The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is folding up its tent, but the spirit of the circus lives on
UPDATED: For 146 years, it was billed as the greatest show on earth, but on May 21, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus big top will be coming down once and for all.
At its peak, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus' troupes traveled across North America by train, wowing audiences with superhuman feats and a parade of exotic animals.
But according to Feld Entertainment, the company that owns the circus, ticket sales have been dropping steadily over the past decade — and they fell even further when elephants were removed from the show last year.
"It's been through every kind of economic cycle, and it's been through a lot of change," says Kenneth Feld, COO of Feld Entertainment. "It isn't relevant to people in the same way."
The circus made efforts to modernize, launching an interactive app and hiring their first African American and female ringmasters. But according to Feld, the circus' antics just weren't connecting with a new generation.
It isn't relevant to people in the same way.- Kenneth Feld, Feld Entertainment COO
Snider is the director and co-founder of The Seven Fingers, a circus company in Montreal. She grew up performing in her family's alternative circus theatre, the Pickle Family Circus, which was founded in 1974.
As she tells Day 6 host Brent Bambury, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus' demise represents the end of a generation.
"This is something you're not going to see again, ever."
Circus elephants
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus has long been a staple of American entertainment. For decades, millions flocked to its tents for its spectacular juggling acts, skits, acrobatics and exotic animals.
But over the years, the circus' use of animals came under fire from activists, who argued it was cruel to force animals to perform.
Feld Entertainment was awarded $25.2 million in settlements in 2014 after a 14-year legal battle over allegations that the circus' elephants were being mistreated. Despite that victory, the circus removed its elephants from its shows last May.
Ticket sales plummeted, and the circus was unable to recover, according to the company.
"When the elephants left the show, we did not anticipate the absolute impact that it would have, and it was much greater than we thought," says Feld.
Snider agrees that animal acts in circuses are often problematic, but she says activists' criticisms of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey might not be telling the whole story.
The thing that appeals to the audience is the risk — the absolute thrill of taking the human spirit somewhere in the air, defying gravity, somewhere between heaven and earth.- Gypsy Snider, co-founder of Seven Fingers
"My feeling about the abuse of animals in, for example, the mass slaughter and consumption of animals has a much larger impact in the world than the animal trainers did with these animals," she says.
"I'm not 'pro' working with animals, but I will say being close to that exotic experience of man and animal co-existing was theatrical and beautiful at the time."
Snider argues the circus ought to have been able to succeed without animal acts, as her own circus has done.
"The thing that appeals to the audience is the risk — the absolute thrill of taking the human spirit somewhere in the air, defying gravity, somewhere between heaven and earth," she says.
"Taking that and making something theatrical and beautiful and choreographed out of it is what we do at the Seven Fingers. And I think that they could have gone back and taken the root of that and brought it to the American audience in a way that would have charged people."
The circus tradition: Old versus new
With the Pickle Family Circus, Snider's family aimed to distance itself somewhat from its predecessors. They created an 'alternative' circus community, moving away from animals and striving to include strong female characters in the show.
"We were one ring, performing for never more than 500 to 1,000 people at a time, and we really wanted the audience to have an intimate experience," she says.
We saw the show three times at three different spots in the arena, just so we could really soak it all in.- Gypsy Snider, co-founder of Seven Fingers
But the family still paid homage to the older traditions that inspired their theatre. Snider recalls going to see the Ringling Brothers' circus every year with her family while she was growing up.
"Being born and raised in the circus meant that we went to see every freakshow, sideshow and mudshow," she says. "It was really important to the family to go see the best of the best."
And they didn't just go once.
"The goal was to be able to sit as close as possible to each ring; so we saw the show three times at three different spots in the arena, just so we could really soak it all in."
When the news broke on Saturday, Snider was watching her own daughter audition for a circus camp in Vermont.
"It really hit me in the stomach," she says. "The thought that my daughter would not have access to this incredible show absolutely brought tears to my eyes… I couldn't fathom the fact that I wasn't going to be able to take her to see the show three times like I did with my dad."
To hear Brent Bambury's conversation with Gypsy Snider, download our podcast or click the 'Listen' button at the top of this page.