If you ’ve had the opportunity to catch aCirque du Soleilperformance , one of the first thing you might remark is that this ai n’t your grandma ’s tent funfair .
In case the exorbitant price of admission did n’t give away that mod circus - eccentric shows have set their sights on grander display than the circuses of year retiring , the lush set , exotic costume and expiry - hold deformation and stunt flying should do the trick . There ’s no bearded lady quick to approximate your exercising weight at the MGM Grand , where Cirque ’s KÀ has been running since 2006 . In her place , you ’ll find performing artist twirling through the air with little or nothing to concord on to , using cartwheels and handstands to navigate human - sized hamster wheels as they circle the point . Then they perform a final " battle " scene soldierlike - humanistic discipline manner , while debar upside down from as far as 90 feet ( 27 measure ) off the ground [ sources : Leach , Vegas Chatter ] .
Yet while the circus arts definitely have germinate from the day whenP.T. Barnumand the like crisscross the rural area by wagon and string with a jumbo - sized elephant , modern performances remain largely frozen in some of the attainment and techniques developed as far back as ancient Egypt and China and during the Roman Empire . That includes activity like juggle , acrobatics , rophy dancing and even the piece of work of clowns [ source : PBS ] .
To this day , body contortionists remain one of the most stunning performers of the genus Circus nontextual matter . The ability to sophisticate oneself into a human pretzel and move as if you were made of rubber is n’t just a merriment cocktail party magic or a good manner to make certain that you did n’t overleap any spots with the suntan lotion . It ’s a strong point that go out back centuries . painting and sculptures from ancient Greece , Rome and Egypt feature depiction of contortionists [ source : Simply Circus ] . And Mongolia has a rich history in the art , pass away back to the seventeenth century . In fact , a Mongol team has petition UNESCO to include deformation on its nonphysical heritage list [ rootage : Jacob ] .
