16 ★ Big Apple Circus

ELEMENTS OF CIRCUS
Circus gets its name from the ring, but it is also defined by the artistry within that ring.
Circus is distinct from theater, dance, and other performing arts, although it incorporates
aspects of many of them. Circus presents a usually non-narrative sequence of variety acts
showing the agility, grace, and strength of human and animal performers. The types of acts
fall into distinct categories, although individual acts may include aspects of more than
one category.

Equestrianism and Other Animal Acts

Equestrianism, from the Latin word equus, meaning horse, is the training, riding, and
presenting of horses. In addition to trick riding, early circuses presented entire dramas, battle
reenactments, and historical events on horseback.
In the 19th century, horses were the primary means of transportation, so even in cities,
the general public was more familiar with them than most people are today. Circus audiences
appreciated subtle nuances of horse training and riding. With the rising popularity of auto-
mobiles in the 20th century, fewer Americans had that level of equestrian sophistication, and
horse acts took up a smaller and smaller percentage of the circus performance, although they
are still and will always be an important feature.
Today’s horse acts can generally be divided into three categories: Trick riding features
human acrobatics on galloping horses; high school acts or dressage features displays
of slow, controlled fancy horse footwork; and liberty acts, as the name implies, feature
untethered horses responding to spoken or gestured commands from a trainer who is
not riding them.
In the mid-1800’s, a popular form of traveling entertainment was the menagerie,
which was an exhibition of wild and strange animals. These
menageries were precursors to today’s zoos although
nowadays zoos are much more advanced in their care
and understanding of wild animals. Favorite menagerie
attractions included giraffes, zebras, elephants, hippopota-
muses, llamas, lions, and tigers. As the
traveling entertainment market became
more competitive, several menagerie
owners added circuses and
other attractions to their
shows in an attempt to
stay interesting and
exciting thereby
maintaining
audiences despite
the increasing
competition.
 Big Apple Circus ★ 17

Some animals can be trained to display their naturally

interesting behavior on command. Elephants, in partic-
ular, are intelligent agile animals, who have become a
favorite of American audiences. Like horses, elephants
can be directed by a rider or by verbal and gestural
commands. Experienced elephants can understand up
to about 30 spoken commands.
There has been some concern in recent years
about the treatment of animals in circuses. Good
trainers patiently and gently work with their animals
to develop trust, understanding, and respect
between trainer and animal. Trainers use positive
reinforcement and reward to teach the animals. The
physical feats the animals perform in the ring are actu-
ally extensions and refinements of gestures the animals exhibit naturally. Outside of the ring,
circus life centers on the lives of the animal performers, whose caretakers must be within
sight and sound of them 24 hours each day, seven days per week, 52 weeks per year.
Big Apple Circus animals have daily exercise, baths or species-specific grooming, and
balanced, veterinarian-designed diets. They are vaccinated and receive complete medical
exams regularly. The horses also receive regular dental and hoof exams. A local veterinarian is
on call in every tour location. US government inspectors visit regularly to verify the animals
are in good health and receive proper care. Only happy, healthy animals perform well.

Elementary activities:
✳ Early circus audiences had never seen elephants before. Draw an imaginary animal
that you would like to see. What does your animal eat? What is it called? Describe
its behavior.
✳ Place the names of various animals in a box. Have children take turns pulling
animals from the box and acting out their traits while the other children try to
identify the animal.
✳ Now go through the animals again, and have the children discuss which would make
better pets and which would make better circus performers. Why? Compare the
food needs, sounds, and accompanying characteristics of household pets and circus
animals. Some animals might be both. Why would it be difficult to keep an elephant
as a pet? Why would it be difficult to have a fish in a circus act? Could a dog
perform in the circus? A pig? A whale?
18 ★ Big Apple Circus

Horse Facts
Did you know . . . ?
✫ Horses’ teeth grow continuously throughout their lives. They rub them down while
they chew.
✫ Horses almost have a 360-degree field of vision. There is only one small area
directly behind them where they cannot see.
✫ Horses get the flu just like people.
✫ Collectively, baby horses are called foals; young females are called fillies and young
males are called colts.
✫ The horse was one of the first domesticated animals. Horses were needed to help
with farming, building, and transportation.
✫ The hoof of a horse is actually modified hair. Hooves grow continuously and need to
be trimmed every couple of weeks.
✫ Ponies are not baby horses. Ponies are classified as horses less than 14 hands 2
inches (58 inches) at the shoulder.
✫ Almost all mares (adult female horses) in captivity give birth between the hours of
1:00 and 4:00 a.m. Foals can stand within one hour of being born.

