The day the Circus changed

When I was a kid, going to the circus meant going to see elephants, and tigers, and clowns and acrobats who were probably going to die, and it was quite scary.

Besides, times change.

It has become rare to see circuses in town – at least in France. We hardly ever go under circus tents anymore. In the meantime, circuses saw the emergence of young artists who wanted to create other worlds.

Circuses have chosen the path of storytelling.
They began to tell us stories – without text – with all their artistic means. They set out to create unified shows: a complete huge show , in which the different acts fit logically, like parts of history. Especially shows where you won’t really find animals anymore.

The few people I know who still work with animals – are the ones who love and over-love their animals: they start going everywhere in the back of the theatre – and it’s just too cute.You have all the female staff going gaga over the marabout, the couple of dogs, the goat and the two donkeys, who come to eat with you, just like at home.
The guys are pretending to grumble. But they’re happy too.

Above all, by dint of frequenting each other in all the Festivals of the World, artists have encountered other ways of thinking about their arts.
There are a lot of Asian circus influences nowadays, based on absolutely amazing physical performances.

We now see performances with ribbons, with hoops, with everyday objects, with impressive dance choreographies, with mimes taken directly from the theatre: the children of the ball are still alive!

As a result, all these artists have been able to integrate a real narrative dimension into their shows. That’s one of the reasons why I’m sure that setting up a Narrative Festival, with shows spread out indoors, will work.
I’m not making this up. I’m chasing the dream.

The very famous Cirque Eloize is a perfect example of this change.

No, going to the circus doesn’t mean going to a circus tent to watch a lion jump through a hoop anymore..

Yes, it’s a great show to share happiness with your loved ones.

These are Italian. They’re pretty crazy, too, these ones. Merry fools who give their dreams for your laughter.
They didn’t know if they were doing circus or magic.
So they said they do both: it’s Bubble on Circus.

And what can only please me – these are artists with physical performances so precise, so worked out and so impressive that they are the first ones we will ask to launch the experiments of extreme virtuality.

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Featured Image : Bubble on Circus show