Reflection

The biggest thing that holds the circus school back is the confusion between amateur and professional. It is a natural reaction to like the students who are trying to learn and make an act. However, in order to have a truly professional program, honesty needs to rule, instead of emotion. Students won't get jobs because they are liked. It is a harsh reality, but that is what the outside world expects. Friendship is a great thing, but if one is in the business of making sure students learn at the highest levels, then the rules will change. It's not that I am advocating that one should be mean, it's just that I'm saying that one should be honest and realistic. It's the only way to pull the circus up and out of its morass.

1/24-25/09 Shows

I saw a rehearsal of the JCC show done by what was referred to as The Pickle Family Circus, even though that show died a few years ago and this was really a conglomerate of different student acts from the SF School of Circus Arts and the Clown Conservatory. Since no one ever takes any official criticism for any shows, I will write this review:
The circus show "Recess" played for three performances this past weekend at the Jewish Community Center. The people at the center insist upon calling it "The New Pickle Circus" even though there is no such animal and whatever the show thinks it is, it is running on fumes from the past. The performers were likable enough. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that the performers, by and large, are not held to professional standards. This shows in an overall feeling of sloppiness. Some acts, the contortion duo and the straps duo, were simply not quite ready for performance. Their acts looked incomplete and it was confusing as to what they wanted to convey. The clown who started off the show, telegraphed one of the early gags and this killed the opening somewhat. The opening jump rope charivari was a bit sloppy, as acrobats snagged the rope several times. Were they trying to perform too early? Or were they just unprepared emotionally and mentally?
The clown act with the rolla bollas was promising, but felt incomplete. The stacking of boards on one cylinder makes the trick easier, not harder. The act needs two double-rolling cylinders and the performer is working on this. It will be better with this addition.
A young man with a great look did a tap-dancing/juggling act. The tap-dancing needs to be show dancing and the juggling needs to be more difficult. If these things happened, the young man would work internationally.
The solo trapeze act was competent, but not especially difficult. The hoop act and juggling displays needed more work, but were enjoyable when the tricks worked.
The duo clown couple (music number) was confusing. An audience member was embarrassed and that shouldn't happen. Volunteers should be kidded, but not embarrassed.
Only the hula hoop female act was almost professional quality. She has improved by a quantum leap and I think the act will be very marketable and fun.
I always enjoy seeing a show, but professional standards are not set by me. I don't make the rules. Out in the marketplace is a different story from a show done for an audience that is not too picky.

There Are Countries and There Are Countries

America is not in step with Canada, France, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, etc. Those countries support the arts and consider circus an art form. The US, by contrast, does not support the arts in the same way. I think what they do is the equivalent of pennies-a-day for all the arts. The National Endowment for the Arts is a joke. They just recently considered circus as an art. But, the American public still has a hard time with considering circus as a legitimate art form. In Europe, the public understands that circus is an art form for families, that families can enjoy. This puts circus in America in the awkward position of having to scramble for funding.
The Big Apple Circus in New York City tapped into the world of very wealthy donors who are circus-lovers, so they are well-off and have a healthy endowment and donor-base. That is the most successful circus in America. Circus Flora, in St. Louis, does OK, but they have a very short season because that's all the money they can get. Circus Sarasota in Florida is also doing well, but they are tying it into money being raised for the Ringling Mansion Restoration Project. Circus Vargas in Vermont, Circus Juventas in Minneapolis and the Circus Space in Seattle are amateur circus groups that have been able to get funding. But, being able to fund a circus school in which young men and women can learn circus skills to an advanced level is still extremely difficult. When will there be any parity worldwide?

Clowning

Clowning is a strange animal. Dimitri's daughter, Masha, said it: "So many clowns; so many bad ones." Why? I think it's because we, as Americans, need to orchestrate our attempts at clowning so that no one ever fails. But, if no one ever fails, then no one can be great either. That's the problem. Everyone wants to "have it down," but a CLOWN NEVER HAS IT DOWN. NEVER.
So people might as well get used to that. To feeling uncomfortable and at a loss - FOREVER! There is no getting around it. Unless one is on the edge at all times, who will care in 2009? People have seen everything. Perhaps there will always be a place where the classic routines are performed WELL, and are preserved. That's OK, I think, but if one is talking about cutting edge clowning, one is in a land beyond Beckett.

Les Chiche Capons is a hot, new, modern clown group from France. I hear they are histerically funny. They are not like anyone else. 'Nuff said.

7th Revision

I wrote a book about ten years ago. I revised it many times and am revising it for the 7th, and I hope the last time. It is going well because I have a real comic writer helping me make it funnier. I think this is what it needed all along. The subject matter is deadly serious, so humor strategically placed, will make it more readable to the average person. I am having fun and that, in itself, is an indication that I am going in the right direction.

Does Over 40 Years of Experience Count For Anything?

My observation is that students of circus today want to re-invent the wheel, at least in America. They "guess" and do an act without realizing that years ago there already were people doing the same act. This was true of two young men who tried to do an act with one person on roller-skates and the other on those athletic shoes with wheels in the heels. They did not do anything interesting or difficult. It was as if just wearing the wheels was enough. Well, it wasn't. There was no build to the act, no finish trick and no entrance, nor exit. The audience, made up of parents and friends, was kind. However, the applause was sparse. No one seems willing to listen either. No one seems to care what someone who has seen a lot observes.
And elephants cannot paint pictures!