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20 comments:
The St. Louis Arches are the advanced performers who are part of the Circus Day Foundation based in St. Louis, MO. Their director and trainer is Jessica Hentoff, a well known former aerialist and CFA member. The kids in her group come from mixed ethenic and social backgrounds, and work together to present first class circus acts.
The riding act, called the "Iana Spirit Riders" appears twice a year on Circus Flora. Otherwise the Arches are best known for their high energy acrobatics and juggling.
The Ianna Spirit Riders is bareback riding troupe fomred through a collaboration between CIrcus Flora, Circus Day Foundation (memebers of our St. Louis Arcehs troupe make up the Spirit Riders) and equestrienne Jenn Buck.
If anyone was moved by seeing this photo of a young bareback rider...
The Ianna Spirit Riders are in need of a new bareback horse. They know of a Percheron/Lippizan cross that is already trained and is available. The cost is $6000. If you would like to be their sponsor and buy this horse for them you would get naming rights,a free bareback lesson for yourself, free tickets to Circus Flora and City Museum (where Circus Day is based) and the satisfaction of knowing you have done something substantial to promote the traditional art of acrobatics on horseback!
Please contact me if you are interested in helping.
Jessica Hentoff
circuslady@everydaycircus.net
Dear Circus Lady,
I think that you should contact Armando Loyal Rosales to find out how he buys and trains bareback horses! I know that he does not spend more than 10% of the price that you have quoted and trains his horses to perform in 4 or 5 months. He can be reached at Kelly-Miller.
Six grand for an untrained bareback horse? Are you serious. We horsetrainers and or bareback riders are well aware that not every horse will become a good running bareback horse and the odds are that your six grand would go down the drain. Percheron and then Belgian are the preferred breeds and Lippizaner would not be an asset for that type of equestrian work in any way. If you get that six grand horse I hope it works out for you and yes Armondo or his mother Lucy could give you ound advice. I a sorry in that I note that you say it is already trained. that does change my thoughts. But six grand //////.
I will throw in that Armando is going to be starting some new horses in a few weeks, maybe get in touch with him. I believe they are all Belgians, and I have seen alot of Percherons. I am not a horse guy by any stretch but isn't a Lippizaner one of those narrow white horses?
Didn't Circus Flora buy Carlos Svensons horses? If so, where are they now? If they are in the St. Louis area wouldnt it be prudent to use those horses for practice?
Why buy a horse that will need living space, 24/7/365 food, care, vet.
Besides the 6G, what about the yearly expenses over the next year, two years, five years?
If you want to teach kids about circus, have them work at a horse farm mucking and cleaning and have them donate their entire salaries to the "horse project". That is what many circus families have done for years, work hard and then have all your money go to the animals.
If a horse is needed for a few months WITH a pro instructor I am sure you can call Nellie or Giovanni, as well.
What is an ianni?
Maybe the school could have naming rights, like the buildings, CocaCola Circus Riders, Nike Riders, Ipod Riders.
Then the kids will learn the great American art of using OPM....using Other People's Money.
Let us use someone elses money
Let someone else do all te work
Let me take all the credit
Casey,
You will note she said "Percheron/Lippizan cross". That will broaden the back a bit. That cross sounds like an event horse, and the hand holds on the surcingle looks like they are doing a vaulting act.
Wade
Dear Anonymous,
The "Ianna Spirit" Riders is a name that the kids from Circus Day Foundation came up with. It was selected because the horse that was used for the first two years of the act was named "Ian", a black Percheron.
The kids established such a close working relationship with Ian that they decided to name the act after him. There is a wonderful article on Circus4Youth written by one of the Ianna Spirit Riders about working with Ian.
Circus Day Foundation, like many other youth circuses are non-profit youth social programs and seek funding in order to stay in operation.
The Ianna Spirit Riders act is a collaboration between Circus Day Foundation,Circus Flora and Jenn Buck. I just provide the acrobats for the program. The horses and training come from Circus Flora and Jenn Buck.
The kids do muck out the stalls and take care of the horses and equipment. They need their own reliable horse for this act.
Yes, Flora has the Svenson horses but my understanding is that they only trot and the act needs canter horses.
You can the act on YouTube at
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=RGzkB3BDkgg
Mr. Cole,
I can appreciate that. We are constantly seeking funding to keep the Casey McCoy Tigers in operation,,,,lol
We are a middle aged yet-to-find-profit social program...
Actually, I think it is interesting that two of the (arguably) best shows in the United States right now are non-profit organziations--- Circus Flora and Big Apple Circus. So, the acts they hire are recipients of non-profit funding. The way things are set up in this country, almost all arts organizations--- dance companies, museums, etc are non-profit. In fact, the Museum in which we have our circus school is one of the few musuems that is not a non-profit. Although my circus school is a non-profit. What is it in this country that makes it so hard for arts organizations (and circus is a perofmring art) to survive if they are not a non-profit but sports organizations make a ton of money? Thre are some individual circus acts that are also going the non-profit route. Some may see this as begging but it is the way the U.S. has set up the arts. On the other hand, what is the difference between people donating and people paying admission? In both cases, it shows their appreciation of the work---whether it is tigers, opera or a choir. I, personally, don't understand why people lay out so much money to see a football game but balk at paying for a circus ticket where they will see something so much more amazing, wonderful and various.
