Does anyone know how this lady is related the the brothers below? There seems to be a lot more of the "two people" cage acts today. I don't understand why that is, or even why there is a need for two in the cage. I have always been told in regards to a women and a man presenting, that the man is in there to move the heavy props, that the women can't handle. That might explain two people in this act. The two strapping young men below, however, look capable of moving their own props without help. The other suggestion is that the women are "eye candy", and present the act, except the two person cage acts that I am the most familiar with, Hawthorns tiger and lion act and Jim Clubbs mixed act, the man presents/presented the bulk of the act, and moves/moved the props. Can anybody offer insight as to why there is a need for two people in a cage act, when the vast majority of them are/have been presented with one person?
Monday, February 23, 2009
Miss Zapashnykh
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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I think it really doesn't matter whether you have one or two trainers. There are no rules. I always had two trainers for the mixed groups just in case there was a fight and that was the reason Court had two in the ring as well. Of course, it was also for moving the very heavy props that he had. For me, it was also to make the act going faster with the prop moving. If you remember Marcia Palacio would roll the three tigers while Louis changed the props. I think it only really works with a really large act and also both trainers should work together with the animals and enhance the presentation. Of course, with Court this was never the case. The trainer presented the act and the other person was just an assistant. He definitely needed two people. At the end of each pyramid they used to drive all the animals off together, lions, tigers, leopards and bears and sometimes there were would problems!
Jim,
There are fights in an arena often, as you are more then aware. In the States, one person has historically be able to maintain control or prevent. I can see the moving of the props to a certain extent, if that was what was exclusively done. The massive revolving prop that Kraml used, I didn't see anyone in the cage to move it? Yes I remember Marcia rolling the 3 tigers, but that is a rare exception. The Hawthorn act trained by Luis, the women sits on something once or twice, and sits up half of the cats while the man sits up the other ones. When it was being trained Marsha took a vacation for a couple of months, and Campolongo had to assist inside, so training could continue. The only prop in the act is a small bottle walk on wheels. Again with a Court act, the massive props they had would seem to warrant assistance, but those were exceptions. There are a number of smaller acts, in which there are two people in the ring, historically from England I have noted, although not exclusive, that are currently working in Europe.
Speaking of Court's props, which were some of the most unique and beautiful ever used(a photo of one of his pyramids, inspired the pyramid in the last act I trained), any idea what became of the pedestal or if there are any of them around today? How would you like to have a couple of the tall ones, with a nice potted fern sitting on top, as part of your office decor? They were unique. I was told one time that they were electric, and lit up as the animals sat on them. Is that true? It doesn't seem logical for the time?
Chasing of lions, tigers, leopards, and bears, there would sometimes be problems!!!!! Do you suppose, Jim. That is intimidating just thinking about it. LOL Great information. Thank you.
Wade
I have only seen a couple two person cage acts, but the ones I have seen it is obvious one person pushes the cats and the other is in a position to stop the cats. I could see this being very handy for keeping cats in a pyramid or lay down if they didn't want to stay. I don't think the acts I have seen with two people did anything extraordinary or complicated that "needed" the extra person but that's an opinion, based on seeing big acts worked by single individuals that did as much or more. I had one of my worst situations in an arena with someone else "helping" me, and after the cat bounced us off each other a couple times, we realized how dumb it had been for us to both be in there. It is hard enough to calculate what a cat is going to do in a bad situation, much less a cat and another human,,,LOL
In this country, a couple of years ago, a presenter was bitten by a lion that I had trained - through no fault of the lion's!!!
In a frantic effort to avoid trouble from the regulators the presenter's father, who owned the circus and the act, suggested a change to the Standards which would require two people to be in an arena cage at all times. In their naivete they imagined that this would make an act twice as safe.
It took a lot of hard talking on my part to convince them that it would, instead, make an act potentially twice as dangerous. Particularly as, in this case, both the people in the act would have been people without any savvy whatsoever.
Jim - in MY naivete I can't imagine driving lions, tigers, leopards and bears simultaneously off pyramid pedestals WITHOUT problems!! Regards.
Casey,
I think in the case of the majority of two person acts that I have seen, there are not two numbnuts in the cage. The is often one numbnuts, with one experienced trainer/handler. LOL
I have always noted that one person is definitely in charge, and the second one just follows orders. They don't have time to "discuss" what is right or wrong. I considered doing a two person act with someone, in which it was an every other trick act. But with this persons personality, they would have never stood for being told what to do, and we realized that the day would come, when she would throw her whips down, tell everybody to "go f*** yourselves, do you know who I am" and stomp out of the arena, probably forgetting to shut the door. LOL So the plan was scrapped. If the second person was used to just move the props, I could see it. But what I see is neither being capable of working every kind of behavior, and each taking a turn with their limited skills. I could also see where the act could be trained/put together in half the time, and gotten out making money. But like a tie down on a horse, it can never be removed, and he will always have to wear it, as he was never taught to keep his head down. Takes much longer, but he is not gaffed, and you can't show him in a tie down, so you can't gaff them up quick. Just my take on the few two people acts I have seen.
Wade
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