To je cirkus! – Skučková Karolína (2024)

The circus, a place where the unseen can be seen and the unheard can be heard. The lives of circus people have always followed their own rules, and very few outsiders have managed to penetrate this strongly traditional, closed environment. The circus brings a piece of the fantastic into everyday life — during the performances of acrobats, trainers, jugglers, or magicians, we hold our breath and ponder not only the perfect execution but also what would happen if... The circus is simply full of emotions and tension. However, as representatives of the Czech circus scene testify in their life stories, the joy of a brilliantly performed act is paid for with hard work, struggle, and existential uncertainty, further exacerbated by the unclear future of the circus world. In the book 'This is the Circus!', we find the stories of a balance beam artist, a tiger trainer, a trapeze artist, a horse trainer, a tightrope walker, an animal caretaker, or an artist combining traditional circus with new circus or burlesque. All the stories are complemented by photographs from the personal archives of the narrators.