Research ideas:
✪ Find five more facts about horses.
✪ Research the differences between three different types of horses.

Activity ideas:
✳ How many different media can you use to make images of horses? Can you paint
them, draw them, stencil them, print them, or cut them out of magazines?
✳ Write a story about owning a horse in your house.
✳ Write a poem about horses.
✳ Write a story from the point of view of the horse.
 Big Apple Circus ★ 19

Elephant Facts
Did you know . . . ?
✫ Elephants are vegetarians.
✫ Many people believe elephants have a special taste for peanuts. Actually, they’re just as likely
to eat up keys, cigarette butts, apples, and sugar cubes.
✫ The elephant’s trunk is the most sensitive part of its body. Primarily employed as a nose, the
trunk has great strength and control. With it, an elephant can open or close doors, remove
something from a person’s pocket, pick up a safety pin, or kill a wild animal with a single swat.
✫ The tongue of an elephant is attached at both the front and rear.
✫ Elephants have strong legs, but they cannot jump. Elephants belong to the family called
pachyderms, which means thick skinned in Greek, and includes rhinoceroses and hippopota-
muses. Despite the name, an elephant’s hide is so sensitive, it can feel a fly landing on its
back.
✫ The elephant’s tusk is really an incisor tooth, protruding from its upper jaw. Among African
elephants, both males and females display tusks. Among Asians, only the males do, which is
why most circus elephants, often Asian females, don’t have tusks.
✫ The life span of an elephant approximates that of a human being. Circus elephants live longer
than their relatives in the wild because of their diet and exercise. Also, although endangered,
elephants still contend with hunters in the wild, who only want the ivory from their tusks.

Research ideas:
✪ Find five more facts about elephants.
✪ Elephants are native to Africa and India. The two types look similar on first glance, but they
have some significant differences. Can you find out what they are?
✪ In what types of habitats do elephants live? What threats are facing those areas currently?

Activity ideas:
✳ How many different media can you use to make images of elephants? Can you paint them,
draw them, stencil them, print them, or cut them out of magazines?
✳ Write a story about owning an elephant in your house.
✳ Write a poem about elephants.
✳ Write a story from the point of view of the elephant.
20 ★ Big Apple Circus

Acrobatics
Besides featuring acts of animal performances, circus features performances that celebrate the
possibilities of the human body. Acrobatics is the artistic performance of gymnastic displays
featuring skill, strength, agility, beauty, balance, and grace. The people who perform these
feats are called acrobats. The prefix acro means height or tip-top, and the word acrobatics
comes from the Greek word akrobatos, meaning to walk on tiptoe. Acrobatics can be per-
formed on the ground, on special equipment, or “in the air” with the help of rigging and
suspended equipment. Acrobatics can be performed solo, in teams, or in groups. It always
features skills of the human body.

Acrobatics may be much more special-

ized than just tumbling and flipping.

Adagio—Adagio is the acrobatic art

of balancing one or more people on top
of one or more other people. It requires
strength, precision of placement, and fine
technique. Acrobats may balance on each
other’s hands, feet, or heads.

Wire walking—There are several different arts

that involve performance while balancing on a narrow
cable. The high wire is a heavy steel cable, stretched high
between two poles. The tight wire, or low wire,
is a smaller cable stretched between two pedestals,
about five or six feet from the ground. The acrobats use
an entirely different technique for the two different
types of wire. There is a third kind called slack wire that
uses a similar set up to the low wire but lets the cable hang loose
in the middle instead of pulling it taut.

Trapeze—The trapeze grew out of the slack wire. Acrobats hung from the rope, which
gave it a trapezoidal shape. Eventually a bar was added in the middle. There are several differ-
ent types of trapeze acts. In still trapeze, a performer strikes beautiful poses in the air around a
trapeze, but the trapeze does not move. A swinging trapeze moves just like a swing while the
performer works on it. In a flying trapeze act, the performers leap or “fly” from one trapeze
either to another or to the arms of a catcher.

