The Circus

The Circus
May 24, 2008


The circus came to town today! It would have been hard not to have noticed their arrival. In addition to the bright orange signs plastered all over Chaves, there was also a Volkswagen van with a huge artificial clown on top driving all around town announcing its show times via a megaphone aimed out of the window. It was only after we passed the space where the circus had set up that we decided that we had to go. This was NOT Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey’s circus. This was The Big Circus show put on by the Caveagna family. There wasn’t an established arena for them at all as there would have been in the United States- instead they had set up their own big top tent right in the middle of a large, dirt parking lot in downtown Chaves.

Duarte, Lipe, Filinto, Marcos, Jenna and I arrived moments before the show was to begin. There was a small crowd of people gathered outside waiting to enter the tall, blue and white tent. The kids were entertained as they watched and fed grass to four small circus ponies in a pen just outside the entrance. Finally, it was time to enter. The crowd gathered and narrowed and disappeared into only a small opening of the tent as they passed their tickets to the two ticket takers. I was eager to catch a glimpse of what was inside the big top. Once inside, I was delighted. Plastic chairs were set up all around the small center ring. Inside the ring, covering the dirt floor was a white tarp with a blue and red star painted upon it. Two bright lights were directed at the small performance area in the ring directing our attention. The tent was otherwise dark as its thick walls and its tall sloped ceiling blocked out the afternoon sun. A group of people crowded the little cart where popcorn was being sold. I didn’t see any props for a trapeze act or any cages filled with tigers. I could not imagine what was to go on in this funny little circus.

The acts turned out to be perfectly suited for the audience and the venue. The first performer was a juggler. He juggled a couple of balls, then rings, then he dropped a couple of balls and a couple of rings. He made no effort to disguise his disappointment with himself when he messed up. Following the juggling, the man finished off the act by balancing a ball on his head.

The magician was next along with his shimmering assistant. She swayed and swiveled and attempted to look sexy for the purpose of distracting the audience from the magician’s tricks.

The clowns in their simple but colorful costumes were actually pretty funny. They performed a variety of acts including a bin Laden spoof, pies in the face and other slap stick antics.

As the show progressed it became evident that there were only 8 people in total working the show (including the woman selling popcorn). The ticket takers were the light guys, the prop guys and the horse herders. The juggler became the ringmaster. The magician was the horse trainer and a clown. The magician’s shimmering assistant was Minnie Mouse. Oh yes, I said Minnie Mouse…. “Straight from Disney for the first time ever in a circus…” came characters that looked very much like Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse. Mickey was trying to get Minnie to give him a kiss. The next thing we knew they were dancing around to the song “You’re the One that I Want” from the movie Grease all the while playing catch with the crowd using a beach ball. Duarte and I looked at each other during this act and laughed out loud at the hilarity of it all. Marcos looked back at me and smiled with pure joy and satisfaction. It was clear that he believed he had truly witnessed Mickey and Minnie having a dance party. I seriously doubt Disney had anything to do with this act or with the other “Disney” act. The other “Disney” act included a person dressed as a purple rabbit (supposedly Bugs Bunny) who ran out on stage and then a person dressed as a hunter (not at all like Elmer Fudd) who also ran out onto the stage and began chasing the rabbit with his toy gun that looked real. My kids were terrified.

The most entertaining part of the show was when the unkempt little ponies were to take their turn in the center ring. I believe the ponies were supposed to do a few laps or perhaps a few tricks as the magician/horse trainer waiting expectantly for them in the center of the ring. However, the ponies missed their entrance into the ring entirely and took off in another direction. The shaggy little ponies unpredictably ran in high-speed circles around the crowd on the outside of the ring. It was a good thing the crowd stayed in their seats as someone was sure to have been trampled otherwise. The circus guys (aka: ticket takers) were chasing after the horses but they just couldn’t catch them. It was only after the ponies stopped on their own and the male pony started humping the female pony that the circus guys were able to catch up with the errant horses.

And thus, the show went on.

We all had a wonderful time at the family Caveagna Big Circus Show. This circus reminded me of the small town circuses of the past that I had only known about from movies and books. It’s good to know that such a simple show can still make it in this day and age if only in rural Portugal. I have to admit that despite its small scale, limited staff and bawdy horses, it was more entertaining than many of the big, flashy shows I have seen in the United States.