Friday, May 6, 2011
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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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8 comments:
Jenda Smaha's act was one of the highlights of the 1967 (not 1957)British, Royal Variety Show. The following year (1968) the act appeared in a Summer Show at the ABC theatre, Blackpool. I saw the act there, and bought a souvenir postcard of Tanya. Alas, I no longer have it, but have some vague recollection that it was similar, if not identical to this photograph. There's footage of the act on Youtube. What impresses me now, is the speed at which the act worked. As a kid of 8, I suppose I didn't appreciate things like that then ! Tanya also appeared in the London Palladium pantomime. A truly remarkable act. See :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30EvTcd8RAg
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G7sLWgOPBo
John,
Thank you once again for the correction. I was quoting off the back once again, "1957?" I never met Jenda, but heard nothing but praise for him from Lou Regan, my mentor. I knew his father and mother well, in fact had a great afternoon with Inga just a few years ago. Tony Sr. was one of the finest people I have ever met in show business, and was very encouraging to me as a young man "getting my foot in the door."
Wade
I got it wrong again ! Your post made me look up the programmes for the ABC Summer seasons in Blackpool. The Tanya season was in fact 1967 not 1968. Tanya was very popular on British TV at the time. Due to this popularity, a baby elephant (Mini) from Sir Robert Fossett's Circus was used in a TV series of 6 programmes entitled "A present for Dickie" starring the British comedian Dickie Henderson.
John,
Thank you. I am glad you explained that the program starred comedian Dickie Henderson. I, at first reading it thought it was a series about Christmas with Dickie Chipperfield. LOL
Wade
So far I have found two Tanya elephants of Smaha. The first was sold to George Hanneford Jr. in 1973. The second was sold to Circo Atayde in 1980 when Smaha retired to Africa. Were there more? Can anyone expand on these two elephant's origins?
between shows that poor animal was kept in the most inhuman of conditions at the rear of the theatre in a storage room barely wide enough to turn around in, a memory that has stuck with me all my life...thank god for the improvement in animal welfare
I agree, through time and education animal welfare has been improved. However, Jenda Smaha was an advocate for animals safety and care. His elephant was taken care of above and beyond the Humane Society‘s guidelines for that era of time and would withstand even current animal protection guidelines and regulations by today’s standards. I can only compare his stables to that of how our well kept horses are housed and taking care of. The 2 acre property that the elephant was located on was right behind Jenda’s residence so he had access to his animals 24 hours a day. It had a covered corral with sprinkler system for misting, a huge exercise area and a very large barn double the size needed for one elephant with heating and air-conditioning. Jenda took great pride in designing this habitat and also built it from scratch! In the evenings when they would transport Tanya to the hotel, there was a large room with drainage in the floor so he could keep Tanya clean and lay down fresh hay for her to rest on. However, the elephant was only in there for a short time, an hour before going on stage and two hours in between shows and was rarely left alone, due to Jenda’s dressing room which was adjacent to Tanya’s room. There was just a divider between the two rooms. I remember Jenda inviting me for a game of cards many times because he would get bored inbetween shows and didn’t want to leave Tanya unattended. After the show, he would transport her home and bed her down for the night in her barn. She was never stuck in a small room as was suggested in the comment above! Jenda loved, nourished and took great care of his elephants. The proof is in the pictures. Look at the condition of the elephant and see for yourself. Tanya was well taken care of, healthy, beautiful and loved. And she loved him too. They clearly had a bond.
Hi.
I remember Tanya the Baby Elephant when i lived in Blackpool, i would have been 10 years old as i lived round the corner from the ABC. I was cutting through the back alleyways and saw Tanya at the rear of the ABC, they (TRAINERS/KEEPERS?) were taking her down to the beach to walk on the sands and swim in the sea. I came from a poor background and could not afford to see the acts or celebs and was ecstatic as a young lad would be. That would have been around 1967/8 as i left Blackpool in 1968 Regards. Rod Fraser.
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