It's Hip Hop at the Top

Until I saw UniverSoul Circus perform in New Jersey in 2016, I had no idea that a big top circus could also be a buzzing 2,500-seat party tent. This vision, brought to fruition 25 years ago and successfully touring the United States ever since, comes from the mind of music promoter Cedric Walker. As a child, Walker would play act with his brother, taking on the roles of circus performers. As an adult, however, he became more familiar with audiences at stadium gigs and sell-out concert tours, working with The Jackson 5, Run DMC and New Kids On The Block, among others.

Walker’s childhood dream still called, however, and his music background allowed him to eventually combine circus arts with the power of popular culture to create the high energy, explosive experience that is UniverSoul.

Now the show is hitting Europe for the first time, playing every day of the Fringe at the Underbelly Circus Hub on the Meadows. A mix of top acts has been selected from the two units that normally tour US cities each season, condensing the show into an hour-long Fringe slot.

One of the show’s stand-out attractions is the viral sensation Fresh The Clownsss, who stormed onto the internet last year with their version of the dance craze 'Juju On That Beat'. Ira Smith, who began the troupe as a Detroit birthday party entertainer before being snapped up to tour with the circus, is looking forward to playing to a smaller crowd again. Since the closure of Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth last year, UniverSoul have become the largest touring circus in the States.

"I know your crowd is a little different, but we’re gonna bring it," he says. "At home with 2,500 seats, we need one clown on the left, one on the right, and we can’t touch everyone, just do our best. With a smaller crowd we can touch everyone."

The show’s tag line in Edinburgh is "Hip Hop in the Big Top", and it was reassuring for Smith and his team to discover—via the power of Google—that the city has a healthy hip hop culture. For me, though, the stand-out attraction of the UniverSoul show is something more basic: the connection between the performers and the public creates a real sense of shared enthusiasm that blends the best of a good gig with impressive physical circus technique.

Ringmaster Lucky Malatsi had performed with circuses in Africa and Europe before seeing UniverSoul for the first time. He’d seen a lot of circus and was blown away by how different the energy is inside Walker’s tent. He has now been performing with the show for 14 years and explains how its unique atmosphere sucked him in.

"Normally in a circus you get the ringmaster, the acts, the spectacle, but when I saw UniverSoul for the first time I thought, this show is not only about the phenomenal acts, but also about the audience. The audience is having a lot more fun. They’re smiling, singing along. It’s not just us performing for them, they also interact with us. Basically they are the main ingredient, and their energy being a major role in this show amazes me."

The fans back home seem to feel the same, returning year after year with their families to experience the fiesta of international artists. On one occasion, the tent hosted seven generations of one family at a single show.

In the past, UniverSoul has sometimes been referred to as a "black circus", but it has always included performers from all racial backgrounds and ethnicities. Walker explains that, when he began, UniverSoul was the only black-owned and operated circus in the US. "UniverSoul Circus provided a platform for circus artists of colour from around the world. It was never exclusively a black show. My greatest accomplishment has been producing a show that brings together people of various upbringings, cultures and ethnicities, including multigenerational families from around the world. I’m proud of the fact that our audiences are entertained and inspired, regardless of their cultural background."

Over the last 25 years, artists of colour in other circuses have increased in number, but representation often relies on broad brushstroke heritage-based stereotypes in act presentation. UniverSoul focuses on current culture. "I started looking at what the kids were into," says Smith. "Paying attention to what they wanted to see. That brought this new flavour to the traditional type of clown, and the kids got it instantly. We touch bases with everybody culturally, so everyone can have a good time. It’s the soul that matters: everyone belongs at the UniverSoul Circus."