From this story
The greatest performance on earth: circus history
Why should we appreciate the invented curved straw?
Standing on a 5-foot-wide platform and looking down from the air nearly 20 feet high, I can tell you why. I am afraid of heights. I have a bad shoulder. There is no so-called "friendly sky". Besides, if it is safe to jump off this platform and sway from a steel pole, why should I sign a disclaimer? You can do it! "Our coach Elsa Al-Fils Tengberg shouted from below and gave two thumbs-ups. My six classmates in Swing School, all younger than me, looked uncertain, but were obviously attracted by my obvious panic and potential disaster.
Another coach standing next to me, Patrick Jorrett, is a hybrid of Australian actor Chris hymes Worth. He stretched out a Raytheon-like arm and grabbed a stick from a colleague on the opposite platform. Patrick smiled. "Come on, Hall," he muttered, and immediately fooled me. "It's time to fly."
So now is not the time to fly. It's just that there is no oxygen to climb the ladder. Going down? I think. No
Please note that I am not a coward. I dodged a dangerous mission: swimming with sharks in the Caribbean; Riding a buffalo in the Brazilian rainforest; Line up at the Nicholas Sparks book signing in Greenville, South Carolina.
I'm sure I'll fly at Espagnat Streib Flight Academy in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and won't kill me. Right? After all, trapeze is the most popular successor of the traditional tourist circus, and its disappearance has excavated a prosperous ecosystem composed of fine circuses and participating upstarts from all over the country. Although the bell ringer retired in May, you still have to dry your tears and let the clown's nose show. There are many circuses that you can visit with your eyes wide open, or run to attend.
This is no joke: according to the statistics of Janet Davis, a circus scholar, there are about 85 circus schools and training centers in China, where everyone can learn circus ropes, high-speed wires and German wheels, from professionals in real top-class and art houses to curious civilians and energetic young people. More pragmatic types can master juggling and clown art, while fitness enthusiasts become yoga pilots and trampoline acrobats.
Touring troupes and unicorns abound. According to the data of the World Circus Federation, 90% of us live an hour's drive from the circus, and everyone has his own unique talent for Warcraft. Just like the circus Amoke, its clowns drag free outdoor performances and pay attention to social problems ranging from AIDS to immigration to gentrification. Or absinthe, a naughty Las Vegas juggling circus. The New York Times cheers for "Cirque du Soleil under the guidance of rock horror photography exhibition". Headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, Cirque du Soleil is a grand gathering of black culture all over the world, with air chorus music,/kloc-more than 0/00 singers and an orchestra of 40 people. Atlanta University is the only circus owned by African-Americans. Les7DoigtsdeLaMain (Seven Fingers of the Hand) from Montreal recently toured "Food and Confession" in the United States, in which a troupe composed of jugglers, dancers, storytellers and acrobats also cooked and provided food for the audience.
In simpler times, the big top is to escape from monotonous stimulation. In today's chaotic world, these programs and many other programs provide us with an interactive and intimate breathing space to get rid of the technological age. Overloaded e-mails, smart phones, Twitter subscriptions and Netflix TV programs all need our attention, stealing our time and depriving us of our memories.
Therefore, the plight of my trapeze academy, Espagnat-Streib, founded by Elizabeth Lester, a famous acrobatic choreographer, made my heart beat. Did you ask the first person? That was the most interesting (tightrope walker) William Leonard Hunt, also known as the great Farini, which raised a question, why wasn't he the first human shell? ("Zazel, you go first." )
After the explosion, "Nitro" Nicole bowed and announced the intermission, reminding people how much the world has changed: "If there are weapons, keep calm and look for the nearest exit."
Highlights of the second half included 65,438+02 tigers strutting in a huge cage. Tabayara "Tabayara" Taba "Maluenda is a sixth-generation circus performer in Chile, wrapped in a dazzling green sleeveless velvet jumpsuit, with armbands, ankles and knee-high boots. With Taba's whip waving, these noble beasts sat down, jumped from stool to stool, lay down side by side and rolled one by one. Taba wiped the glass and was sweating like a pig. But when he bowed to us, it was obvious that those on his face were tears.
