Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Amelia Hill

Roll up, roll up! Older generation find joy and fearlessness in circus

Tulukder in red top and striped trousers holding knotted rope draped over one shoulder
Rumman Talukder said circus makes him feel ‘indomitable’. Photograph: Andy Holloway

Rumman Talukder’s favourite circus trick is called the Mermaid. Every Sunday, the 60-year-old IT consultant drives from his home in Stanmore to a circus school in Ware to practise it. Hanging from a trapeze by one arm, with his back arched and his legs wrapped around the rope, he says it makes him feel “strong and graceful”.

“My wife thinks I’m mad but in the run-up to turning 60, I decided I wanted to challenge myself; to find things not normally associated with people my age,” he says.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.