Under the Big Top on December the 25th

Under the Big Top on December the 25th
December 15, 2016 Will

Because we’ve already traded gifts on the day of winter solstice, we are free to set our own agenda on the 25th. For some years now we’ve celebrated the holiday by going to the circus, which has been a source of delight both for Stassa and her parents, as well as for a legion of friends who have accompanied us.

During several winter holidays that we spent in Paris, we went, on the recommendation of French friends, to the amazingly magical Cirque d’Hiver in the 11th arrondissement. This is the place where the flying trapeze was invented in the 1850s, and walking into the smoke-filled, intensely RED arena is like entering a Pointillist painting by Georges Seurat (who also loved the circus)!

On one memorable 25th of December, our family decided that in the future we didn’t need to sit QUITE so close to the arena, when we were peed on by a performing tiger! There was also a performance whose delight was somewhat tempered by the coulrophobia (fear of clowns) suffered by our friend Svetlana, who was attending with us.

One year an Italian circus troupe staked their tents inside one of Barcelona’s two massive former bullrings (bullfighting is illegal in Catalunya). It was fun to participate in the adaptive re-use of that historic space, with a spectacle set to the tune of lively brass music without any dead animals involved.

We’ve been lucky in recent years to discover that we live only five minutes away from a wonderfully traditional circus of traveling Catalan performers who set up their tents in December and stay until January at the nearby port of Barcelona. The Circ Raluy is the kind of low-tech extravaganza that delights kids and their parents equally with its acrobats, clowns and novelty acts, all set to the music of a brass band. The clowns occasionally embarrass guests by spraying kids in the front rows with water, or by inviting adults to perform on the stage, as our friend Lise did on one memorable December 25th.

It’s a thrill to shake the hands of the performers as the audience leaves, passing by a beautiful—and still working—historic calliope in the entry tent.

4 Comments

  1. Steve 7 years ago

    Just one quick comment for Svetlana…avoid circuses.

  2. Mage Bailey 7 years ago

    Looks like Stassa and her friend….and her dad’s had a great time.

  3. Karen 7 years ago

    Love this post. Not often that you know someone who has been peed on by a tiger! ?

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