Cirkus Bambino
Daily life of a small family circus
27 May 2021
Dad, mom, and six children together - a small family cirkus Bambino - come to Sweden from Germany on tour every year. I started to photograph them in 2010 and since then do it every year. Here is a story of a family circus daily life.
Everybody warms up in front of the marquee before the show when the makeup is done and the costumes are put on. Fall 2014.
I don’t remember exactly when I put my eye on this circus. There are many of them around the city during summertime. I have had an idea to make some sort of story about circus life for a long time. At some moment, I gathered my guts and came to ask if I can photograph there. It was 2010, and since then, I photograph this circus each year it comes to Sweden.
Stationary circuses in Europe exist only in very big cities, and most circuses are travelling ones. Circus Bambino is a small family circus from eastern Germany travels from April until October around southern Sweden. It consists of a mother, father and their six children. Sometimes they have also other artists or relatives.
Jean-Claude juggle before the show start. Spring 2020.
Lui warms up before the show, Steven in gorilla suit is ready to go to the arena. Fall 2015.
Vivian warming up before here part of the show. Fall 2016.
Circus Bambino gives one show every day. Depending on city size, it stays there from one day up to a week, moving from one city part to another. The show is made for children, but some jokes are pretty adult. The main line of the show has changed quite slightly during all these years; the only thing that changes is the performers. When I started to photograph, Billy, the father, was participating in almost all the numbers. However, each year kids take a bigger and bigger part of the show, and their tricks become more complicated.
Jean-Claude takes rings to go to the arena, while Vivian is also getting ready. Fall 2015.
The first part of the performance ends with ponies show. Kevin leads horses from a paddock to the marquee. Fall 2010.
Lui prepares to enter the arena. Summer 2015.
Ariane fixes Jean-Claude makeup in the main wagon. Fall 2011.
Snack before the show. Fall 2012.
A circus caravan is a reasonably large number of different cars. There are two main trucks, each with two trailers: two living carriages with a kitchen/living room and parents bedroom, a carriage with horses and the main entrance to the circus, which also serves as a freight car for folding the tent. Another truck contains a shower and Kevin's (the eldest son) bedroom. There are also several passenger cars with houses on wheels trailers. For many years all trucks were driven by only one driver - the father of the family - Billy. Now children have grown up and can also drive all cars. Yet, moving the circus from one place to another means several trips each time. Each year the number of cars increases - kids grow and moves out from the living trail to their own houses on wheels.
Vivian hangs laundry to dry on the marquee ridgepoles. Summer 2011.
When the trucks have been transported, all the trailers are immediately put in the right places to set up the tent, the braces of which are attached to the trailers.
The tent is always set up in the morning by the children. They also install the arena and chairs for the spectators. It takes about a couple of hours to set up and assemble the tent. After that, before the performance, everyone goes about their business. Children usually play, sometimes rehearse.
Jean-Claude throws the wrench to Lui who fixes his motorbike. Fall 2016.
Kids play with new toys - crossroad motorbikes. Summer 2016.
Lui and Jean-Claude fix the door in Jean-Claudes wagon. Summer 2017.
Lui and Kevin juggle on trampoline while Jean-Claude watches from the main wagon. Fall 2011.
Steven, Lui and Jean-Claude watch a trick they have not learned yet. Fall 2011.
All responsibilities in the circus are divided between family members:
- Billy drives a truck and operates a loading crane on one of the trucks.
- Kevin, Zasia and Vivian (before she left the circus) are in charge of the tent and its contents.
- Lui looks after the horses.
- Jean-Claude and Stephen collect a small inventory.
- Ariane hangs up and collects posters.
Posters are displayed in each city a couple of days before the circus arrives at a new location.
Lui and Stiven collect pony hay in nets to transport to the animal trailer. At the same time, Stiven plays football with his cousin. Summer 2016.
Lamp in Kevin's trailer. Fall 2016.
Usually, the stopping place is a parking lot in front of a large store. In the same stores, people can buy tickets in advance. Sometimes the circus stops in farm fields or parks if agreed with the municipality. Some municipalities don't allow small circuses to stay on their land. The performance is designed for children; usually, the audience is families with children under ten.
Jean-Claude hangs on the entrance to his wagon. Fall 2017.
Sometimes relatives come to the circus. Vivienne talks to her cousin. Summer 2016.
Stiven and Kevin have an argument in front of Jean-Claude wagon. Fall 2017.
Vivian smokes inside her wagon parked by the wall of big store. Summer 2017.
Boys fish in a river near circus parking place. Summer 2017.
Kevin hammers iron nail into ground for the tent support. Summer 2017.
