Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
The circus for us, by us, is coming to town.
Black-owned UniverSoul Circus will raise its big top to amaze and delight ladies, gentlemen and children of all ages with daredevils, dancers and clowns. But according to Cedric Walker, who founded it 31 years ago, this is not your grandfather’s circus.
“It’s more about the culture and the movement and energy and the swagger. It’s where urban culture meets global culture.”
Showgoers will see a strong-man hand-balance duo from the Dominican Republic, a teeter board act from Ethiopia and aerialists from Russia. They’ll also enjoy the hip-hop dancing Fresh the Clowns, as well as the huge puppets and fire-breathing stilt dancers of the Caribbean Street Carnival. There’s also a motorcyclist who leaps from and returns to his bike in midair.
Beyond the diversity of its performers, this circus is different because it isn’t strictly passive.
“You’re not a spectator, you’re a participator in this show,” Walker said. “One minute you’re looking at the show in the ring, the next minute you’re in the ring. And vice versa.
“Our philosophy is the audience is the biggest part of the show.”
During the Soul Karaoke segment, for example, “You might see someone that looks like your uncle singing an Al Green song, and, you know, someone like your mom with Whitney Houston, and then the kids with SpongeBob,” he said. “It’s an experience that integrates the whole family unit into the experience.”
That focus on the family is what inspired Walker, a lifelong circus fan with a decades-long career in entertainment, to create UniverSoul.
He worked with bands like the Bar-Kays and Commodores in the 1970s and put together hip-hop tours along with Russell Simmons and the late Andre Harrell in the ‘80s, turning to gospel plays such as “Momma Don’t” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” late in that decade.
At a presentation in Pittsburgh of “Wicked Ways,” a story of youngsters who get caught up in drug culture and the parents who fear for them, a particular group of audience members caught his attention.
“I was walking through the theater one night and I saw a whole family, like a row of generations. It was like the grandparents, the parents, the teenagers and the young kids,” he said. Curious about the presence of the entire family at a performance with adult themes, he asked the playwright, Michael Matthews, and learned about the power of representation.
“These people are seeing themselves,” Walker remembered Matthews explaining.
“Immediately I started looking for an entertainment that wasn’t so serious, that didn’t have so many serious topics but that the whole family could go and enjoy each other while enjoying the show.”
It was not easy to start the circus. Walker and the show’s agents traveled the world looking for talent and still do.
“We invested a lot of money in training Black artists,” he said. The team found instructors in places like China, Russia, and South America to teach aspiring performers. “It takes about five years to cultivate a circus act.”
Now an established entertainment, UniverSoul also exists to inspire and encourage, Walker said.
“The circus was born with the idea that we want to celebrate the achievements and cultural contributions of African Americans through the family attraction,” he said. “So as it trickles down to not only the kids but everyone in the audience, the goal was always that you left there proud.”
UniverSoul Circus plays May 22 to June 1 at the First Horizon Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd.
Tickets and more information are at https://www.gsocomplex.com/events/detail/universoul-circus.