The coach turned and kissed a cannibal on the nose. He greeted them with sobs. "You have put food on my desk for 30 years," he said. "Tatsu Yamashiro, you are six months old. I have raised you 13 years. " His name is Tatsu Yamashiro, and he buried her head in her fur. Then he drove the cats away one by one and thanked each cat by name. The last one disappeared, and Taba kissed the empty floor.
At the end of the party, Christine Michelle Wilson, Lingling's first (and last) female anchor, gathered about 300 actors and staff and sang Auld Lang Syne under the stage. Backstage, husbands, wives and children joined them. No baby is crying, but all the adults are crying.
"We circus people always say,' See you on the way'," Wilson said, her voice rising excitedly. "So, ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages: I'll see you on the way!
*****
In Linlin Brothers and barnum &; After Bailey occupied the circus spotlight for nearly 150 years, you might think that they are the big bang, but they are not. Stand up and I will tell you a story about freak, fantasy, escape and fate. A great American capitalist dream is real. Excuse me, sir, please turn off your iPhone. April 3, 1793, the first circus in America.
Premiere in Philadelphia. The founder and star is john beal Ricketts, an energetic Scottish rider. He rode a stallion, and a circle of horses stood on the saddle. A 9-year-old boy is also standing on his shoulder. One of the attractions of the play is a revolutionary war hero-a horse named Jack, who was once ridden by General George Washington (the story goes like this). He is a die-hard circus fan, and once entrusted Rickett to match horses for his performance.
Soon, this shabby troupe rode through the town in a carriage and staged a "mud show" in a canvas tent, inspired by the works of their European ancestors. Because this is America, you must have stunts; American managers added exotic animals: lions, tigers, bears and other talented wild animals were caught in the net along the way.
The golden age of American circus coincides with the gilded age. A Phineas Taylor Barnum (P.T. for short) is a living symbol of these two eras: a new york swindler who calls himself "Prince of Lies" started his career, and he sold tickets to see a mummy "Mermaid" with a monkey head sewn on a fish.
There are not one but three tents, sometimes as many as seven, in barnum's large tourist museums, zoos, caravans and arenas, which are used to separate the audience's attention from eccentric and bizarre performances. Besides lion tamers, clowns and pranksters, he also joined some grotesque performances: the bearded woman in the human zoo and the "brokeback wonder". 188 1 year, after barnum and his little J.A. Bailey merged, they crowned their alliance as "the greatest performance on earth".
At the turn of the century, rural schools, mills and shops were closed because of Circus Day. Poor farmers and their children boarded the discount train and went to the nearest town center, where the tent was. For children, seeing camels marching in the street, "running away with the circus" has become a dream and a choice.
For the Linlin Five, the latter is true. They were raised by a harness manufacturer in Iowa and later Wisconsin. After visiting the circus on 1870, they sewed a rag tent in their backyard and charged a penny for admission, earning enough money to upgrade to cotton cloth. 1902, when barnum and Bailey returned from a six-year trip to Europe, Ling Lin Circus had become a potential usurper. The two brothers took advantage of the same global gymnastics trend and 1896 resumed the Olympic Games. Freaks and geeks are Tracy's passport; Lin Huanren's focus is on action-oriented fares.
When competitors join hands at 19 18, this program is called "the first". They're not bragging: in the 1920s, there were 1600 performers in Class One who took 4 1000 trains. Before the Great Depression, all this was interesting and wonderful. Soon, these talkative people attracted the audience. Some people try to modernize: the whole performance is based on a single theme, or arranged like a complex ballet, including "1942 Elephant Ballet" choreographed by george balanchine and scored by igor stravinsky.
In 1970s, the classic one-lap work "New Circus" influenced by European art affairs avoided innuendo and animal performances, and sowed the seeds of revival: smaller enterprises, such as Pickle Family Circus, headquartered in San Francisco, with its cooperative structure and troupe juggling, and the Big Apple Circus centered on clowns (closed on 20 16, and announced earlier this year that it would regain new ownership this fall.
1984, a band of 20 street performers became Cirque du Soleil, led by the fire-breathing accordionist and high-stakes poker player Guy La Libbert. Like all the hair, shoulder pads and attitudes in the 1980s, it became big and wide, recreating a grand spectacle on an international scale. Huge tents, luxurious costumes and elaborate plays combine awesome acrobatic skills. When the circus grew into a multi-billion dollar industry, due to the pressure from animal rights activists and the shrinking ticket sales,
The last elephant performed by the Linlin Brothers retreated to a 200-acre Florida reserve in 20 16. Circus 1903 staged a life-size puppet resurrection. (Alex Tejera) 1903, circus performers bowed during a performance in Madison Square Garden. David williamson, also known as the leader of Willie Whipps Nader, introduced an elephant to a young audience in Madison Square Garden. The circus performer Senayet Assefa Amara ("Resilient Dislocated Patient") in 1903 attracted the audience of Madison Square Garden. Circus elephants are puppets, created by the behind-the-scenes manipulator of the Broadway play War Horse. (Alex Tejera) florian Bluemel, also known as Bicycle Whirlwind, performed at Madison Square Garden Circus in new york on 1903. Linda, the author of The Greatest Show on Earth: The History of Circus? Linda Simon said:
"This is a business model that they can't continue." . "They lowered the ticket price, but how will they support their train carriages and thousands of employees to hold such a grand event? In the lobby of Madison Square Garden, I saw two male balancers in red and white striped tights. I wonder if they know that their tights were first put on by Jules Lotard, a French aerial photographer in the19th century. He created his own name, and he could stand up and fly in the air very easily without wedges. The two men moved from a classic circus to another with sculptural power, because it looked like a toilet. Their little toilet drank cocktails, soda water and wolfed down popcorn and candy.
The bell called everyone to their seats to watch the spectacular circus performance. 1903: The golden age of circus, there is a new trip on it, with a balance bar on the shoulder and a woman sliding in half in the middle. This lady knows how to add fun to entertainment.
Hey, when it gets to the circus, it needs all kinds. Karl Wallenda, the founder of the famous circus, said thoughtfully, "Living on a tightrope." . "Just wait for the rest." For most of us, waiting is good, as long as we can see something worth waiting for. In the peanut shell of the circus, that's why this program will continue.
"The future of circus," Simon said, "is a combination of different schools, so there are dances, acrobatics, swings, satire, comments and juggling, all of which are carried out in different intimate experiences." I want to make a complaint. More often, these trendy newcomers seem to have given up the symbol of the circus and its beating emotional heart: the clown. This reminds me of Yale University. On a cloudy day this spring, students walked around the classroom with red rubber noses, revealing primitive emotional outbursts. If you have a phobia, you will feel scared now. Again, if you always want to say "I went to Yale" like me, this course is much more interesting than playing truant.
Christopher Bayes, director of the Department of Sports Performance at Yale Theatre Academy, gave voice prompts to the students. "anxiety!" And biting your nails, frowning, hunching over, crouching in the corner. "
In Anger! Young people in their twenties look like I'm on the phone of time warner Inc.'s cable TV. "
Despair! "They long, wail and pray for heaven; Some people even really cried. "
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"I tried to get these people to participate in the primary election, and their expression was not filtered," said Bayes, who looked handsome in jeans, a gray T-shirt and metal-rimmed glasses. He started with negative emotions. "Then we can find our own way to play!" Party. "He added," this is not a treatment, but it can be a treatment. "
It is appropriate, because clowns embody the spirit of the circus, just as aerial artists and acrobats represent the true colors of the circus. Each kind injects meaning into each other and creates balance. Bayes said: "Watching people fly in the air and doing all kinds of stunts to fight death, clowns are really human nature. Let's laugh in a very simple way. " . "They attract people more and more deeply into this project in a more naive and ingrained way."
Although the red nose is inspired by the red horn of the yellow hound, it doesn't need a nose. From Egypt and China to Greek and American Indians, there are versions of clowns in ancient cultures. Our modern models include Charlie Chaplin, Marx Brothers, carol burnett, steve martin and many idols of saturday night live.