Contortion—Some very flexible acrobats can twist their bodies into strange shapes and
strike poses or fit inside small containers. For example, a contortionist might rest on her (or
his) chin and flip her body all the way over so her feet are in front of her face.
 Big Apple Circus ★ 21

Teeterboard—A teeterboard is like a big see-saw. One or usually more performers jump
on one end propelling the person on the other end into the air.

Spanish web—A performer climbs a single rope suspended from the ceiling and then
uses it to strike poses in the air.

Acrobat Facts
Did you know . . . ?
✫ Jules Léotard invented the flying trapeze, where performers leap or “fly” from one
trapeze to another, in 1859. He also invented the costume that came to bear his
name, which still provides comfort and freedom of movement for dancers and
gymnasts in addition to circus acrobats.
✫ Tumbling was originally performed in the circus by the clowns.
✫ In the 19th Century British clown Little Wheal set a record for turning 200 somer-
saults in succession on the same spot.
✫ The trapeze gets its name from its trapezoid shape, although some trapezes’ ropes
hang parallel to each other.

Research ideas:
✪ Find five more facts about acrobats.
✪ Research one famous acrobat and write a biography of him or her.
✪ Write a paper explaining how acrobatics training might be useful in a career as a
dancer, as a professional athlete, as a bond trader, or in some other profession.

Elementary Activity:
✳ What shapes can you make out of your body? Can you make a circle? A triangle?
A square?
22 ★ Big Apple Circus

Juggling
Juggling is the skilled manipulation of one or more objects using balance, timing, and con-
trol. The narrowest definition of juggling is keeping two or more objects under control in the
air by continually throwing and catching them; juggling in the broader sense may involve
many other types of controlled object manipulation.
The most common type of juggling is probably toss juggling, which involves throwing
and catching two or more objects, so one or more objects have to be in the air at any given
time. Commonly used objects in toss juggling include balls or beanbags, clubs, rings, knives,
and torches. Jugglers refer to the objects as props. Most props can be juggled in many differ-
ent ways. Common patterns include the cascade (odd number of objects, each follows the
same sideways figure 8, or infinity, pattern in the air), the shower (even or odd number of
objects, one hand throw high, the other throws straight across), and the fountain (even num-
ber of objects, balls never switch hands, each hand throws balls from the middle of the body
to the outside).
Working in pairs or teams, jugglers can do even more tricks with even more objects than
they can alone. Throwing props from one person to another is called passing. Passing
requires lots of practice; everybody must juggle at the same speed, performing the move-
ments at exactly the same time, so that the props can be thrown from one person to another
without disrupting the pattern.
In the broader sense, juggling may be used as an umbrella term to include other
types of object manipulation, such as plate spinning and vase
balancing (both are classic Chinese arts),
ball spinning, top balancing, yo-yo
artistry, diabolo (a double-sided top
that balances on a string), club or
torch swinging, and devil stick
manipulation (where the
person holds one stick in each
hand and bounces a third
in between them).
 Big Apple Circus ★ 23

Juggling Facts
Did you know . . . ?
✫ The world's record for the greatest number of objects ever juggled at one time is ten,
which has been done with both balls and rings. A very few people have “flashed” 12
objects, which means thrown them up once and caught them, but no one has ever
sustained 12 objects in a juggle.
✫ Juggling is depicted in ancient art from Egypt, Greece, and Rome; in ancient texts
from China and Ireland; in Norse mythology; and in the Talmud.
✫ One popular rumor about W.C. Fields is that he started his performing career
juggling the apples and oranges his father sold at his fruit stand.
✫ On the Pacific Island of Tonga, juggling is a common pastime for young girls, who
typically juggle fruit and nuts.

Research ideas:
✪ Find five more facts about jugglers.
✪ Research one famous juggler and write a biography of him or her.

