Intense – Like a Circus!

So last week, a travelling circus breezed into this little town of Sweetwater, and set up at the end of my street. It was literally set up overnight, and I couldn’t help but get excited. A real travelling circus!

From the roof of my building, I could see that the circus was a simple tent and about four trucks. No great shakes, but I had to witness it. So on Sunday night, after failing to convince my flatmates to join me, I ventured out alone to the Big Top.

The set-up was simple. One tent, a bunch of patio chairs, dirt floor, and some construction-type railings and fencing pieces. But what a show!! Tigers! Llamas! Camels! Bulls! Ponies! A zebra! And of course, the juggler, the balancing act, the clown, and an inexplicable act that appeared to be a person moving a life-sized doll of two people dancing around the circus ring.

OK, so the llamas, camels, zebra, etc. didn’t so much do tricks as run in circles. And the tigers looked so bored that I probably could have ridden them. To say nothing of the performers themselves – even the 8-year-old hula-hoop girls looked unimpressed. But still, it was more than I had expected.

What was most interesting, though, was the reaction of the spectators. One mother squealed with astonishment at each new animal and cried with laughter at the worse-than-sub-par clown. There was wonderment all around – adults and children alike.

I started thinking about the bizarre parade of animals, and their impact on the small audience, who had definitely not seen creatures like this up-close before. When the camels came out, the woman in front of me was so scared that she picked up her daughter and moved to the back of the tent.

See, as a big-city girl, a trip to the zoo is a de rigeur childhood experience. Being within spitting distance of a polar bear, rhinoceros and alligator doesn’t seem improbable – it’s a grade 5 field trip. But I couldn’t tell you where the nearest zoo is around here, and I doubt it’s a common outing for kids.

So I found myself wondering if the “marvels and enchantments” of the travelling circus tradition could, in fact, serve the purpose to introduce people to new and exotic creatures. Sure, nowadays, people have probably seen pictures in books and online, but to see them live is something else entirely. Animal rights concerns (and there are many) aside, I felt like this little, dusty, roadside attraction actually had an educational impact.

If there had only been a bearded lady, then the experience would have been complete.