Alexis Gruss, 1944 - 2024 - Farewell to a Knight of the French Circus

Alexis Gruss and wife Gipsy in one of his final visits to the ring

The death of French showman Alexis Gruss on 6 April highlights the difference in how circus is viewed on the other side of the Channel.

No English showman has ever been knighted. The Victorian impresarios Sir Robert Fossett and Lord George Sanger adopted those titles themselves.

France, by contrast, made Gruss a Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters and a Knight of the Legion of Honour.

When he died, his contribution to the arts was praised by French minister of culture Rachida Dati.

I don't recall any member of the British government marking the recent passing of English showmen Phillip Gandey and Gerry Cottle, despite their huge contribution to entertainment worldwide.

British circuses, meanwhile, have all but completely removed animals, including horses, from their rings - Giffords Circus being a rare exception in preserving the equine spirit of Philip Astley's first circus, 250 years ago.

Gruss, by contrast, built his fame on horseback.

In 1974, he founded Cirque à l’ancienne – ‘the Old Fashioned Circus’ – to mark the bicentenary of Astley’s first circus in Paris.

Eschewing the wild animal acts that had come to dominate circuses elsewhere, he returned the circus to its roots, with a focus on horsemanship, clowning and acrobatics.

The latest edition of his family's show, les Folies Gruss, is titled 50 Years in Paris, and is as dominated by horse acts as it ever was, with no less than 50 horses passing through the ring.

Among the artists are Gruss's grandsons, Charles and Alexandre, who won a Gold Clown at this year's Monte Carlo Circus Festival with their juggling on horseback.

Astley, who was buried in Paris, would be proud.

Horses and sawdust at les Folies Gruss in 2024

 

Review: Snow Storm 3 - Northern Lights

Phillip Gandey's name may not be as widely known as, say, Gerry Cottle, Billy Smart or the Chipperfield family. But that's only because, apart from his eponymous Gandey's Circus, which he inherited from his father, he didn't put his name in the title of the many shows he created. 

The Chinese State Circus, for example, was one of the most-attended circuses to tour the UK since the early 90s. But China didn't have a state circus. The show was created and named by Phillip Gandey. He has had equally long-running success with The Lady Boys of Bangkok, in which he took a traditional form of Thai cabaret and adapted it to British tastes with contemporary pop music. His other big successes include Spirit of the Horse and Cirque Surreal - both of which may have been attended by many who didn't associate the shows with his name.

With his ex-wife Carol Gandey, he in fact headed the world's second-biggest producer of circus entertainment after Cirque du Soleil

At the time of Gandey's untimely death, aged just 67, on 12 December 2023, he was responsible for the Great Circus of Europe, at that time playing in the Arab Emirates, and Snow Storm 3, at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. 

Snow Storm 3 was a fine show with which to bow out. Perhaps more of an ice show than a circus, it's an ideal confection for Christmas. With a non-stop soundtrack of yuletide favourites, including Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, All I Want For Chrismas is You, Walking In The Air and Fairy Tale of New York, it fills its frozen rink with a swirl of highly skilled ice dancers, in duos and large-scale groups, dressed in a different outfit for each number.

But it's also held in a big top and features a strong circus element.

Britain's best-dressed clown, Mr Popol (Paul Carpenter) opens the proceedings in his glittering purple costume and tall hat, playing White Christmas on trumpet.

Later in the show, Mr Popol is joined by his regular auguste, Kakehole (Chris Freear) in a couple of classic clown routines. The funniest one involves Kakehole's comedy car, licence plate URA 1 (You are a one!).

Popol also shows his vocal talents, when he joins the ice dancers in a white wig to sing Mr White Christmas.

Elsewhere in the show, Phillip's daughter Hayley Gandey - a fourth generation ring star - performs an elegant cloud swing routine, including an audience-wowing upside down hang, after being driven on to the ice in another of no less than three comedy cars to appear in the show. The third mini-vehicle features in a topical pink-themed skating routine to the music from the movie smash of the year, Barbie.

The best mix of circus and ice comes from an aerialist introduced as Arina, who skates around the rink between rising into the air and assuming various poses on an umbrella-like prop with a hook-like handle - something seldom seen with a performer wearing ice skates.

A laser sequence recreates the Northern Lights of the title before a joyous ensemble finale to the arm-waving music of I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day.

When I interviewed Gandey for The Stage in 2020 he said:

“My ambition is to leave the company in a good position for our daughters to carry on. If I was given the choice of somewhere to finish, it would be watching one of our shows with a full house.”

