10 September, 2022
Circus Shuvano ready for resounding debut
THE premiere of Circus Shuvano is set to make its much anticipated first appearance at the Lowood Showgrounds this month.
Opened from September 16 to 25, Circus Shuvano is a dream come true for Brisbane and Lockyer Valley resident Ji Martin who has been fascinated by circuses since childhood.
About seven or eight years ago, Ji and his partner Ben Bartel travelled with a small circus in Melbourne for a few months while Ben was on long service leave.
“I fell in love with circus also, (and) Ji came up with the crazy idea to open our own circus from there,” Ben said.
Ben said the past several years had been a long, hard and stressful journey.
“Let’s say there were several times it almost resulted in our ‘divorce’,” he said.
“During that time we moved the assets we started acquiring from Brisbane down to Sydney, only to return to the Brisbane region again.
“We are now settled in the Brisbane Valley region.
“The journey has been only the two of us until recently, when we have finally reached the pointy end of putting on a show.
“We have now started engaging other staff.”
Ben said the circus would be an outlet for creative expression to bring joy and entertainment to the people.
“We are a small intimate show with a range of traditional circus acts,” he said.
“We have a romantic old- world feel with a taste of European elegance and Gypsy flair.
“Our show runs for two halves around 45 minutes each with a 15-minute intermission.
“Our show is suitable for all ages.”
Features are set to include a foyer tent with a food van, laughing clowns and a popcorn cart.
The foyer tent also showcases a large fairground organ which was imported from the United Kingdom specially for Circus Shuvano.
Ben said it was one of the largest fairground organs in Australia.
Ji will be the ringmaster, and there will be aerial artists including trapeze, corde lisse, silks and other acts like handstand, contortion and magic.
Ben, who has more than 20 years of experience as a medical doctor, will do some clowning.
“(I’m) venturing out into something different from the stress of being a doctor,” he said.
“Going for the ‘doctor prescribes laughter as the best medicine approach’.”
Although animals will not be part of the show, Ben said he and Ji supported all Australian circuses with animals as they were some of the best cared for animals in circuses in the world.
Ben said the main goals and targets were to have some fun, while he and Ji intended to bring the circus to various sites around Brisbane.
Ben said they had worked hard to keep prices as low as possible for everyone to come along and enjoy the show, “especially in this time of high costs of living”.
Ben said he “100 percent” hoped the circus could become an annual event in Lowood or elsewhere, as the plan was to start in south-east Queensland and then venture further.
“We would be happy to return if the public want us back,” he said.
Visit www.CircusShuvano. com for more information.
