The Chinese circus at the Nagy Fovarosi
Circus is not the kind of circus you used to go
to when you were a child.
For one thing there are no
animals at all.
Yet the show with its blend of
grace, skill and humor, has appeal.
It's a world of old fairy tales,
with powerful warriors who can bend 5 bows at a
time or carry incredible weights.There are
magicians who make burning saucers appear from
under their coats. Or handsome heroes who carry 3
meter flags on iron poles balanced on their
chins or make risky somersaults in the air, or
build pyramids with their bodies, upon which a
delicate princess sits in a graceful ballet pose,
pretending to be relaxed.
You will see girls in their silk
overalls, buttoned to the chin, juggling
umbrellas And pots. Huge pots. They manage to
juggle porcelain vases with their feet, or heads,
or necks. How many broken vases were before the
brim of a 60 kilograms lay safely on the forehead
of the juggler. Or how many broken skulls?
The funniest attraction is the
lions'dance. Two men covered by a rainbowish skin
coordinate their movements in a lion like walk.
They do somersaults. They fight. The lions wink
coquettishly with their saucer-like eyes and they
scratch as if bothered by fleas.
The audience cheers, adults and
children alike.
The artistry of the Chinese
performers show what power a delicate gesture can
have, and how deceptive they can be.
They can do so much with so
little. Written for The Budapest Sun, but
unpublished, spring 1994
On my website, Semptember 1997
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