Three women are remembering their introduction to the circus as children. It offered not just a world of wonder but also freedom and refuge. The trio share and re-create cherished memories of their tumbling and clowning; one loved contortion tricks so much that she convinced her school to include one in the nativity play.
Circus gave performance careers to these “show ponies” (who at one stage don feathery plumes) but it has not been kind to them. After all those years of training, with all that wisdom in their bodies, they are reaching their 40s and 50s and find themselves shut out of an industry obsessed with youth. “And you know what they do to old ponies.”