It was not in vain. On August 2nd, President Nixon, who loved clowns, signed Announcement No.407 1 19765438, declaring the first week of August as "National Clown Week". But it didn't take long for the clown's representative to become very popular, thanks to the killer clown JohnWayneGacy Jr in Stephen King's novel It and recent reports that violent clowns lurk in some American communities. Bayes said, "America is the only place with this clown culture." No, in Europe. They don't have Bozo, Crusti, these clowns who laugh for no reason, those grotesque clowns, those scary clowns dressed as clowns, 1965 (photo of Bruce Davison/Ma Genan), Fritz performing elephant tricks in Madison Square Garden 1939 (photo of Associated Press/Tom Thornton), 1949.
This means that the future of American clowns seems quite uncertain. He guessed that Bayesian students would not go to the circus. "They will become ic actors, some people; Some people will make a lot of money, others will struggle. I want to be an infection: send these beautiful students to the outside world and start their own life revolution. " He trained them to "untie the rope", and he said, "Then we will come back to play with something valuable."
*****
On the morning after my swing class, I returned to Elizabeth Streeb's Grand Slam Warehouse (that is, the Sports Mechanics Laboratory in Streeb). In addition to the Swing Academy, she also rents warehouse space for professional and brave doers. There is a girl in silk spinning in the air; Men swing between swings; There is also a Streb Extreme Action Troupe, composed of six men and three women, with equal size and strength, rehearsing for the troupe's "sea performance" (strange extreme action).
They are launched from trampolines, flying like synchronous missiles, planted on mats one by one, uprooted one by one and planted side by side. Just like cartoon characters, they incredibly withstood the impact and jumped up again and again: bang, bang, bang, bang. At first, the sound of raindrops falling on the ground was disgusting, but it soon became an organic drum, rhythmic and cool.
"Breathe some air, breathe some air!" ! Streeb, 67, shouted from a metal folding chair a few feet away from the landing board. "yes! That's it! Watch out!
Streeb brushed her thick black punk rock hair with her hand and adjusted her thick black-rimmed glasses. Dressed in a black suit with gold trim and trousers tucked in knee-high motorcycle boots, she looks as good as Gotham Furman, avant-garde artists and the intellectual godmother of the new wave of circuses. These, she is a "genius" member of 1997 MacArthur Foundation, because her "original dance design method is action-oriented and anti-gravity."
"I always tell them,' Work harder, faster, faster and higher! "This is the spell," Streeb said. (After a while, she shouts, "Roll slowly!" " )
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Streb designed glasses of various sizes, including a series of performances during the 20 12 Olympic Games, when her troupe used eye-popping landmarks in London: bungee jumping from the Millennium Bridge, "walking" along the side of the City Hall building, and dancing with ropes tied to spokes.
Her crazy idea was born in a tent in Rochester, new york, where Streeb grew up and went to the Temple Circus every year. "It bothers me," she said. "I like strange things: smells, sawdust, dirt, actually in tents. This is a magical world. I want to be such an actor. I want that lifestyle. I know.
She studied dance in college (although she never took dance lessons). Before moving to new york, she went to San Francisco, where her one-man show developed into an acrobatic troupe she called "action hero". These acrobats are almost dead, with no nets and grotesque physical stunts, which may include ropes, cinders and iron beams, or trusses and huge customized machines, such as rotating ladders and wheels.
Ask her how her troupe evolved from a circus. Streb refers to synchronized flyers, with flat bodies hitting the floor. She said: "We do what other circuses don't do, and now they will steal my idea, that is, we land." . "Why does the circus pretend that gravity doesn't exist? Why do they think it is beautiful? You are lying!
"In traditional circus performances, you perform skills, pose, smile, and they applaud," said air expert Bobby Hogelin Taylor, a Streib coach and actor who also trains Broadway stars. "Those days have passed. What appeals to me about Streep and her works is that she is not with Pete from the circus. A week later, wearing a black suit with the words "Pac-Man" printed on it, Streeb paced in front of audiences of all ages and races, looking anxious and excited. A prison guard whipped the crowd and said, "We encourage you to make noise! Take pictures! Shoot the show! Post to social media! Get the message