Top: Charles Knie performs with Jumba the rhinoceros in 1985. Above: Charles and Doriana now run the Parrot Garden Cafe at Crystal Creek
The interview accompanying these photo's is quite extensive so I have posted it under expert commentary.
Friday, October 10, 2008
THE Charles Knie
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Wade G. Burck
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A life under the Big Top
10May08
His mother trained polar bears and leopards, a hippopotamus named Carla attended his wedding and his family has been part of Swiss circus history for roughly 200 years.
Charles Knie may have left the sawdust, slap and showmanship behind, but the royal blood of a circus dynasty still runs strongly through his veins.
Today, however, you are more likely to find Charles and wife Doriana serving customers in his Parrot Garden Cafe at Crystal Creek than sitting astride a rhino, but the urge to take an animal and mould it, nurture it even, has never left.
It's a cool, misty, rain-soaked Wednesday morning and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee fills the air.
Italian-born Doriana introduces herself in broken English while Charles finishes with negotiations with two men -- 'He buy parrot, but parrot small, little', explains Doriana.
She reminisces about a life gone by, a life under the big top with the weird and wonderful creatures, a life of vibrant colours and acrobatic action.
Doriana's earliest memory of circus life is 'the smell of sawdust'.
"Aah, I can smell it now. Even just saying it I can smell it and I feel longing for it," she says with a sad smile, waving at Charles to get his attention.
"Remember the smell of the sawdust, such memories ... "
Married in 1982, the couple has more than three decades of those shared memories together.
Their children, Clinton, 24, and Debra, 14, have always been a part of their circus life, perpetuating a legacy that has seen generations enjoy the entertaining and colourful nomadic lifestyle.
Doriana grew up immersed in exotic way of life, her mother a trapeze acrobat and her father an acrobat.
"To me, being a part of the circus was a normal thing to do," she says.
"It was what I saw growing up. It was how life was and the world to me was the circus. I started taking serious interest in learning circus when I was about 12, doing juggling tricks. I grew to love the spotlight, but it took much courage for me in those early days.
"I first started juggling. I was part of a larger act before, where seven people rode one small unicycle. Well, one person rode and six held on to him. I was a part of that as a child but now it was my turn to shine, to show my skill."
Now the only thing Doriana juggles is coffee cups and plates of home-made pasta to hungry diners.
But for husband Charles, training animals, being near them, is something he just can't resist.
The animals Charles is talking about are rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, bison, giraffes, emus, antelope, kangaroos, sea lions, horses and zebras.
A member of Switzerland's leading circus family, Charles was taught from a young age how to train and present animals correctly and humanely.
The Knie family were ahead of their time when it came to eradicating the cruel treatment of animals kept by circuses.
Almost 70 years ago Knie animal trainers opened their daily training sessions to the public so people could see no cruelty took place in animal schooling.
"In Europe, the laws surrounding the keeping of animals in a circus environment are strict," says Charles. "A council officer pays the circus a visit in every town it visits. Councils keep tight control and an animal logbook needs to be kept up to date.
"There are laws as to how big a cage needs to be and which animals are allowed to be kept by the circus. The logbook gets checked by the council officer and if everything is OK, you get a stamp.
"If it's not OK he writes the problem in the book, the council officer in the next town will see it and if an issue has not been rectified a circus can have its animal permits cancelled."
When you take into consideration more people are killed by hippos in Africa than by lions, you start to understand the complexities involved when it comes to taming this type of exotic animal, says Charles.
"Training hippos is not easy. You have to understand the body language of an animal, how it behaves," he says.
"The more you know about an animal the easier it is and this is extremely important because they can be very dangerous if you misunderstand them.
"If they want you to back off or something and you don't understand it, then it can be dangerous."
The Knie name packs a powerful punch within the big-top entertainment industry, each member having played an integral part in taking it from relative obscurity in 1786, to become Switzerland's most famous circus family and Europe's most prestigious travelling circus. In Switzerland people do not go to the circus, rather they 'go to Knie'.
Like Doriana, Charles was also born into the circus life but when his mother, Elaine, broke away from the Swiss Circus Knie, selling her shares to her cousins, the 13-year-old was devastated.
"My mother worked with so many animals from leopards to polar bears, elephants, parrots ... many, many horses ... she is a really talented horseback rider, she is amazing."
But suddenly it was all over and the only child was neatly extracted from the circus community that was his life, finding himself living a somewhat lonely existence in the country.
"My mother didn't go to that circus any more. She never did, never went to see it," says Charles.
"Some things had happened. She didn't like the way some things were being done and so she pulled away from the circus."
Charles was aware his mother was greatly saddened by the split from her cousins and the world she had been such an integral part of for so many years, even though he never really realised why the exodus had occurred.
"I went through boarding school with my cousin Rolf and still went back to their circus a few times, but it wasn't my place any more and I realised quickly I was no longer part of the Knie dynasty.
"That had been very important to Mum. She suffered, she suffered very much."
Charles finished school and obtained a diploma in business management before the pull of the circus drew him back to the family.
"They had always made me believe that one day I would be welcomed back," he says.
"But I wasn't and I was too shy to say 'hey, what's going on ... can I come back now?'."
In fact, to Charles their silence spoke volumes of just how wide the rift between his mother and the rest of the family had become.
As far as Charles' uncle and cousins were concerned he was now a man and this placed him firmly on the other side.
"So I decided to leave Switzerland and get as far as I could away from the Circus Knie," he says.
At 21, Charles Knie arrived in Australia where a visit to Ashton's Circus soon found him deep in conversation with a couple of its Swiss performers.
