Mysuru: After a ban on possession and use of wild animals including elephants since 1998, the circus has now shifted its gears towards physical feats/ acrobatics/ gymnastics. Circus companies are also roping in performers from foreign countries like Ethiopia, Russia and China.
Since 1998 the government has banned using wild animals including tigers, lions, bears and panthers and also elephants from last year. Circus companies are now just permitted to use horses, dogs, camels, donkeys apart from various birds. The highlights of the Great Bombay Circus, now conducting shows at Nazarbad are the performances by Ethiopian, Chinese and our own Manipuri artistes. These artistes are attracting the crowd with their outstanding acrobatic performances. The performances by all the artistes are worthy of a great applause as most of them are really mind blowing.
The show has several eye catching acts including sky walk, comic chair act, acrobatic juggling, bird act, vertical swinging acrobatic, Russian Devil Clown act, High Wheel Cycle Skipping act, stick balance, Hula Hoop, Ring balance, roller act, basketball and many others. Acts designed with camels, horses, dogs and exotic birds including Scarlet Macaw, the blue and yellow macaws, Moluccan Cockatoos, African Grey Parrot and pigeons also form the prime attractions.
Speaking to Newskarnataka, Sanjeev of The Great Bombay Circus which was established in 1920 said, “Before the ban on wild animals and elephants, the animal performances formed 50 percent of the show and the rest by the artistes. Now the animal performances have been restricted to 20 percent and that of artistes has gone up to 80 percent. To make the shows more stunning and attractive we have roped in acrobats from many foreign countries especially Ethiopia and China. There are many artistes from India particularly Manipur. There are nearly 60 to 70 performers accompanied by more than 100 supporting staff members to run the show. Everyday, to run the circus we need a minimum of Rs 1 Lakh.”
Before zoos circus showed wild animals to people:
“Before the zoos came into existence, it was circus which introduced wild animals and birds to people. Many people used to throng circus just to see these animals and performances from the artistes. We treat and give more importance to these animals and birds more than our children. We even give massage to animals”, said Sanjeev.
Applause motivates artistes to do better:
“Most of the artistes expect appreciation from the people but surprising many a times such applause is not seen. When they start motivating the performers get a boost and come up with surprises” added Suraj Jadav from Gujarat who is a juggler. His wife Poonam Jadav is also into circus and performs ring dance and parrot show. Suraj wishes that his son Vihaan who is two years old now, joins the Army in future and serves the country.
‘Recognise us on oar with sports and film artistes’
Over 125 years after the art of circus came into being in India, its artistes have requested the government to recognise them on par with film and sports personalities by giving them national awards. The artistes cited the example of the Russian government which has instituted national awards for circus performers.