If the Svenson horses trot only and you need a horse that canters the solution is simple.
Use the Svenson horses that trot and teach the kids a new routine.
The kids can adapt.
Mrs. Hentoff,
Your statement circus vs. pro sports, or anything else is correct. People will spend on "other" forms of entertainment. The reasons for that I am sure are numerous. One has to be that a football game (NFL) is going to be consistent with all the other games in that league. People have a certain expectation when they buy their ticket, that you don't get when you buy a circus ticket. We advertise the pop warner league of circus just like its the NFL league. Another was the invent of free tickets, cause if your product is free, then it has no value. Add to that that even though it was supposed to be "free" it will end up being expensive in the long run. I am not insinuating that these other forms of entertainment don't have their own plays to boost profits, I just don't think they turned to tricking people into showing up yet.
Non Profit vs. Profit....lets try this---name one person that is worth at least $800 million dollars in the entertainment field...hint: it is not from a non-profit.
Football stads and baseball are usually owned by the municipality and the teams are given generous tax breaks to bring glamor and status to the city/region.
Disney, McDonalds, Toyota are not nonprofits--they make there money the old fashioned way, they earn it.
With nonprofits you are paying for your ticket 3 times.
1the ticket 2 the tax breaks the nonprofit received from the govern and their being exempt from paying sales tax on stuff and 3--from the donations from private companies that support the non profit. The private companies are taking profits made from my purchases and then donating their "reserve" to the cause istead of lowering price to me. So they are determining how they are to look good to the public with taking extra money from my pocket.
Big apple and Flora Circus still charge good prices for their tickets, they are not $4.00.
I find it funny that the nonprofits act like they have no money better than the for profits act like they have no money...one says we need donor others say not in the budget! USA love it!!!
Jessica,
Arguably two of the best shows in the United States, Circus Flora and Big Apple Circus???? I may give you Big Apple as one of them in the "small show" catagory, but no way Circus Flora. I think Paul Binder had a lot to do with Big Apple. Let's see what direction they go without him, and with funding being cut way, way back. I personally have never been too impressed with success on somebody else's nickel. I tend to take my hat off to folks like the Byrds, Felds, Norths, etc. It's just the capitalist in me, all due respect and the "Moscow" type shows just never impressed me that much.
Wade Burck
Wade,
Everyone has their own opinion on what makes a good show. When was the last time you saw Flora? I think its a pretty good show with strong acts. Check out last year's line up at www.circusflora.org.
Also, I go to both and I've performed on both and I prefer a small show, myself.
It certianly helps any show to have good acts, do honest advertising and give value for the cost of the ticket!
Wade,I doubt you remember me but I remember you well. I hope Adam has learned well from you and continues your level of excellence.
I worked for thebig shows - Ringling, Hanneford, Coronas,Paul Kaye, Garden,and was also a member of big apple for the first several years. I love the big format, the three rings, the spectacle, and all that stuff. But when I attend something like Ringling Red and UniverSoul within a few weeks of each other, I find myself drawn to the small shows. Big Apple began as a group of people who had a dream. It has become a showcase for some of the best acts in the world. Unfortunately, Big Apple has lost much of its original purpose which was to develop and present new talent. Flora has much of the same mission that Big Apple began with but still maintains young and student performers working alongside and with seasoned professionals. The result is a glorious celebration of the art of the circus. Here in St. Louis, we took our kids, theArches, tosee UniverSoul and Ringling Red within a few weeks of each other. Both shows were extremely generous and welcoming to our kids - they performed in the three ring adventure and several of the UniverSoul performers came to our facility for a visit. They loved UniverSoul, loved Bello and the tigers on Ringling but were unimpressed by the performance. The Greatest Show on Earth with inflatable ring curbs? In spite of the courtesy and enthusiastic support of everyone from the Red Unit, they saidthe show lackedpersonality. They cheered loudly for the performers who so graciously came to watch them and applauded their work, which was a lot of the cast but felt isolated from the show as a whole.
The discussion here is about mission and goals. I loved my years as a performer from mud shows to big shows. Few, if any, of my students will ever achievethe level of obscurity I did in the professional circus. When I think back to how fortunate I was when I ran away from seven years of college to join the circus, to be a performer, to work with so many incredible people, to have the opportunity to share my life with lions and tigers and bears and elephants and horses, I feel humble and blessed.
The kids I teach now don't just learn circus tricks. They learn how to succeed. Performing in shows for live audiences that appreciat their effort is the same positive reinforcement you use with a big cat and that piece of meat on a stick. Unfortunately, the big guys who make the big bucks often miss this point. There is much more to circus than just entertainment. The small, or not for proffit, operations that do depend upon other people's money that use circus skills to teach life skills are important for the future of not only the circus industry but for our entire society.
Warren
Imagine if all non-profit activity ceased tomorrow. Your cultural heritage, art forms and most live action activity [other than sports and certain music forms] would be gone. I don't think you'd be very happy in that world.
Most non-profit activity is supported by people that have made money, often really big money; they see value in what is being undertaken and that is why they give to support it. They are engaged by the vision of the leadership and enable the implementation of the plans.
If you compare North America with Europe, you'll find that more Europeans view circus as an art form---and not as entertainment. Yet, Europe is mostly a for-profit circus venue. Maybe there's a lesson therein.
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