EL CIRCO!

Typical of a Friday evening, Jeremy and I, along with our Argentine comrades, acquired free passes to the circus!  Long gone are the days of caged lions, music playing monkeys, and imprisoned crying elephants. The clown? Sure, he is around, but I suppose he too has changed (or she). I was hoping for a mediocre showing of something Cirque de Soleil-esque. After seeing the true Cirque de Soleil a a few years previous, I knew nothing could possibly live up to it. Evidently, I was mistaken and I was unprepared for the ensuing madness, insanity, and shoe-throwing of what can only be described as the greatest circus show on earth!! 

The troupe was an ensemble cast of eclectic characters, perfecting their craft at the National Circus School in Monteal (Yes, such as school exists).

The city of Buenos Aires pays for such performances, thus the cost was gratis. We arrived on time and seated ourselves on the benches under the dimly lit big top. The circus ring, and the entirety of the cast (6 persons) laid out before us. We sat there for 15 minutes, watching them lie there, while a man in the back of the tent began to 'twang' on a funky looking electric guitar. The performers then slowly came to life, like zombies, some with bags over their heads some with masks, others make-up. Like the waking of the living dead, the performers went on to begin throwing chairs, laughing insanely, beating each other with broom handles, yelling and screaming madly. This went on for ten delightful awe inspiring minutes.

This soon progressed into some acrobatic work and wrestling. Flipping and cart wheeling, even one gentleman doing push-ups, but then regressed back into wrestling. At points the entire cast would fall to the floor, only to stand up and begin dancing in unison to some unheard music. 

People in the crowd had perturbed and quizzical looks. Some of us, like myself and the Argentines, were laughing almost to the point of hysterics, while others merely stared blankly. 

Minor trapeze work commenced,  progressing into further yelling and beating. Two men silently hugged for 5 minutes. Afterwards, as in a natural progression of the circus, all the performers dropped down on all fours and began barking and howling. As dogs, they were naturally horny, and they began attempting to fornicate like dogs, dry-humping each others legs.  This led to a rousing chorus of hysteria from the crowd as mothers covered the eyes of their poor children. One girl howled like a dog non-stop for 10 ten minutes. 

The time wound down as the performers wound up. They began removing all of their clothes and walking around in the their underwear. They begin to taunt the crowd, yelling, "Más?! Quieres más?!" (more? you want more?!). We egged them on, yelling "Más! Queremos más!!" (more! we want more!). They began throwing all their clothes into the crowd while running around flipping, and bouncing, and flying through the air, narrowly missing each other at times. A man in the background kept running and launching off a platform, flying into the air, and landing face/belly first on some padding. He would get up, laugh hysterically, and do it again.

Well as one such actor taunted us, we continued to yell MORE! WE WANT MORE!. This seemed to upset him. He picked up a high heel shoe that he was wearing and with the accuracy of a baseball player, threw it across the big top. In slow motion I saw the rotating yellow shoe as it buzzed Jeremy's head and hit my Argentine friend. The show ends to the sarcastic yells of ENCORE! Más!

The announcer tells us that the performers will come out to answer questions. Everyone leaves except us and we wait to greet the marvelous performers of the big top. They come out to an empty ring, only to find us giggling. I ended up talking to the barking dog girl for 10 minutes. She is an anglophone from Vancouver. We talked for awhile. I bullshitted, saying I enjoyed the show. My friends stood there. It was merely chamuyo (cha-MOO-sho). She tells me they will be performing in Canada in the next coming months. Perhaps readers there should begin to seek out passes?

(I posted some photos on Facebook with regards to the act)