ABSTRACT
The crowd sits, stands and sprawls in a half-circle, separated from the Circus Amok traveling ring by the foot-high painted plywood circular curb, its portable backstage made by a quickly assembled steel scaffolding proscenium masked by curtains and brightly painted canvas. The ring performers incorporate a mix of yoga and contact improvisation, breathing and relaxation, acrobatics, juggling, and stilting. On the road with Circus Amok since 1989, Jennifer Miller made a shift in 1993, when preparations began for the first free, outdoor summer circus. The answer was to trust the broadly familiar format and conventions of circus, bolstered by public references to a local news story or a slice of national politics. The issue of class and racial differences between inner-city audiences and the all-white company of the early years initiated a long discussion with Miller.
