation for this turn of events can be explained by a little monetary maths. 

In conversation with a couple of independent wild animal trainers I learnt that in the '90's the initial cost of the animals,( 8 Lions was the benchmark) transport , cages ,one for in the ring , another bigger one as an outdoor exercise area would have been about £ 40,000 .

The expenses for food, staff, vets bills etc could be around around £300-500 weekly, A Circus that owned it's own animals, elephants, horses, exotics etc would have to add the costs of the stable staff ,food, hay/ straw for bedding, transport , trainers or animal presenters , this would make the weekly expenses very high even when the show was in it's winter quarters .

For a lot less financial outlay the circus could engage two or three acts to replace the animals and save money, plus they could explain their decision as being progressive , modern and giving the public what they want, so it was a win-win situation, In reality getting rid of the animals was nothing to do with morals or ethics , It was just a matter of economics .

One result is that wild animals in round metal cages have been replaced with motorbike riders in round metal cages .! 

MUSIC

In earlier times nearly every show had a band , from a large orchestra down to an organ and drums and every combination in between , live music was an invaluable aid , If the artist made a mistake in his routine which meant added time it didn't matter ,the band played on until the next cue . This too went by the wayside for economic reasons , A wage standard set by the Musicians Union and Equity affected all entertainment venues, Theatre shows cut back on chorus dancers , 'pit orchestras ' got smaller, circus converted to cassettes then minidiscs followed by cd's and now most shows have a digital sound system.
Modern digital music with the range of editing programmes  available is so precise it leaves no room for error and there's no bandleader to help in a tricky situation , an example of this is a few years ago in the Budapest Festival a lady low-wire walker with a beautiful act full of wonderful tricks and choreography synchronised with the music, unfortunately fell off in the middle of a particular trick , she immediately got back on but those few seconds that she lost meant that the climax of her routine was performed in an embarrassing silence ,  she got huge applause but it wasn't the same . 

The Internet

From it's early days the circus arts have been successful through innovation, with everyone practising to achieve a level which would earn them a living, practise would continue so as keep up the standard and new tricks and routines would spring from this constant practise , with little opportunity to see other artists performing in the same discipline every act was in some way individual and unique . This also changed as a result of TV , variety shows featuring circus acts plus specialist shows like the previously mentioned Seaside Special and the Xmas and Easter circuses , 

were the staple diet of the schedule for many years and the advent of video recorders meant that those acts could be copied , the rise of the internet made that process even easier , now at the press of a key one can see acts and performers from all over the world on your PC screen.

The other element of traditional circus that has undergone a big change are the Clowns , in earlier days they were older artists who had performed speciality acts and as they got older they changed to clowning and used their knowledge and experience in the show, For instance the original 'reprise clowns ,( called in America 'carpet -clowns') did what the title suggests and came in after a juggler or a wire-walker or other acts and 'reprised' their performance in a comic way , if there was more than one clown in a show they would usually perform one routine together, there were many famous clown gags such as 'the Bees and Honey , Old Joes Ghost , the Dead and Alive, the Sleepwalker , which are still performed today , with the advent of PC clowns have a hard time getting laughs without someone being offended , usually on behalf of someone else , The fear of clowns seems to be more prevalent of late although most people who profess to suffer from it can't tell you it's medical name which leads to the belief that it's more fashion than fear ,(BTW It's colorophobia )

In many modern shows clowns have been replaced by characters doing something with the public or performing comic interludes which have no reference to anything in the show and are somewhat akin to the Potters Wheel of the early TV days , 

The success of Cirque Du Soliel has also had it's effect , their opera/circus with it's style of costumes , make-up , specially written music and lyrics, which could be Klingon or Esperanto for all of the meaning they project, have brought a new audience to the art form but in many peoples opinion it isn't circus .
Their show companies are mainly comprised of ex gymnast and athletes many from eastern European countries, who are interchangeable with the casts from other shows. Their disregard for the individual artist is shown by the fact that none of them are acknowledged, the printed programme and the end of the dvd's has the name of all the technicians , riggers , electricians, costume and make-up department members, directors, producers but not one actual performer is named , what a change from the traditional Circus where the posters and programme loudly and proudly proclaimed who you would see if you bought a ticket . 

All of the above has resulted in large proportion of today's shows, travelling and static, both in the UK and Europe delivering a brand of antiseptic, bland ,easy on the eye and even easier on the brain , corporate type performance . 

Of course there are still circuses in the UK and around the world who present their audience with an experience that is uplifting and joyous, some still wrap the show round a story much as in the old days ,one exponent of this is Giffords Circus in the UK which each season presents a brand new story with live music, brilliant comedy and some surprises along the way , they work together as a group with everything from the manual labour through to the grand finale of the show which has become a feature of their yearly performance , 

Every country has their own version of Giffords, small travelling groups who work for the love of what they do and the joy of performing and as long as they are around have no doubt,  Circus will survive .