A fountain of ideas

Tricks, lights and music – everything has to be perfectly rehearsed to produce a spectacular circus show. The Zugolino artistes are giving their all and thinking up extraordinary shows to create a very special dream world in the big top.

The showground is a hive of activity: around every corner, artistes can be spotted practising their individual acts for the new show. Frederic is rather nervous and can hardly wait to see how his performers will portray the dream world theme in their acts. Since the theme was Lilly’s idea, she has the honourable duty of opening the show. With her graceful style, the tightrope walker aims to whisk the circus audiences off to a breathtaking Zugolino dream world. She is already busy training hard – she wants to appear as though she’s dancing dreamily along the tightrope with a natural ease.

Perfecting a new act requires a great deal of training, patience and discipline. Kind Luisa keeps the whole circus family supplied with healthy snacks and her delicious elderflower cordial during rehearsals. She knows that all of the performers want to achieve true perfection. They are all only prepared to present their acts to an audience once they have got everything exactly right. Safety is paramount of course.

That is something that Roxy is also well aware of. She has been with the circus since she was a child and enjoys trying out slightly more daring acrobatic stunts on occasion. When Roxy starts dreaming, she always sees herself in the middle of an adventure. And she wants to express that in her act: “In my dream world, there’s going to be plenty of action,” she explains to Frederic.

Henry has very different ideas. Whenever he dreams, he enters a world where he feels free and safe. Colourful flowers, crystal-clear waters and endless pastures for his horses: in Henry’s act, music will play a major role – he wants everything to be magical and peaceful.

Since Henry is rather shy, Hugo is helping him practise his act. With his helpful manner, the clown is always there for all the artistes. And he knows that Henry sometimes needs a little nudge in the right direction. Hugo the clown always plans little acts to fill in between the individual pieces so he waits until the others have settled on their plans before starting to rehearse his own acts.

Frederic watches closely as his Zugolino artistes practise. He is responsible for the overall organization: the orchestra has to rehearse music to accompany the show and all the assistants need to know what has to happen in the ring and when. Of course the circus show is not only about what goes on in the ring itself: while Luisa prepares a little snack for Timo and Annina, she’s already thinking up magical snacks for the visitors. And she orders all the ingredients she will need. Zugolino doesn’t use any plastic which is why only bamboo straws will be available this year.

After their little snack, both twins carry on training hard. When it comes to ambition and discipline, Annina and Timo are ahead of the pack. They too dare to dream: they aim to create an exhilarating dream world using spectacular lighting effects and to wow the audiences with complex juggling tricks. Of course it doesn’t all work out at the first attempt and Annina gets cross. She just wants everything to be perfect. Luisa tries to calm the young juggler down a little: “Just be patient, Annina – I’m sure you’ll get it all right in time for the first show.” Annina then tries to take a more relaxed approach to her training.

The performers still have a long way to go. But Frederic and Luisa know that with disciplined training, healthy eating and enough time to rest and recuperate, the circus family will open the circus season in May with a fabulous show for young and old.