By the looks of the XL Center on Wednesday morning, it’s hard to believe that the 1.5 mile Ringling Bros train only arrived late the night before. Within twelve hours of reaching Hartford, the crew had assembled a major piece of the stage.
A few blocks away, at the Old State House, a crowd grows restless as the elephants are late to make an appearance. Most, seemingly affiliated with CRT, are not privy to the knowledge that the train was delayed three hours Tuesday night, meaning that it was not until almost midnight when the convoy from railroad tracks-to-civic center happened.
Behind-the-scenes, horses and elephants milled about quietly in their respective areas, which seemed more spacious than those found at county fairs. With elephants pacing behind him, Ryan Henning, an Animal Care Specialist with Ringling Bros, says he could never work a desk job. Being outdoors, traveling, and working with the animals he says he loves are preferred to the standard 9-to-5 fare.
Wherever circuses using animals go, they are met with some degree of protest. Near the civic center, a small group of high school students gather, hoping to peek at the elephants. Speaking loudly, as teens are wont to do, a young female tells her classmates that “animals are mistreated.” The male students deny it.
In past years, organized protests have occurred outside of the performance venue. This time, a handful of animal advocates hold signs at the sides of the civic center. These voices were once seen as being on the fringes, but last year Alec Baldwin joined those calling for boycotts of circuses, bringing the controversy more into the mainstream.
Local animal rights’ advocate, Betsy Luz Correa Navarro, said “Animal Rights people would like to see all animal exploitation abolished. The way I see it welfarism is taking any being that is exploited time and time again and making excuses.”
Mother Jones covered the abuse allegations against Ringling; without much evidence, there was not enough of a case against Ringling/Feld Entertainment. Henning confirmed that Ringling never admitted wrongdoing, but paid the $270,000 fine so that the circus could “move forward.” He described this decision as a “business transaction.”
The seemingly damning, low resolution photos and videos that are all just a Google search away do not line up with what was seen backstage at the civic center on Wednesday, where the animals and their environments seemed cleaned and cared for. Nobody blocked my access. Having watched enough of those grainy videos, it seemed like walking into squalor and brutality was inevitable, but there were no mysterious trails of blood. There were no gut-wrenching odors. From casual observation by someone who is not a veterinarian, there did not appear to be wounds on the animals that I saw.
Henning said the circus has vets on duty 24/7 and that all animals are kept up-to-date with yearly and monthly vaccinations. He said that they could pull an animal off the show if sick or injured, that they would do “what’s best for the animal.” Ringling Bros., he said, works closely with the USDA.
At the end of last year, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) actually settled with Ringling/Feld, agreeing to pay $9.3 million to the circus. The animal rights organization has also not admitted wrongdoing.
Allegations aside, some view the use of animals in entertainment as inherently problematic. Betsy Luz Correa Navarro says, “Exploitation of any sentient being is abuse and cruel, period.”
Even with this perennial controversy, people showed up in the streets of Hartford on a morning this week when a downpour seemed imminent.
In front of the Old State House, clowns touting the merits of exercise captured the crowd’s attention for only so long.
These kids wanted animals.
Tails and trunks entwined, the elephants marched into State House Square to cheers. The brunch program merged entertainment with education as the elephants crammed apples, carrots, and other fruits and vegetables into their mouths using their alarmingly versatile trunks. Children and their families were given fast facts about the types of elephants and how the creatures spend their time when not performing.
Later at the XL Center, Henning elaborated on how elephants, like people, have different personalities. The older animals tend toward quieter activities, but all do some “socializing” offstage. He said the elephants like playing in sand and with bamboo. But with the largest elephant in the group being 11,000 pounds, Henning said they can be quite “destructive.”
The wreckage left after the elephants’ brunch only hinted at their potential for destruction and need for lots of food. Henning said Ringling spends around $6 million per year to feed the animals, which is a logistically complicated task. Ensuring there is enough hay, grain, meat, and produce at each venue requires a bit of planning. He said they typically carry feed and bedding that fills half or three-quarters of a train car so that they are equipped for the journey and a bit longer, but most of the supplies are delivered to the destination in advance.
It’s not just the wrangling of animal supplies that’s complicated. Performances involving humans require special considerations. Andre McClain, the circus ringmaster, said that the tightrope walkers risk their lives while balancing on something “the size of my thumb.”
While the spotlight seems to be on the issue of animal treatment, circus acts involving animals are actually a minority of the show, with the elephants, tigers, horses, and smaller animals being on stage for mere minutes. Unlike the elephant march held on the streets of Hartford, the circus audience did not seem impatient or displeased by the performances involving just humans. Stripping the animal acts would not take much of the awe factor away, given that one of the other acts involve Elliana Grace, a “human cannonball” who, immediately after landing, gets up to dance with the rest of the ensemble, unfazed by her flight across the stage.
Choosing to be a traveling clown or dancer is one thing, but opting for a career that continuously involves high level risk is quite another.
Inflatable crash pads seem like an insufficient safety net when the risk involves riding bicycles on a high-wire while transporting another performer who stands on her chair in the ultimate trackstand, as demonstrated by Mustafa Danguir and his troupe. Another act involves “walking on the ceiling,” with Franceleib Rodrigues stepping through loops while completely inverted. The aerialists swing on trapeze, spirals, long ropes, and each other. The steel vortex act provides many opportunities for performers to fall from the spinning object.
It was never clear if the steel vortex or high-wire performers actually stumbled, or if these missteps were part of the act, designed to build suspense in the audience.
Without relying on animals for applause, two duos grabbed the audience’s attention with balancing acts. Husband-and-wife team Ihosvanys Perez and Virginia Tuells stunned as she balanced her weight entirely on his head, all while striking a graceful pose. Tuells kicked the fitness level up with what looked to be eight-pack abs.
The King Charles Troupe, in the style of the Harlem Globetrotters, play a basketball “game” — all on unicycles. The game gets real when someone brings fire into the court. If UConn decided to start playing on unicycles, Real Hartford would consider covering their games.
All of the acts are accompanied by fast-paced music; a live orchestra was hidden in plain sight, only noticeable once the high-energy performers leave the stage for the evening. The charming ringmaster sings at points throughout the show. As many have come to expect, pyrotechnics are included in the display, which also features special lighting, confetti, and a fog machine.
One wonders: if the human-only performances are this good, why does Ringling maintain the animal acts that draw negative attention, regardless of whether or not the allegations of abuse are true?
Built to Amaze! has seven more performances at the XL Center, through May 12, 2013. To find out more about the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey performances and tickets, see their website.