Stiven changes lightbulbs on the main entrance and throws broken ones to Billy. Fall 2017.
Billy watches as Vivian fixes tent wall. Fall 2011.
Stiven packs his props. Fall 2016.
Billy in waiting for visitors to arrive. Fall 2014.
The season starts in early April and, if the weather permits, lasts until mid-October, early November. The journey begins with the arrival of the circus in Malmö by ferry from Lübeck. There are never performances in Malmö because of very high land rental prices, and the circus immediately goes to neighbouring cities. The closer to the middle of the season, the further the circus moves away from the southern coast. In the middle of summer, the movement begins in the opposite direction.
In one season, circus Bambino travels around 70 cities and villages, staying in one place for 1 to 3 days.
Billy shows to the boys how to be a star. Fall 2011.
Kids play while holding ponies before entering the arena. Fall 2012.
Local children gather near the circus hoping to jump on a trampoline. Fall 2012.
Lui and Steven balancing on the horse fence. Fall 2011.
Lui plays with shadows. Fall 2014.
Lui goes to the animal trailer which also serves as a pissoir. Fall 2012.
Stiven fallen from a scooter on a ponies fence. Fall 2014.
Lui and Vivian in waiting for show to begin. Fall 2011.
Billy in his wagon after putting makeup. Fall 2010.
Billy has a certain ritual that he does before each show. One part of this ritual is counting the number of spectators through the curtain gap. Fall 2010.
Another part of the Billy's ritual is one cigarette before the show. Fall 2016.
Vivian holds ponies before the end of the first part of the show. Fall 2015.
A father photographs his children with Jean-Claude. Fall 2017.
Billy greets a young visitor. Fall 2017.
Visitors entering the tent. Spring 2020.
Lui passes through drying laundry. Fall 2017.
Probably the most fantastic thing is the energy with which the show is done. Despite the everyday repetition, it does not look like it is overdone; on the contrary, it seems like all the actors enjoy what they do. Half an hour before the show starts, the lights lit in the marquee and on the circus entrance, which is made of the track trail, music starts to play, and the popcorn machine begins to work. Billy, in his trailer, makes clown makeup for himself and Jan-Clod - they open the show. After that, Billy smokes a cigarette and counts the number of people who came to see the show. He does it through a gap in a curtain. Ariane starts the show as a compere.
Despite global pandemy circus toured in Sweden in 2020. With limited number of visitors and sometimes taking long pauses. Spring 2020.
Stiven plays gorilla. Fall 2017.
Billy in bee costume talks to one of visitors. Fall 2017.
Billy waves to the visitors in the end of performance. Fall 2017.
Lui looks out from behind the curtain. Summer 2015.
Travel preparations begin immediately after the end of the show if it's time to move the circus. First, they remove the chairs and arena, then the tent. The tent legs and chairs fold into a trailer. The tent itself is folded up and loaded by a crane into the back of a truck. At the same time, inventory is collected, the ponies are put into the trailer, and the fence of their corral is removed. The troupe tries to carefully clean the parking lot to get permission to stay here again in the future.
The circus Bambino gives the last show of the season somewhere near Malmö so that it can catch a ferry and leave for Germany the following day. There, children go to school, equipment is repaired, and new performances are prepared.
Kids go out from marquee after the show. Fall 2017.
Lui leads pony into the fence after the end of the show. Fall 2019.
Jean-Claude walks by the edge of the puddle. Fall 2015.
Kevin and Stiven takes down one of the main marquee pillar as Jean-Claude watches standing by the second one. Fall 2018.
Lui packs marquee. Billy starts a truck to load the marquee inside. Fall 2017.
Lui hits an apple with a pony fence stand. Summer 2017.
Lui and Kevin connect wagon to the truck. Fall 2015.
Circus Bambino main entrance stands packed in one of Lunds quarters. Fall 2017.
For a long time Billy was the only truck driver. Now older kids drive trucks as well. Fall 2017.
Circus leaves for Germany at fall time. Their winter location is close to Lübeck on an old family farm that belonged to Billy's father and his circus. Out of permanent builds here, there's only a big barn, divided between old stall for elephants, garage for cars, stall for ponies and some storage. The family lives in the same trailers they travel across Sweden for more than half a year, parked close to the barn. A trailer with circus equipment which also serves as the main entrance, is usually left in Sweden.
Lui and Kevin connect wagon to the truck. Fall 2015.
Stiven watches as Ariane and Zaskia play snowballs. Winter 2017.
Jean-Claude drives motorbike in backyard. Winter 2017.
Kevin cleans barn where part of old circus manege still exists. Winter 2017.
Billy goes to the truck cabin. Summer 2016.
