young folks it's kind of like the the carnival is coming into town the circus is coming into town but it's a stem circus so hot when this young child the staff afterwards when I went to meet with thestaff they said to me we weren't sure if hotland if we were gonna let him participate because he has a severe
all know each other. Yeah. And I'll Oh, just add a lot of us went to the same either college before circus school or circus school. So, there's those like Terry, Carrie, and I all went to Oberlin College and then uh Terry, Carrie, and Ty all went to the circus school Ty wastalking about. So there's a lot of just we've known each other for a while. So those connections there and living in
um in this case that that really you know cleared cleared the road for a lot of smaller companies and contemporary circus and circuses with different concepts for sure. So we all are indebted to Circus Sole in thatsense. But um but Circus Sole was really one of um one of many companies in
stretching a lot for a really long time which can be painful. Um but there there's is a really beautiful metaphor circus . It was actually getting into theater in high school that um was my entrance as I was starting to pay more
stretching a lot for a really long time which can be painful. Um but there there's is a really beautiful metaphor circus artists, you know, give me a call." And she and she wrote back and she was like, "You guys look cool. Give
To understand the contemporary circus , it's important to have an understanding of the history of the traditional circus . Circus as we know it today, performed in the round, in a tent or an reason in a, displays feats of human and animal skills, amazement of the audience through defying the laws ofgravity, jugglers, acrobats, clowns and so on, has been around since the 1700s.
guy was amazing. This guy was the guy you think of when you think "crazy man." From the 1800s, who goes around doing nonsense. He was a circus performer who decided that circuses were too sedate for him.So, what he wanted to do was get into ballooning and do circus acts from a balloon. So, what he would do was go up in a balloon, cut the basket free, and then be on a trapeze, dangling
Remember when we were rehearsing and you and E.J. were in the ballpark, right? The Circus Center was scary, because we got a call from them, and some of the press were starting to follow the family.
I mean, this is a company that infiltrated animal welfare groups, that spent $10s of millions to defend its use of elephants. Other circuses , like International Circus , after Ringling made its announcement in March, also said it's giving up its elephants.
they saw little good in it and in fact found it stifling to me being a Libyan is like being forced to attend a rather Gothic circus that one didn't particularly want tickets for in the first place as the popular committee meeting dragged on shopkeepers bemon their losses but any doors found open for business faced a stiff fine and a license suspension libyans told me that
So he's not as happy as he once was. And the circus coming to town really sort of sparks his sort of reviewing of his whole life, and what was good, and what was difficult, and how he became a man who had a great life.
He ended up having a great life with a lot love, and children, and just amazing. But the circus coming to town sort of sparks that whole sort of review. And that's how the play starts.
But August is very dynamic because he is trying to keep this circus together, he's trying to keep his marriage intact, and he's got this new veterinarian who joins the circus , which they desperately need. And because they are in 1931, trying to evade starvation
whether it is the androgynous costuming or the breaking out of traditional gender roles when it comes to some of the dancing. If you love circus , there's circus .
So it comes full circle. It's like a circus .
Yeah, World Record Breaker. So "Welcome to the Circus Business" is the title of our talk. And the world that we operate in is very non-traditional.
Good idea. So I'm sure you guys have done a lot of other stuff that was really clever, but just didn't see the light of day. It's a circus business.
We also have scouts that go to the Olympics and go to national championships and such. We partner with circus schools. We have across the street very conveniently from the Cirque headquarters is the Canadian National Circus school.
If you're ever going to jump out of a plane, it's very handy. The traditional circus has been centuries old.
way I think it was just she and I and we were going to go through the Madison Square Garden to see the Ringling brother's circus and I'm still a little run you know and uh I'm sitting in a passenger seat and it's this big Cadillac convertible and she's got this speaker thing I don't know if it was under the hood or on the
Things that were important aren't important. You're in Piccadilly Circus , and a gang of guys will come-- football fans walking on.
