The Big Apple Circus is about to begin its 41st season this October 2018 and they are kicking it off with a big announcement– there will be a female ringmaster, the well-known circus legend, Stephanie Monseu. Monseu is a seasoned performer and the co-founder and ringmistress of New York City-based Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, a vintage style circus with a touch of grit that has been known to embrace all things sideshow, street circus and vaudeville.
I asked Monseu to weigh in on the significance and timiliness of being a female ringmaster in the current season and she had this to say, “The Big Apple Circus has had powerful women in the ring before and I am excited to join that legacy. Vanessa Thomas and Carrie Harvey, two fantastic artists and circus stalwarts, wore the top hat here. Kristen Michelle Wilson was Ringling’s first female Ringmaster. And, Rebecca Ostroff, Vincenta Pages, and other fierce females are leading circuses around the US. The time has always been right!”
Apart from a horse act from Big Apple alumni Jenny Vidbel, it does not appear as if there are any female solo or all-female acts scheduled for the 2018 season. Monseu sites the group spirit of circus as the basis for the team acts that are featured this year, “I think the real superpower of women in circus is that we are true collaborators and team players. It just isn’t possible to swoop in on a golden rope and steal the show. It takes many hands and hearts to raise a circus tent, get the show on the road, and Big Apple Circus has a fantastic history of diversity and female representation in important roles in and out of the Ring. The wonder women theme is a great tribute to that history and this current season. One of my favorite things to do is to give young women and girls backstage tours so they can see all of the real opportunities in the circus world that exist outside of performing. It’s very empowering.”
Sticking with a superhero theme, some of the self-described female-led acts include: Iron woman Virginia Tuells & her husband Ihosvanys Perez in Duo Fusion, “an acrobatic act that combines dance, strength, flexibility and passion in which Virginia handles a majority of the lifts.” Spicy Circus, a troupe created by Andréanne Quintal, whose team of performers bounce off the walls in her trampoline act, and the aforementioned animal act trainer Jenny Vidbel.
The season will be an extended run from October 20, 2018 through January 27, 2019 at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park, with Washington DC and Boston tour dates to be announced soon.
All photos courtesy of Big Apple Circus
...
This post was last modified on October 24, 2018 6:07 pm