Simply Circus / CircusNews.com

Fire arts gone wrong…

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:57:27 +0000

I am often asked what can go wrong with fire arts. This video shows it nicely.

This would really liven up Cirque De Soleil too.

Inside Contortion…

admin — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:23:59 +0000

I just came across this website on contortion. Amazing!

PINK accident

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:51:28 +0000

By now, I am sure all of you have heard about the PINK accident. I would like to take a few moments to talk about this. Lets start by looking at the video:

So was this a rigging failure, or an operator failure?

Lets start by looking at 0:42. You see her left hand goes up, and then at about 0:46 her left hand goes down This motion looks like it was the “GO” cue. A split second later, at 0:47 you see PINK look to the right and puts up her right hand, seemingly to say hold, followed by common crossed arms “E-STOP” sign. Moments later, Pink is moving, and at 0:51 the motion has stopped. You can see two people pulling two of the flying lines back towards the stage after her fall.

To my eye, this looks like Pink signaled a GO before she was properly clipped in, and then tried to abort. I would say she is very lucky that she wasn’t hurt a lot more seriously.

This view would seem to be supported by PINK’s tweet: “To all my nurnberg fans… I am embarrassed and very sorry. I’m in ambulance now but I will b fine. Didn’t get clipped in2 harness correctly, drug me off stage, fell in2 barricade. Getting x rays. I hope it at least looked cool!!!”

As a rigger, this didn’t look cool at all. I am glad PINK is OK, but let this be a lesson to all of us: Don’t give a “GO” signal until you really are ready to go!

Star Drops

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:21:21 +0000

Single Star Drop (starts at 0:58)

Double Star Drop

Triple Star Drop

Global Voices: Circus School

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:40:17 +0000

PBS Video giving a revealing look at the rigorous physical training endured by young Chinese acrobatic students.

Circus on PBS

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:20:11 +0000

PBS has posted a two and one half minute preview of their new fall series CIRCUS on Youtube. The documentary follows Big Apple Circus during the entire 2008 – 2009 season.

UniverSoul Rocks Roxbury

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 23:44:47 +0000

The Bay State Banner (MA) is running this story about UniverSoul Circus playing at the Northeastern Campus.

Looks like a great show!

Disclaimer #1: I used to work for the Banner, they are where I learned about the ethics of the news industry, and about digging for a story.

Disclaimer #2: I used to work for Northeastern University as a teacher in their EMS program. I learned a lot about teaching there.

Last hurrah for the circus school

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:01:58 +0000

This is Kent (UK) is reporting that the Kent Circus School will be closing after 18 years of operation.

Sad day for a school that has done so much.

School’s new degree: More fun than a carful of clowns

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:56:34 +0000

The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News is running this story about Coastal Carolina offering seniors a residency program at Circus Center of San Francisco.

Looks like an excellent program!

Performers Fall During Aerial Stunt

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:48:36 +0000

Japan’s “first ladies of illusion” stars Ai and YuKi, two performers that have been amazing audiances in Japan for years. On Thursday, an aerial accident put them both in the hospital. KTNV and Fox 5 Vegas have stories on the fall. A video of the fall is also available

A quick review of the video looks like it was performer error. Thoughts?