Day Fourteen : The Circus is Coming

Monday 7th October 2019

Today we were told, actually reminded, that we would be going to the circus on Thursday. I believe it was Zippo's Circus. I have never been to a circus before so I am a bit excited. Today, we were also briefed on a brief history of the circus, I learnt a lot about circuses and also realised somewhat how amazing our lecturers are. Sometimes I wonder why they are here teaching us instead of doing more incredible stuff.

I am more fascinated by circuses after the lecture. Like a lot of youths, I also had the dream of running away with the circus so it was nice to learn more about its history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus

Philip Astley (1742-1814) is credited as the father of the modern circus, he was a calvary officer. In 1768, he began performing shows of trick horse riding. He did not create trick horse riding or acrobat acts but he was the first to create a space where different acts were put together to perform a show. In 1770 he hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and a clown to fill in the pauses between the equestrian demonstrations. This was later known as a circus. Styles of performance has developed significantly since Astley created the 'modern circus', so has the places they are performed in. For example, there are fewer animal acts now than there were in P.T. Barnum's Animal Menagerie and instead of being performed in theatres, circus acts are performed in plastic, fire-proof tents.

Astley's original circus ring was 65 ft (~19 m) in diameter, and later he changed it at 42 ft (~13 m), which became the standard size used by circuses.

The circus has an interesting beginning.

Also today, we were briefed on doing our midpoint evaluation, it is due on Wednesday. Here is some information on it:

The Midpoint Review is a tool of critical evaluation 'to provide an honest and accurate appraisal of project development'. It helps us to gauge what we have achieved and where we can improve. It helps us to better understand the process of assessment.