Up until the age of 12 I frequently dreamt of running away and joining the circus. My dream was built on the magic of the lights, the music, my love of animals, my love of performing and my desperate desire to escape.
By the time I was old enough to actually take the journey, reality had set in. Not only was the traditional circus pretty much dead by the time I was a teenager, my knowledge and awareness of the treatment of the animals would not have allowed me to to work somewhere that had bears riding bikes and elephants forced to dance. My homelife had also stabilized to the point escape, although still a plan, was not one I needed to act on with the same degree of urgency.
I wonder where kids today dream of running off to. Sure, we have Cirque du Soleil but the mystic of the tradional circus wasn't just about what happened within the three rings, but what happened beyond them. Although I know the reviews were not kind, the recent film Water For Elephants brought to life for me what it was I was dreaming of. There was a sense of not only excitment and adventure but of family and inclusion. A ragtag group of people, forming a family, traveling the country with a rough and dirty yet magical mystique that pulled at the dreams of all kids like me, seeking a place to belong.
Hope you enjoy our day at the circus!
