If I Joined The Circus
“I would thrilled to be a part of something that inspires so many young children and adults in such an extraordinary way.“
My very first memory of going to the circus was when I was about four or five years old. I remember this clown walking around with a suitcase, he was silly and slipping around and doing his clown thing and it was all very humorous Then he set his tiny suitcase down on the table and began to open it up and to my surprise out came a young contortionist that was about my age at the time, maybe a little older. I thought that was the coolest thing that I had ever seen and on my way home I tried to convince my family that we should all run away and join the circus. My dad said that the circus wouldn’t be easy, and at the time I didn’t understand but I’ve come to think that he was probably right.
I interviewed Abigail Munn, who is a trapeze artist and artist director of circus bella. “I spent years in the gym training many hours a day five and six days a week. You have to deal with the physical wear and tear on the body sprains, strains, bruises and blisters are a daily part of life. Skill building is slow and hard work. I have some tricks in my act which took me two years to perfect enough so that I could safely perform them in the ring.” Says Abigail. Many performers attend a circus school where they learn all of their skills. The curriculum includes aerial skills, such as static trapeze, corde lisse, and juggling, unicycling, tightwire, tumbling, Chinese acrobatics, physical conditioning and other circus arts. Class sessions run four times per year, for eight weeks per session. Classes are for all ages, ranging from children 18 months to adults of any age.
Common acts include a variety of acrobatics, gymnastics, aerial acts, contortion, stilts and lots of other routines. Juggling is one of the most common acts in a circus, the combination of juggling and gymnastics is called equilibristics and include acts like plate spinning and the rolling globe. Acts like these are the some of the most common, and the most traditional. Clowns are also common to most circuses and are usually skilled in many circus acts. A variety of animals have historically been used in acts. The types of animals used vary from circus to circus. The most common ones are big cats, elephants, horses, birds, sea lions, bears, and domestic animals.
Animal welfare groups have documented many cases of animal cruelty in the training of performing circus animals. PETA says that animals in circuses are frequently beaten into doing tricks and that physical abuse has always been the method for training circus animals. The US Animal Welfare Act does not permit the use of electric shock prods, whips, hooks, or similar instruments by trainers, these are still used today. According to PETA, during an undercover investigation of Carson & Barnes Circus, video footage was captured showing animal care director Tim Frisco training endangered Asian elephants with electrical shock prods and instructing other trainers to "beat the elephants with a bullhook as hard as they could and to sink the sharp metal bullhook into the animals' flesh and twist it until they screamed in pain." since 1990 there have been over 123 cases of lion attacks at circuses. In 2012, the Dutch government announced a ban on the use of wild circus animals. In 2009, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus CEO Kenneth Feld acknowledged that circus elephants are struck behind the ears, under the chin and on their legs with bull hooks. Feld stated that these practices are necessary to protect circus workers. Feld also stated that an elephant trainer was scolded for using an electric shock device, known as a hot shot or electric prod, on an elephant, although Feld also stated that it was an appropriate practice. Feld denied that any of these practices harm elephants.
I am an animal lover, I would find this probably one of the hardest things to deal with if I worked in the circus. Overall I would love to work in the circus, if i didn’t work with the animals. “most successful performers do not dwell on the difficult but instead talk about the love of what they do. It is easy to go and do something else for a lot more money but no other job that I can think of touches so many people in such a magical way.” says Abigail. I think that it would be an amazing experience to perform in the circus. I have never really been a performer with the exception of a few school plays and I sang once in a talent show. I think it would be awesome to be a performer, but I’m just not cut for it. “One gets to meet people from all over the world. The circus community is small so everyone is a handshake away from everyone else. In circus rather than saying ‘Good Bye’ you always say ‘See you on down the road’.” Abigail Stated. This would be my favorite part about working in the circus. I love to travel and meet new people, it would be amazing to perform around the world and experience so many different things. I loved going to the circus as a little girl, the lively performances and cheerful vibe was very fun and exciting. I would thrilled to be a part of something that inspires so many young children and adults in such an extraordinary way. Training for the circus is hard, but very worth it.
I interviewed Abigail Munn, who is a trapeze artist and artist director of circus bella. “I spent years in the gym training many hours a day five and six days a week. You have to deal with the physical wear and tear on the body sprains, strains, bruises and blisters are a daily part of life. Skill building is slow and hard work. I have some tricks in my act which took me two years to perfect enough so that I could safely perform them in the ring.” Says Abigail. Many performers attend a circus school where they learn all of their skills. The curriculum includes aerial skills, such as static trapeze, corde lisse, and juggling, unicycling, tightwire, tumbling, Chinese acrobatics, physical conditioning and other circus arts. Class sessions run four times per year, for eight weeks per session. Classes are for all ages, ranging from children 18 months to adults of any age.
Common acts include a variety of acrobatics, gymnastics, aerial acts, contortion, stilts and lots of other routines. Juggling is one of the most common acts in a circus, the combination of juggling and gymnastics is called equilibristics and include acts like plate spinning and the rolling globe. Acts like these are the some of the most common, and the most traditional. Clowns are also common to most circuses and are usually skilled in many circus acts. A variety of animals have historically been used in acts. The types of animals used vary from circus to circus. The most common ones are big cats, elephants, horses, birds, sea lions, bears, and domestic animals.
Animal welfare groups have documented many cases of animal cruelty in the training of performing circus animals. PETA says that animals in circuses are frequently beaten into doing tricks and that physical abuse has always been the method for training circus animals. The US Animal Welfare Act does not permit the use of electric shock prods, whips, hooks, or similar instruments by trainers, these are still used today. According to PETA, during an undercover investigation of Carson & Barnes Circus, video footage was captured showing animal care director Tim Frisco training endangered Asian elephants with electrical shock prods and instructing other trainers to "beat the elephants with a bullhook as hard as they could and to sink the sharp metal bullhook into the animals' flesh and twist it until they screamed in pain." since 1990 there have been over 123 cases of lion attacks at circuses. In 2012, the Dutch government announced a ban on the use of wild circus animals. In 2009, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus CEO Kenneth Feld acknowledged that circus elephants are struck behind the ears, under the chin and on their legs with bull hooks. Feld stated that these practices are necessary to protect circus workers. Feld also stated that an elephant trainer was scolded for using an electric shock device, known as a hot shot or electric prod, on an elephant, although Feld also stated that it was an appropriate practice. Feld denied that any of these practices harm elephants.
I am an animal lover, I would find this probably one of the hardest things to deal with if I worked in the circus. Overall I would love to work in the circus, if i didn’t work with the animals. “most successful performers do not dwell on the difficult but instead talk about the love of what they do. It is easy to go and do something else for a lot more money but no other job that I can think of touches so many people in such a magical way.” says Abigail. I think that it would be an amazing experience to perform in the circus. I have never really been a performer with the exception of a few school plays and I sang once in a talent show. I think it would be awesome to be a performer, but I’m just not cut for it. “One gets to meet people from all over the world. The circus community is small so everyone is a handshake away from everyone else. In circus rather than saying ‘Good Bye’ you always say ‘See you on down the road’.” Abigail Stated. This would be my favorite part about working in the circus. I love to travel and meet new people, it would be amazing to perform around the world and experience so many different things. I loved going to the circus as a little girl, the lively performances and cheerful vibe was very fun and exciting. I would thrilled to be a part of something that inspires so many young children and adults in such an extraordinary way. Training for the circus is hard, but very worth it.