As well as free concerts, San Isidro weekend also brought free Circus fun, to be found in a small park just off the Ronda de Toledo. Meeting up with our friend Rebecca, we arrived slightly late for the first event to find ourselves at the back of a rather large-ish crowd. The only way to get any kind of view at all was to stand on a little climbing frame!
There were two events taking place. The first, the Kawa Circus, was straight out of Rajastan, a combination of silent story-telling, acrobatics, music, dance and magic. From the bemused faces on the Spanish crowd I could tell that the story being enacted - two rival suitors for a beautiful girl guarded jealously by her pantomime villain father - really wasn't getting through.
It didn't really matter however, especially when the story reached its pinnacle (literally) as the two suitors were challenged to ever more spectacular feats on the tight-rope and a top a 20 ft pole. Impressive stuff.
After the grand finale we, along with Rebecca's friend Mel and her two children, quickly moved over to where the second Circus was set up to grab a spot. Unfortunately the girls spent so much time standing up chatting away, that they neglected to actually sit down and thus lost the spot I'd bagged for them. We ended up having a our view obscured by a tree. Careless talk not only costs lives apparently, it also costs viewing privileges at leafy amphitheaters.
The second circus was much more modern, a one-man show about a tramp in his shack, with loads of ingenious, self-made modifications, like a unicycle powered dynamo. It was a witty affair, aimed at both parents and children, with plenty of slapstick to keep the kids amused and a satirical attack on estate agents got a lot of laughs from the adults. There was also an excellent take on juggling which I hadn't seen before - instead of throwing the balls in the air he was bouncing them off a table. It struck me as potentially far more difficult as there are more things to go wrong. It was well done and a great little show.
The weather had thankfully stayed dry, so we popped round to see Bianca, Stefan and their newborn son Oliver in nearby Puerta de Toledo, persuading them out to a late lunch on a nearby terrace. A lovely end to the day.
There were two events taking place. The first, the Kawa Circus, was straight out of Rajastan, a combination of silent story-telling, acrobatics, music, dance and magic. From the bemused faces on the Spanish crowd I could tell that the story being enacted - two rival suitors for a beautiful girl guarded jealously by her pantomime villain father - really wasn't getting through.
It didn't really matter however, especially when the story reached its pinnacle (literally) as the two suitors were challenged to ever more spectacular feats on the tight-rope and a top a 20 ft pole. Impressive stuff.
After the grand finale we, along with Rebecca's friend Mel and her two children, quickly moved over to where the second Circus was set up to grab a spot. Unfortunately the girls spent so much time standing up chatting away, that they neglected to actually sit down and thus lost the spot I'd bagged for them. We ended up having a our view obscured by a tree. Careless talk not only costs lives apparently, it also costs viewing privileges at leafy amphitheaters.
The second circus was much more modern, a one-man show about a tramp in his shack, with loads of ingenious, self-made modifications, like a unicycle powered dynamo. It was a witty affair, aimed at both parents and children, with plenty of slapstick to keep the kids amused and a satirical attack on estate agents got a lot of laughs from the adults. There was also an excellent take on juggling which I hadn't seen before - instead of throwing the balls in the air he was bouncing them off a table. It struck me as potentially far more difficult as there are more things to go wrong. It was well done and a great little show.
The weather had thankfully stayed dry, so we popped round to see Bianca, Stefan and their newborn son Oliver in nearby Puerta de Toledo, persuading them out to a late lunch on a nearby terrace. A lovely end to the day.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment