US circus boasts African-American roots, global cast
Artists perform during a show at the UniverSoul Circus at National Harbor, Maryland on June 16, 2013. UniverSoul is the only African-American owned circus founded in Atlanta by concert and theater promoter, Cedric Walker.
from: bangkokpost.com
21 Jun 2013
Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, Makeba Gabriel imagined living a life of Carnival limbo dancing. Running away with the circus never crossed her mind.
"That was my dream, to be a dancer," said the 31-year-old star of the UniverSoul circus who thinks nothing of bending over backwards to crawl under five rows of open flames 10 inches (25 centimeters) off the ground.
"It wasn't to be with a circus. But it just so happens that I've been with the circus for seven years, and it is a pleasure. It's really fun and enjoyable," she said.
UniverSoul is among dozens of circuses that criss-cross the United States every summer, sustaining a form of live entertainment that dates back to the late 18th century.
"If you live anywhere in the United States within 30 or 40 miles of any primary or secondary market, you will find a circus," circus historian Rodney Huey told AFP.
The grandest and most historic is the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, the self-styled "greatest show on Earth," while the Canadian-based Cirque de Soleil enjoys a strong following.
UniverSoul is a smaller one-ring affair, but its heritage makes it unique.
Founded in 1994 by pioneering rap concert producer Cedric Walker, whose hip-hop tours helped to make Run-D.M.C. and Salt-n-Pepa household names, it is the only modern circus with African-American roots.
"It was an opportunity whose time had come," Walker told AFP outside the UniverSoul big top on a breezy plateau overlooking the Potomac River outside Washington, where the circus is performing this month.
"There wasn't a family attraction I saw that reflected the urban lifestyle, the energy, the music" of contemporary African-American culture, he said.
"It was pretty exciting and a lot of people did turn on to the idea of an urban show that was kind of funky, that had the fashion and the style and the cross-culture thing."
UniverSoul has two units on the road hitting about 35 cities this year, with the one at National Harbor employing a cast of 150 entertainers and backstage crew, not to mention a menagerie of elephants, tigers and horses.
While the 2,300-member audience at one recent Sunday show was predominantly African-American, drawn from Washington and its sprawling suburbs, the cast was truly international.
read more:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/356269/us-circus-boasts-african-american-roots-global-cast
from: bangkokpost.com
21 Jun 2013
Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, Makeba Gabriel imagined living a life of Carnival limbo dancing. Running away with the circus never crossed her mind.
"That was my dream, to be a dancer," said the 31-year-old star of the UniverSoul circus who thinks nothing of bending over backwards to crawl under five rows of open flames 10 inches (25 centimeters) off the ground.
"It wasn't to be with a circus. But it just so happens that I've been with the circus for seven years, and it is a pleasure. It's really fun and enjoyable," she said.
UniverSoul is among dozens of circuses that criss-cross the United States every summer, sustaining a form of live entertainment that dates back to the late 18th century.
"If you live anywhere in the United States within 30 or 40 miles of any primary or secondary market, you will find a circus," circus historian Rodney Huey told AFP.
The grandest and most historic is the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, the self-styled "greatest show on Earth," while the Canadian-based Cirque de Soleil enjoys a strong following.
UniverSoul is a smaller one-ring affair, but its heritage makes it unique.
Founded in 1994 by pioneering rap concert producer Cedric Walker, whose hip-hop tours helped to make Run-D.M.C. and Salt-n-Pepa household names, it is the only modern circus with African-American roots.
"It was an opportunity whose time had come," Walker told AFP outside the UniverSoul big top on a breezy plateau overlooking the Potomac River outside Washington, where the circus is performing this month.
"There wasn't a family attraction I saw that reflected the urban lifestyle, the energy, the music" of contemporary African-American culture, he said.
"It was pretty exciting and a lot of people did turn on to the idea of an urban show that was kind of funky, that had the fashion and the style and the cross-culture thing."
UniverSoul has two units on the road hitting about 35 cities this year, with the one at National Harbor employing a cast of 150 entertainers and backstage crew, not to mention a menagerie of elephants, tigers and horses.
While the 2,300-member audience at one recent Sunday show was predominantly African-American, drawn from Washington and its sprawling suburbs, the cast was truly international.
read more:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/356269/us-circus-boasts-african-american-roots-global-cast
No comments:
Post a Comment