The Paranormal Cirque Left Denver, but a Couple of Doubts Stayed with Us.

Beautifully performed neo-gothic art, the Italian Paranormal Cirque amazed me with zombie acrobats, cannibal contortionists, bikers on the tightrope, vampire magicians, possessed women trapezists, bestial aerial dancers, humorous psychos throwing knives, and even the famous zombie performance of Thriller. The audience could find themselves in a constant state of awe, humor, and excitement. 

As someone who gets scared incredibly easily, but still loves neo-gothic art the cirque was the perfect place. More focused on the artistic side than inducing fear, it could be enjoyed by everyone. 

But there was something tainting this amazing celebration of horror and blood. From the different acts presented in the two hours the show lasted, only one was from a woman as a soloist, for the rest of the women were left as assistants or secondary characters with the expected skimpy clothes.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with their clothes if they were enjoying themselves in them, but it is left to the question:

Did they choose those attires? Were they comfortable in them? Or were they forced on them for the “sake” of the show?

Why didn’t any of them have any shows of their own? Why were men the protagonists of almost all acts? 

And what does it say about the circus or magicians culture itself that women are left as stage accessories or sexualized to no end? 

I can admit this was not the case for the soloist act the beautiful and terrifying trapezist performed. She flew around the stage with the grace of a ballerina and the wildness of a possessed woman and her attire was composed of a dress fitting for the act itself. But, what about the other girls? and why was she the only one with the stage for herself?

Then, there was the duo of bikers on the tightrope where the man was driving the bike while the woman sat on some sort of swing performing another act of trapeze. She, in contrast with the vampire assistants, seemed to be comfortable in her badass attire of a sexy motorist. So then again, it brings the question:

If she liked it or chose it, that’s amazing because she totally rocked it, but what if she didn’t? What if the others didn’t?

And if she got that act that almost seemed to be defying nature, why couldn’t the others get a similar act? A soloist act?

I sat there in the tent feeling the awe the beautifully performed cirque caused, conflicting with the unease and questions this inequality caused me. Wishing I could ask the performers all of these questions, wondering if my mind was playing me a trick or I was exaggerating. 

But, I can’t just believe my unease was baseless.

In a time where women still fight to stop being sexualized or take the center stage, a cirque with only one woman with soloist act and only one woman participating in a duo act, with other five girls left as simple assistants while ten or twelve men take over every other act can’t be an exaggeration.

Maybe it is the call to attention that even the circus and magicians’ acts have to adapt to the new times where women can steal the spotlight as much as men. 

I hope to see the paranormal cirque leaving a feeling of awe in their audience again. Hopefully, then, the beautiful vampire assistants will have their own magic or nature-defying performances. I bet they’ll be even more stunning.