"They introduced me to their director, Doug Ashton, who said 'oh, yes, Knie ... you are Knie, you stay here and train my animals'.
"At this point I was no animal trainer but Doug said, 'please, it's not like training animals at a European circus. Here you will be the best trainer of them all'.
"I didn't want to lose my chance of being with a circus again, so I told Doug I could train horses and then thought, 'now what? I've never trained an animal before'.
"So I thought 'OK, if I can't do it, I'll just leave my suitcase packed so I can take off overnight'."
A nocturnal escape was never needed and Charles worked as a horse trainer for the circus for three years.
Boosted by his new skills and with renewed confidence, he returned to Switzerland -- and to Swiss Circus Knie.
But once again, the welcome home was not as warm as he had hoped and, like a circus act, Charles was made to jump through hoops.
"They said -- it was a big firm, you see -- I had to go through all the shareholding people to see if they would agree if I could come back. So it took quite long."
Ironically, while he was living in the place that held so many happy childhood memories, Charles would never feel he was truly a part of it.
"It was obvious I would never be considered a part of the dynasty, a part of the family, despite the fact I still bore the Knie surname."
Eventually he realised it was time to leave and received a position at Circus Barum where he was to meet Doriana and start a new life training exotic animals.
Soon, he was parading rhinos, hippopotamuses, bison, giraffes, emus, antelopes, kangaroos, sea lions, horses, dromedaries and zebras under the big top.
He became the first person to train and present a rhinoceros and when one escaped its enclosure early one morning and was found wandering the streets of a nearby town, he simply jumped on it and rode it back to the circus.
And when he and Doriana married in 1982, they left the church after the ceremony to discover their friends had brought the animals to join in the well wishing. ('Carla, my hippo, and all the others were standing there waiting to congratulate us'.)
The Knies' marriage is clearly built on a rock-solid foundation of mutual love for the circus and animals.
As Charles and Doriana's relationship grew, so did the couple's prospects and it wasn't long before hard work and perseverance resulted in an offer to join Circus Moira Orfei, the biggest circus in Italy.
Three years later they relocated to Australia where they worked at Silvers Circus for four years. Once their visa had expired, the couple returned to Germany and Circus Fliegenpilz where they remained for three years before starting Circus Charles Knie.
Charles admits his desire to create his own circus was partly fuelled by the urge to show the Knie family he could 'do it on his own'.
The couple ran their hugely successful circus for almost 12 years and would still be there today, had Charles not grown restless.
"He always wanted to live in Australia," says Doriana with a sigh. "I would be happy to live the rest of my days as part of a circus, but he loves Australia."
Someone has taken over running the Charles Knie Circus in Germany, something Charles has sadly had to come to terms with.
"I miss it a little bit, ya," says Charles. "I didn't for the first two months but more and more I feel away.
"When you spend your whole life in the circus, it's a different world. Circus life is a very exciting life, very demanding."
Now, the Knies are adjusting to a slower, more sedate pace of life, concentrating on running the Parrot Garden Cafe, using their circus past as an extra point of interest to those who visit their business.
The rhinos, giraffes, elephants and hippos are gone and in their place are parrots and macaws, alpacas, goats, donkeys, llama, miniature ponies and even zebras.
The Knies applied for and received council permission to turn the 3ha property into a place suitable to keep animals.
"It's always going to be admission free so we've kept things small. If you have more animals then you have to pay people to work here to look after them. It gets expensive and you have to ask people to pay a fee," says Charles.
"It works better if our customers can buy coffee or tea and get to see the animals for free.
"This is a nice spot, you can see it from the road. You can't drive past without seeing it because we have colourful flags up and we are right across the road from the Crystal Creek Primary School."
So while Charles and Doriana's nomadic existence has meant their lives have been rich with colour and pageantry, lives most other folk can only dream of, it is hoped the wheels of their carnivale caravan have now stopped turning and they can always call Australia home
The most amazing thing Charles ever did, in my opinion, is the liberty of antelopes and zebras for Stefano Nones (Circo Moira Orfei, then winning a silver clown.
But also his previous work with Siemoneit exotics was remarkable.
In the half-80s, I remember wonderful mornings at Moira Orfei circus: you sat under the empty big top at 9:00, watching Jean Michon prepare the new tigers; then the ring was for Charles with the zebra ans antelopes; and again Karl Antoine teaching high school to the young Nones.
I used to take plenty of pictures, but who knows where there are now.
Where can you see that now?
Raffaele,
I sure wish you could find those pictures. I could probably tell you what Michon did. What kind of antelope did Charles use? I have seen Nilgai used before which looked great and exotic.
Wade
Michon in those days did the first cage act ever to win a Golden Clown.
I'll find the pictures...
Ok, one of the pictures is here...
http://bucklesw.blogspot.com/2007/08/jean-michon-from-raffaele-de-ritis.html
Raffaele,
Come on!!!! You know that's a load. I can name a half dozen people could have at least the same thing or better, given the same circumstances/animals to chose from and the time.
That's as valid as me buying the New England Patriots, and beating the snot out of a Pop Warner Youth football team for the coveted Gold Jock Strap. Given the circumstances of it coming into my possession, I sure wouldn't put it up on the mantle for dinner guests to admire.
Wade
Ok, but the right circumstances/animals choice and time are not happening everyday to everybody.
And you know, as few others maybe, how much Monsieur Michon had talent in animal choice, in using his time, and how to benefit of wealthy resources.
Raffaele,
I am not sure what talent there is in having a choice of animals, or a lot of money at you disposal.
Wade
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