Printed September 26, 2023
4 min read
In 2017, when Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus introduced it may per chance maybe maybe per chance per chance close its shows for correct, firm management cited declining designate gross sales and high working expenses, pronouncing the circus “had change into an unsustainable industry.” At the time, animal welfare advocates notorious the cross, arguing that performing animals just like elephants, gargantuan cats, and bears had been treated poorly and held in runt, barren prerequisites.
Now Ringling is aid—but this time, without animals.
On Friday, Ringling kicks off a nationwide tour of “the most appealing reward on Earth” with human-easiest acts, including high-wire, trapeze, and BMX bicycle performances. Theme park attractions, touring exhibitions, and a Ringling documentary are also in the works, per an announcement. The original reward will characteristic aerial contortion, foot juggling, novel clowns, and a 34.6-foot unicycle—and viewers participants will notice the reward from a curtainless 360-level stage.
“All the pieces’s larger, larger, brighter,” says Sabrina Lowe, senior director of global public relations for Feld Leisure, Ringling’s parent firm. “Our aim is to make lasting recollections for households.”
Animal welfare advocates are also welcoming Ringling’s reinvention.
“Americans don’t must see animals bullied into performing tricks,” Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the US, mentioned in a assertion. “We’re gay so to have an excellent time Ringling and assorted leisure companies that have taken the stunning step forward toward animal-free leisure.”
Ringling is now joining the ranks of performers treasure Cirque du Soleil and Circus Vargas, which for years have positioned on winning shows without relying on animal performances. UniverSoul Circus, which has historically included animal performances, has only in the near past hosted shows in numerous cities without animals, per PETA. (Read more about how Ringling retired its elephants in 2016.)
Though animal performances had been once a staple of circuses, in recent years, they’ve lost prefer with some audiences. A 2019 pollconfirmed that most of Americans felt circus animals weren’t treated properly, and more than half of of respondents favored a ban on the employ of wild animals in such performances. In 2016 several states and localities started banning the employ of wild animals in circuses, which impeded businesses treasure Ringling. (Read more in regards to the decline of circuses all the draw thru the U.S.)
“Ringling’s original reward may be more vivid, more pleasant, and more winning without the whips and terrified animals,” Block mentioned. “It’s simply per the more enlightened time wherein we dwell.”
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