I guess this would have been the sort of show he had in mind.

RIP Phillip Gandey, one of the world's greatest showmen.

Snow Storm 3 runs until 1 January.

 

Who will fill their circus shoes? RIP Phillip Gandey, John Haze, Gerry Cottle and Nell Gifford

It was a shock this week to hear of the death of Phillip Gandey (pictured above with the cast of Gandeys Circus) at the tragically young age of 67.

When I interviewed Gandey for The Stage in 2020, he was a man full of life. Having just reopened three big tops in Butlins holiday centres, after lockdown restrictions were lifted, his one regret was that he didn't have his usual "five or six" shows simultaneously running in locations from the Edinburgh Festival to the Far and Middle East.

Gandey was born into the circus world. A clown aged three, and a knife-thrower at 11, he inherited his father's circus and became the world's youngest circus director at 17.

With his wife, Carol, he established Gandey World Class Productions as the UK's premier exporter of circus shows. When Gandeys Circus stopped using animals in the early 1990s, Gandey became one of the industry's great innovators, seeking fresh ideas to fill the gap left by big cats and elephants.

He brought a Chinese troupe of acrobats to the UK and created the Chinese State Circus, which became one of the country's most successful touring shows. He also created the cabaret-style Lady Boys of Bangkok, Cirque Surreal, Spirit of the Horse and the fundraising Circus Starr (which you can read about here).

One of his newest creations, the circus-on-ice show Snow Storm 3 is currently delighting audiences at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. His Great Circus of Europe, meanwhile, has toured Hong Kong, Singapore, and is currently in the Arab Emirates.

Gandey's passing leaves a huge hole in the circus world, and follows the loss of another great British showman, John Haze, who died in April this year at almost exactly the same young age.

Haze, like Gandey, was both artistic director and businessman, creating the long-running success story the Circus of Horrors and currently the UK's biggest big top show, Circus Extreme (read my review here).

Sadly, it was only a couple of years ago that both Haze and Gandey were paying tribute to another great showman, and a collaborator with both of them, Gerry Cottle, probably the best-known name in UK circus since the 1970s, who died in January 2021, aged 75.

Circus Mania author Douglas McPherson
with Gerry Cottle (left) and John Haze.

It was not long before that, that the circus world was shocked by the loss to cancer of Nell Gifford, aged just 46. (Read her story here)

Nell Gifford

In the space of four years, Britain has lost four of the most important circus impresarios of modern times. Each was an innovator and energiser, breathing new life into a world of big top and circus ring that was created in London by Philip Astley more than 250 years ago. 

They formed a generation of circus-producing talent fit to be remembered alongside their predecessors in earlier eras: Billy Smart, the Chipperfields, Bertram Mills, Lord Sanger and Astley himself. 

Like four king poles, Gandey, Haze, Cottle and Gifford lifted the tent of British circus high. But with their departure, the big top will not fall.

Although all four were driving forces and figureheads, they were not one-person companies. Each left behind a creative team and/or family members to carry on their legacy. Giffords Circus, the Circus of Horrors and Circus Extreme continue to tour without their creators and the many shows of Phillip Gandey will doubtless do likewise, capably overseen by Carol Gandey and their daughters.

We still have another of our greatest showmen, Martin 'Zippo' Burton, whose twin shows in Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland this Christmas reveal the Zippos brand to be at the top of its game.

And a new generation of circus blood is rising, inspired by the generation that came before. People like Tracy Jones who ran away with the circus when she was 15 and learned her craft having knives thrown at her by Phillip Gandey himself. Jones travelled the world with Gandeys Circus, an apprenticeship that stood her in good stead to start her own show, Circus Funtasia, which is this year celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Also on the ascent are Paul and Irina Archer who spent many years working with Haze in behind-the-scenes roles on the Moscow State Circus and Circus Extreme before launching their own colourful and contemporary-styled big top show Circus Cortex two years ago. The show is currently starring at the indoor Kingdom of Winter attraction at ExCel London. 

Around the country, Planet Circus, Circus Zyair and Big Kid Circus are providing top drawer circus entertainment to big audiences in what feels like a thriving scene.

It's easy to see the passing of giants like Phillip Gandey, Haze, Cottle and Gifford as the end of an era. But in the circus, there are no ends. The show will always go on. And as much as they will be missed, I'm sure that Gandey, Haze, Cottle and Gifford would want it no other way.