For discussion:
✬ Juggling is often used as a metaphor for other problems of balance in life. What do
you think juggling means in that context? What are some issues, ideas, or activities
you have to juggle in your life?
24 ★ Big Apple Circus

Clowning
Contrary to popular belief, clowns were not invented with the circus, they are the inheritors
of a long, proud tradition. Clowns as we know them today originated in Elizabethan
theater (around 400 years ago, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in England—William
Shakespeare was one of the leading playwrights at the time), where they were used to fill the
pauses between serious dramatic scenes with comedy—the same role Astley gave them in the
circus. Their ancestors were the Medieval jesters, who entertained their patrons with wit and
skills. Many other cultures around the world recognize equally long clowning traditions.
The common thread connecting all these traditions and defining clowning is the ability to
bring a comic twist to everything—to parody everything. Good clowns show audiences the
comic aspect to a particular situation. Audiences laugh with them—not at them. To convey
the humor, they may speak, use pantomime, sing, play music, juggle, interact with animals,
or perform acrobatics.Clowns are highly skilled actors with a wide variety of skills.

Classical clown characters—Every clown brings his or her own unique personality and
sense of humor to the role, and every clown’s costume and make up are distinct. Although the
term clown is today used as a generic description for many different types of funny people,
historically it defined two different and distinct characters; the clown per se, and the auguste:
White face clowns are refined and elegant. They perform in
a team with one or two augustes, and the white face clown is
in charge of the situation. They often set up the joke (straight
men) or may be the focus of its humor. Traditionally, they
wear a white make-up base.
Augustes act and look sillier. They often get into
trouble. They disrupt the ringmaster and often the white
clown. They traditionally wear a red nose, as the origin
of the auguste was a slightly inebriated character. The
word august means inspiring awe and respect. The
auguste generally inspires more frivolous emotions.
Some people refer to a third
category as character clowns and
use that term to distinguish
clowns that dress as specific
character types, for example the
gentleman or the tramp. Since the
term only describes the clown’s appearance, their
style of humor may still fall into one of the other
two categories.
 Big Apple Circus ★ 25

Modern clowns—In America, the development of the three-

ring circus format drastically changed the nature of clowning.
Clowns were forced to exaggerate their features and use
broad pantomime and crude slapstick in order to be seen
across giant arenas. Although some circuses and other
venues still use classical clown characters, most Americans
now think of the new form of broad clowning when they
hear the word clown. In classical terms, Jim Carey, Eddie
Murphy, and other performers who use physical as well as
verbal skills to create comedy would be considered clowns.
People who only use verbal humor, for example Jerry
Seinfeld or David Letterman, are generally considered
comedians, not clowns.

Clown Facts
Did you know . . . ?
✫ The model for Uncle Sam was a famous 19th century clown named Dan Rice, who was widely
considered the funniest political wit of his time. He was so popular his weekly salary was twice
that of President Lincoln’s, and he was asked to run in the presidential primary!
✫ Every clown designs a unique face that fits his or her character (personality).
✫ Clowns may copyright their make up design to protect it from imitators.
✫ The harlequin character in diamond-patterned costume and black mask was a clown of the
commedia dell’arte, the Italian theater of the 18th century.
26 ★ Big Apple Circus

Elementary activity:
✳ A clown’s make up is designed to underline or slightly exaggerate physical features or
personality traits. Design your own clown face on a piece of cardboard. How does
your clown face reflect your personality? Which parts of your personality would you
choose to exaggerate? Which parts would you rather hide? When you’re done, punch
a hole in each side and use a string or elastic to make it into a mask. Organize a
clown parade for each child to show off his or her mask.

Junior high and secondary activity:

✳ Divide into groups of two to four, and write a clown “gag” to perform for the rest of the
class. The gag should exaggerate and point out the humor in some aspect of daily life.

For discussion:
✬ What defines a clown? Could a person be a clown without wearing make up?
✬ What was the funniest thing that happened to you this week? Why?

Activities:
✳ Watch scenes by George Burns and Gracie Allen, “Alice and Ralph Kramden” (Audrey
Meadows and Jackie Gleason as The Honeymooners), Katherine Hepburn and
Spencer Tracy, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Desi Arnez and Lucille Ball, Jerry
Seinfeld and “Kramer” (Michael Richards), Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, or other
comedy teams. Who is the Auguste and who is the white face clown? Can you point
to aspects of the classical clown roles in these character actors who are not wearing
clown make up?
✳ Write a biography on one of these clowns or clown teams or another one of your
choosing.