Never Too Old for the Circus

Recently, Peter and I went to the circus. We didn’t take a grandchild or the little kids from the apartment upstairs—we went with friends our own age, and the four of us had a terrific time.

Circus Monti is a one-ring family circus that holds performances in a tent seating 750 people. On the weeknight we were there, the tent was almost full. The circus was founded in 1985 by Guido and Hildegard Muntwyler, and the Muntwyler family still runs it and performs in it. I saw Monti for the first time within a few years of moving to Bern in 1988, and I’ve seen it five or six times since then. There are bigger and better-known traveling circuses that give annual performances in Bern, but Monti is my favorite. I enjoy its smallness because I can sit close to the ring and see the performers up close. This delights me not only because they are so talented but because they always look like they are having such fun with each other and with us, the audience.

This year was no exception. Three Munwylers, the son and two of the three grandsons of the founder, Guido, juggled superbly. Together, they kept an extraordinary number of plates spinning, and separately, one son threw a diabolo every which way, and another juggled as many as eight rings. Apart from these men of the circus family and the three clowns who entertained us between acts, the ensemble consisted of nine men and women, not one of whom could have been over thirty and a couple of whom looked like they might be in their teens. Their exuberance as they somersaulted and dived through the air, tied themselves in knots, whirled each other around, balanced on each other’s shoulders, danced through hoops, climbed ropes and long falls of cloth, and did mind-boggling single handstands was contagious. I was particularly impressed by an Argentinian woman, Nicole Martres, who did acrobatics while hanging by her braided hair high over the ring. Other performers were Swiss, American, English, German, French, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian.

When Circus Monti began 40 years ago, it traveled to 100 different Swiss towns, large and small, through most of the year. Now, it tours from the beginning of August to the end of November, beginning in its hometown in Canton Aargau and spending time in nine places in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. One New Year’s Eve, we drove to Monti’s winter quarters for one of their indoor shows with dinner. It was a great way to celebrate the New Year, but it was no substitute for the real circus experience.

One more pleasure this circus provides is its band of six Polish musicians, although this year the Polish pianist had been replaced by a young Belarussian. The group plays beautifully, providing the perfect background for boisterous silliness, quiet magical moments, and everything in between.

I once saw the Cirque du Soleil on tour in Zürich. My ticket cost nearly $200, and the show was beautiful, otherworldly, and death-defying. The performers flew like birds through the air—and I was sitting so far away from them that they were the size of birds, as well. Give me a less grandiose circus like Monti any day, where I can see the costumes glitter, the muscles strain, and the sweat gleam and feel what a wonderful time the athletes are having while they do their amazing feats for us, their enchanted fans.

Do any of you have a favorite old-fashioned entertainment you especially enjoy?