The Wall Street Journal is running this story about the Big Apple Circus’s new show and gender rolls within the world of circus.
Interesting stuff.
(Reuters) – The owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has agreed to pay a record $270,000 fine to settle charges it violated federal animal welfare laws.
Feld Entertainment Inc of Vienna, Virginia, did not admit wrongdoing or violating U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations in settling the dispute over handling of performing animals, it said in a statement Monday.
“We look forward to working with the USDA in a cooperative and transparent manner that meets our shared goal of ensuring that our animals are healthy and receive the highest quality care,” Kenneth Feld, chief executive of Feld Entertainment, said in the statement.
The USDA said the $270,000 fine was the biggest assessed under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).
Feld also agreed to set up a compliance officer’s position on its staff by the end of February 2012. Employees who work with animals also must undergo AWA compliance training, the USDA said in a statement.
In one incident logged by USDA inspectors, Banko, a 35-year-old female Asian elephant, was required to perform in July in Los Angeles despite pain from probable sand colic.
A circus veterinarian said Banko had seemed comfortable enough to perform and that to separate her from the group would have been more distressing to her, the report said.
USDA inspectors reported in 2008 that wheelbarrows used to carry meat to tigers also were used to transport waste. Inspections also turned up allegations of worn pens and feeding areas, poor medical record-keeping, improper fencing and failure to control elephants.
The allegations followed complaints from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals about abuse of elephants and tigers at the circus, including physical punishment.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Jerry Norton and Bill Trott)
Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.
The Star is running this story about 60 year old Marsha Kennington, and her life as a circus performer and teacher.
More proof that those who are young at heart can do anything!
Friday, 22 July 2011, 2:34 pm
Press Release: Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
Christchurch: CircoArts Programme cancelled for 2012
CPIT announced today that its CircoArts programme – the Bachelor of Performing Arts (Circus Arts and Physical Theatre) will not be delivered in 2012.
The specialist facilities that have housed the programme for the last 15 years have been severely affected by the Christchurch earthquakes, and their future remains uncertain.
The programme has not been delivered on the Christchurch campus since the February 22 earthquake, and as a result nine students were accepted into the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne in April to complete their second year of study. The first and third year students were deferred study for the year.
“This is hopefully just an interim measure,” said the Dean of the Faculty of Creative Industries, Dr. Jane Gregg.
“We will be working hard on a plan to ensure that Circo Arts has a home at CPIT, and that we can continue to provide the rich training ground that Circo Arts has proven to be. The programme is pivotal to this specialist area of performance in NZ.”
Dr.Gregg says CPIT hopes to be able to offer the programme in 2013, depending on the assessment of damage to its current specialist facilities, and the plans that emerge from that assessment. An announcement will be made on this as soon as these plans are known.
The programme is well known internationally as a trainer of circus performers, with graduates going on to perform in NZ and further afield with companies like Cirque de Soleil and Circus Oz.
“We hope that current and potential students at Circo Arts are able to engage with trainers and facilities where they are situated, and look forward to welcoming them back to CPIT when we have re-established our teaching facilities” said Dr.Gregg.
The days of clowning around in Christchurch are over.
The city’s internationally renowned circus school has pulled the plug on its training programme because the ongoing earthquakes have damaged its specialist facilities.
The CircoArts programme, run by the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, has been training circus performers for 15 years, but its future is in doubt.
The programme had only just started for the year when the February 22 quake struck, closing the facilities and forcing the students to either defer study or transfer to Melbourne’s National Institute of Circus Arts.
Now, polytech officials have announced the programme will not be delivered in 2012.
Creative industries faculty dean Dr Jane Gregg said the polytechnic hoped to be able to offer the programme in 2013, but that would depend on what assessors found when they examined the extent of the damage.
“We will be working hard on a plan to ensure that CircoArts has a home with us, and that we can continue to provide the rich training ground that CircoArts has.
“The programme is pivotal to this specialist area of performance in New Zealand.”
The CircoArts programme is well-known internationally for training circus performers, with graduates going on to perform in New Zealand and further afield with companies like Cirque du Soleil and Circus Oz.
The New York Times is running this story about psychologists Dr. Sandseter and Leif Kennair of the Norwegian University for Science and Technology, and their warnings about risk and what kids are not learning on the playground.
Looks like many of the same things we teach kids in circus.
Business World is running this story looking at what it takes to put on Varekai
Interesting look behind the curtain.
Br J Sports Med 2011;45:314-315 doi:10.1136/bjsm.2011.084038.14
IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport
Grimaldi Forum Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco 7–9 April 2011
The business of injury prevention in circus performance
E Lamme, Cirque du Soleil, Montreal, Canada
Cirque du Soleil (CDS) is an acrobatic circus company with 1500 acrobatic and non-acrobatic performers for its current 20 touring and resident shows. Although published data analysis revealed that injuries at CDS are generally minor (80% requiring seven treatments or less), injury prevention and rehabilitation have and continue to be a high priority. The company considers injury surveillance an essential tool in evaluating the effect of policy changes on artists’ health.
To describe an example of how CDS uses injury surveillance to improve injury prevention.
Pre-post study.
Circus artists.
A new touring concept directed for a pilot change in performance schedule where there was a need for artists to travel between cities on ‘non-performance days’, and to perform in more than one city per week.
Injury rate and frequency of treatments.
The previously new and unknown performance concept increased CDS’ usual injury rate 1.8-fold and the number of treatments increased 2.4-fold in the two months following the change in tour-schedule. Additional analyses ruled out other changes over time including changes in cast size, and changes in locations. Based on these analyses, CDS did not continue with the pilot policy changes in performance scheduling.
Injury surveillance can be a useful tool to help sport and artistic businesses minimise injury rates and as such maximise the longevity of their athletes and artists.
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
Examining the effect of the injury definition on risk factor analysis in circus artists
G. M. Hamilton1,
W. H. Meeuwisse1,2,
C. A. Emery1,2,3,
I. Shrier4
Article first published online: 3 DEC 2010
DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2010.01245.x
Keywords:
injury;
definitions;
performing arts;
epidemiology
A secondary data analysis of a prospective cohort study was conducted to explore how different definitions of injury affect the results of risk factor analyses. Modern circus artists (n=1281) were followed for 828 547 performances over a period of 49 months (2004–2008). A univariate risk factor analysis (age, sex, nationality, artist role) estimating incidence rate ratios (IRR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) was conducted using three injury definitions: (1) medical attention injuries, (2) time-loss injuries resulting in ≥1 missed performances (TL-1) and (3) time-loss injuries resulting in >15 missed performances (TL-15). Results of the risk factor analysis were dependent on the injury definition. Sex (females to male; IRR=1.13, 95% CI; 1.02–1.25) and age over 30 (<20 years to >30 years; IRR=1.37, 95% CI; 1.07–1.79) were risk factors for medical attention injuries only. Risk of injury for Europeans compared with North Americans was higher for TL-1 and TL-15 injuries compared with medical attention injuries. Finally, non-sudden load artists (low-impact acts) were less likely than sudden load artists (high-impact acts) to have TL-1 injuries, but the risk of medical attention injuries was similar. The choice of injury definition can have effects on the magnitude and direction of risk factor analyses.
