Monday, August 16, 2010
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A Blog designed for discussion of topics related to, but not limited to, Circus, Zoos, Animal Training, and Animal Welfare/Husbandry. Sometimes opening up the dialog is the best starting point of all. And if for nothing else when people who agree and don't agree, get together and start discussing it, it will open up a lot of peoples minds. Debate and discussion even amongst themselves opens a window where there wasn't one before.
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7 comments:
We book expensive seats in Tampa and as a very much involved in all equestrian arts for sixty years with excellent credentials I must say; The whole thing is mediocre with only flash. Not one segment was anything but ordinary. High school was almost nonexistance, Tick riding, roman riding very poor. Sylvias liberty was the poorist I have ever seen. No back up routine, triple weave, hind leg rear or walk. She ran around waving a whip. Her personna would be what grizzly adams wife might look like. It appeared that all the people were amateurs and they needed a good trainer-coordinater. Wardrobe was blah blah and music was funeral marches. No meat in the whole show. Lots of bungee bullshit and mechanics. Back in the days of Lashinskys lippizan WWWORLD OF HORSES or a few years back of ARABIAN NIGHTS would put them to shame. Maybe even now Arabian nights would be better. This is an honest crtique from a professional horse trainer-presenter par excellence. What suckers the american public are.
John,
Thank you for the review. I think the general census is that the "American public" are suckers. That is the only way they would have accepted what they have looked at the past 15 years as circus. In defense of "animal/horse shows", you gotta admit, Col. it would take some major training power to keep a show new, fresh, different, and exciting. Where are they going to get this talent? Will they be able to pay the salaries necessary to compensate for their skills, if they were available? How's this for a dream world, John. As you are finishing up with a group of 12 blacks, and getting them ready to go, they are unloading 12 grey's, for you to start on next week. Meanwhile plans are already being made for the 12 palomino's to arrive after the 12 grey's are finished. It is cheaper for them to just hire what is available, and as long as the "sucker's" buy into it, it won't change. It isn't right, and it sucks, but that is the reality of "live entertainment."
Wade
I wonder how long it will take to get her horses back to working a defined circus routine after they have been allowed to work so sloppily for however that contract lasts.
Anonymous,
I don't know if there is such a thing as a "defined" circus act. But I do know that anything worked without harness is going to be sloppy on it's best day.
Wade
I don't think shows like Cavalia, Cirque du Soliel, and similar shows should fall into the same category as traditional circus. They offer a different type of entertainment. To me it's almost like comparing a daytime talk show with a news program found on PBS. While they may both be enjoyable, they have very different formats. Some people may enjoy both, while others only watch one. When I go to a three ring circus, I expect to see a very different performance than on a one ring show. We expect to see a lot going on in three rings; if not "we" may feel like we are not getting our moneys worth. Some of the acts in the "cirque" type shows may not all be family friendly-they are purposely provocative, feature exotic costumes, clowns with gags aimed at adult audiences, and music in other (or made-up) languages. If we "saw" some of this on a traditional circus, people may get turned off. When I go to Ringling, I expect to see a typical three ring show because that's what I enjoy there. When I go to Cirque, I expect to see a Cirque show.
I believe the original philosophy of Cavalia was the focus on the horse, on it's own, more than on the human. They do have a ring, but it is used only for the bareback acts. The only long whip used in the show was for the bareback act-no liberty whips. The entire stage (I think over 100 feet) is used for the liberty and all other acts. Obviously, acts like trick riding, dressage, bareback, must focus on both horse and rider. I myself am not a talented nor experienced rider, so I can't judge the quality/ technicality of those acts. Before I saw the show, I did not expect to be wowed, but I hoped that I would have a good time. I waited 5 years for the show to come to the NY area. I found the show very entertaining and worth seeing. Maybe I am easy to impress, but I had a fantastic time. I drove over 100 miles to see the show, twice, and shelled out a whole lot of cash to get the VIP tickets. I have no regrets and I would gladly purchase a ticket if the show returns to my area. To each his own... :-)
-Chris
Chris,
Good review. No Cavalia is not anything like "circus". It was never intended to be, and why would it? I have only seen it once, and enjoyed it immensely. But then again, I saw it with Madame Col. Dianne Olds Rossi, which is akin to watching the Columbia lift off with Neil Armstrong explaining procedures and protocol. LOL I loved the music and the brilliance of designing staging to accommodate so many equine disciplines, from trick riding, to liberty, to dressage. I did not like the over use of people, in "aerial" acts. That made it too "circusy", and I thought "cheapened" an otherwise classy production. But I also realize in an effort to do many different things with "horses/animals, to make it fresh and new, you are eventually going to run out of interesting, exciting things for them to do. Regardless of how good of a trainer you are. So I applauded their efforts at attempting different things, using people and aerial acts. In an effort at pushing the envelope at new and greater things, you are not going to be brilliant all the time, but Cavalia managed to be brilliant most of the time.
Wade
Wade,
It must have been a great and insightful experience with the Madame Col. I did not attend with any horse people so I had no one with whom to share insights, comments, or questions. I am sure I would have "seen" the show in a different way, but as I said I enjoyed it very much, as well.
-Chris
P.S. How are the Arabians going, and if you get the chance, do you have more pictures to share? (PLEASE!!!)
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