I don't know how much we spend in carrots, but it's a big budget. I'm not a circus guy, where you see the ring and everything goes around.
She's a traveling circus performer in Spain.
Remember when we were rehearsing and you and E.J. were in the ballpark, right? I think the Circus Center video the night before is the best scene in the film, I think, and something nobody ever saw because the family
Remember when we were rehearsing and you and E.J. were in the ballpark, right? And the Circus Center supposedly shot a little of it there, but they lost the footage.
And I saw the circus .
And in the circus , there was a lot of downtime.
"The Night Circus " by Aaron Morgenstern is one.
connection coming into this and at that point I really decided I wanted to work on a small company. The school is like right across from Circus Sole and Cir, these other big companies. But at that point, I really wanted to go home and like bring Circus to the US and work with friends where it wasn't all about
right across from Circus Sole and Cir, these other big companies. But at that point, I really wanted to go home and like bring Circus to the US and work with friends where it wasn't all about the bottom line. Um, and I could have a lot of artistic input also, which is what's great about working in a small
That's true. With our director because she had never seen circus at all. I mean, she came into this completely blind. She's from the dance world and knew nothing about circus and so she had to see what we could do. And and that's true that we added Jackie and Nickeola a little later and they auditioned, but I can speak to that like a show and tell more than an audition. It was it was an
stretching a lot for a really long time which can be painful. Um but there there's is a really beautiful metaphor and the circus thing that was out there.
stretching a lot for a really long time which can be painful. Um but there there's is a really beautiful metaphor physical theater and contemporary circus that was happening. Um so I started doing circus in high school which is late particularly for a contortionist.
stretching a lot for a really long time which can be painful. Um but there there's is a really beautiful metaphor Is that a another circus tour? Yep. Or maybe we'll tour all over. Who knows?
This fact really stuck with me and really got me to thinking. In the circus world, nothing is achieved without first failing time and time again. No juggler ever juggled with six balls without dropping them thousands of times.
They wanted to reinvent the circus . 30 years later, I think we can all agree that that's exactly what they did. To understand the contemporary circus , it's important to have an understanding of the history of the traditional circus . Circus as we know it today, performed in the round, in a tent or an reason in a, displays feats of human and animal skills, amazement of the audience through defying the laws of
gravity, jugglers, acrobats, clowns and so on, has been around since the 1700s. The heyday of the circus industry lasted from the end of the 19th century well into the middle of the 20th century. The traveling circus brought entertainment to the cities and towns of the world.
The heyday of the circus industry lasted from the end of the 19th century well into the middle of the 20th century. The traveling circus brought entertainment to the cities and towns of the world. It showcased wild and exotic animals.
And the reason we're doing that is to be able to address all of those burning questions and to be able to ensure that we remain innovative in 2014. type of circus , it was very important to Guy and his whole idea was based on the premise of showcasing the human body.
And the reason we're doing that is to be able to address all of those burning questions and to be able to ensure that we remain innovative in 2014. Because in the circus world, even circuses look to us to get that information.
This is a circus .
in a circus , or various settings and that kind of thing.
What makes one circus act breathtaking and another boring?
there are circus clowns and there are City clowns and there are Rifts between that group those groups as well but uh
had this kind of circus going on around him and the best voice for him was to sort of react mostly U and so that that
hours and then the circus moves on and they have to move on with it. And so big questions; by big questions, I don't mean big philosophical questions. I mean, just fundamental questions
Bread and Circus became the largest natural food store in the Northeast, and in 1996 it was sold to Whole Foods Market.
And the reason we're doing that is to be able to address all of those burning questions and to be able to ensure that we remain innovative in 2014. We respect other circuses and the use of animals and we respect what they do tremendously, but back in 1984, when Guy and Daniel had this vision and this idea of creating a different
And they were in circuses , which, if you remember the years when Jeff was inseparable with his Segway, was a really bizarre coincidence.
They're in circuses where they're they're basically treated terribly.