THE BALLOON MAN

US circus boasts African-American roots, global cast

 

from: menfn.com
MENAFN - AFP -
24/07/2013
(MENAFN - AFP) 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.
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