At ‘Confetti,’ Circus Juventas stuns with a joyful whirlwind through circus’ past and future
“Confetti”
What: Circus Juventas’ summer show, “Confetti”
Description: The show’s script thrusts four main characters — performers in the now-closed Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus — back in time to pivotal moments in circus history.
When: Six showtimes remain: 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 11, and Friday, Aug. 12; 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13, and Sunday, Aug. 14.
Where: Circus Juventas Big Top, 1270 Montreal Ave., St. Paul
Tickets: $50-$25; circusjuventas.org/summer-show-2022/
The moment the lights went down under the Big Top at Circus Juventas for their summer show, it was clear why this year’s production is called “Confetti.” As the young performers flipped and unicycled and rollerskated and leapt over one another during the first act, their colorful costumes shimmered under the spotlights.
The annual summer show showcases the St. Paul circus school’s best acrobats, aerialists, and circus mavens, most of whom are under the age of 21, and each production is years in the making. Six showtimes remain: 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 11; 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 12; 1 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13; and 1 and 7 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 14, and tickets are available on Circus Juventas’ website at circusjuventas.org/summer-show-2022. All shows take place at their big top arena at 1270 Montreal Ave.
The show’s script thrusts four main characters — performers in the now-closed Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus — back in time to pivotal moments in circus history.
First, to a “minstrel”-style show in late 1400s Florence, Italy. Over a soundtrack ranging from the traditional Italian dance Saltarello to the opening theme from the historical drama series “Medici,” one performer used aerial silks suspended from the rafters to literally sweep another off her feet during a romantic subplot. And meanwhile, as the pair soared around, six other performers wove and knotted silks around their bodies in complex, precise patterns even higher up. When it came time for a dramatic drop, they all spun downward in tandem.
Next, the quartet traveled to 1700s England to clown around with Philip Astley, who popularized the modern circus ring; then 100 years later to Paris to showcase the flying trapeze. Some of the show’s most daring aerialists swung across the Big Top: Gabriel Lockhart, Storm Hovan, and Annie McEwen, a 7th grader at Global Arts Plus in St. Paul who’s already been training with Circus Juventas for 11 years. They looked almost superheroic as they were caught by Circus Juventas virtuoso Danny Butler, swinging from his knees on another trapeze bar across the arena and sporting a trapeze tattoo on his inner forearm.
The second act of “Confetti” brought an element of fiery danger to the show as the audience found the time travelers in America with showmen P.T. Barnum and the Ringling Brothers. Early on, one girl sported a flaming headdress while others danced around with handheld torches. After another impressive aerial interlude, they brought out a jump rope — which was promptly lit on fire. One performer squared up for a flip over the blaze.
“Oh my god!” a child squealed from the row in front of me. “He is not going to do that!” Boy, did he do it. Then a tightrope appeared: One performer unicycled across it; another triumphantly walked across with a flaming candelabra in each hand. Others stood on tightrope walkers’ shoulders and juggled golden pins. The show concluded with the stunning “wheel of steel,” which Butler — one of the circus’ eldest and most skilled performers — took on blindfolded.
If this sounds like a lot, it was. The show began at 7 p.m. and, with a 25-minute intermission, ended a little past 10. The show’s runtime underscores that, though the performers are young, “Confetti” is just as geared toward adults as kids. Still, the show felt a touch overlong. A synchronized swimming-themed interlude in the second act during which dancers in ruffled swim caps interacted with a slapstick character on a gymnastics tumble track felt out of place to a casual observer.
Most acts went smoothly (including Butler’s finale; don’t worry!), and ones that didn’t land were just as enjoyable to watch. At one point, using a giant see-saw called a Teeterboard, performers attempted to catapult one another into a four-person tower. On the first go-round, person four didn’t quite land their feet on person three’s shoulders, and the tower disintegrated. Just a moment, a coach on the ground gestured toward the audience; we’re taking it from the top. And on the second try, they nailed it. The crowd went wild, and the expressions of sheer delight on the performers’ faces were contagious.
The skill of bouncing back — literally and figuratively — from mistakes is “part of the process,” said Hovan, who has been with Circus Juventas for 15 years and is now training professionally with the hopes of joining Cirque du Soleil.
“Stuff is gonna happen,” Hovan said after the show. “For some of the younger kids, it’s a little harder not to beat themselves up. You just have to tell them that it’s OK, and that it’s not the end of the world. As long as you’re doing your best, that’s all you can do.”
Acts might turn out a little differently each night, which “Confetti” seemed to contend is part of the joy of circus. Near the end of each performance, the Ringmaster character, played by Rosemarie Dunn-Wright, addresses the audience in a way that sums up the theme of the show.
“What you are about to witness has never been seen before, and will never be seen again,” the ringmaster says. “For the circus lives in each moment, each step forward.”
Circus Juventas’ “Confetti” was written to speak to an in-between moment. The country’s most historically influential circus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, shut down in 2017 after nearly 150 years and plenty of controversy surrounding its animal acts. Although it plans to come back sans lions and elephants, opening night is more than a year away. Meanwhile, the more theatrical circus nouveau style, embraced by the likes of Cirque du Soleil and Circus Juventas themselves, grows in popularity. Plus, tumbling and flying over one another becomes more difficult during intense COVID-19 waves, and Circus Juventas, like most of us with plans in the summer of 2020, had to cancel.
“We honor the past and blaze into the future with every performance,” the ringmaster continues near the end of the show. “And now, turn your eyes to the center ring and witness the bravest, most death-defying feat of them all: The future!”
