For three decades, UniverSoul Circus has celebrated Black culture under the big top by combining various styles of Black music, performances and entertainment from across the globe. This year, the interactive, family-friendly extravaganza is celebrating its 30th anniversary in Atlantic Station May 17-26.
Founded and created by event producer and promoter Cedric G. Walker, UniverSoul Circus features acrobats, dancers, trapeze artists, somersaulting motorcyclists and clowns from five continents. The show happens under a purple tent the size of a football field, with an up-tempo musical soundtrack and sound design, along with vibrant lighting.
Walker says his goal has always been to use UniverSoul Circus as an alternate form of live entertainment to showcase diversity within the Black community.
Tim Pethel
Tim Pethel
“It was originated to uplift the positive achievements and cultural contributions of African Americans. It evolved into Black culture meeting global culture,” he says.
This year’s theme is “Family Reunion: Bringing Your Cousins from All Around the World,” which takes the audience on a journey throughout the African Diaspora.
The male-and-female duo Havana Night Skaters spin and twist to salsa and mambo on a small circular stage in their sparkling red costumes and roller skates.
Tim Pethel
Tim Pethel
“Moko jumbies,” or Caribbean stilt walkers, two-step in their tasseled garments while a group of samba dancers dressed in pastel-colored headdresses and studded attire to reimagine the Carnival parade.
Tim Pethel
Tim Pethel
Double Trouble, a muscled pair with cornrows and leotards from the Dominican Republic, splits and balances their bodies on top of one another. The rainbow-haired Fresh the Clowns started doing regional hip-hop dances like krumping and Memphis Jookin in Nike Air Force One sneakers and airbrushed clothing.
Hoop divers from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia were leaping, tumbling, doing cartwheels, chanting and line dancing in unison to percussive rhythms in their blue bodysuits with bright geometric shapes. Sugar Lucia, a group dressed in gold short sets, performed to Afrobeats music on a tetherboard.
Audience members get to dance, sing and do stunts alongside the circus performers the entire show.
Tim Pethel
Tim Pethel
“Everyone under the tent gets a chance to play, so it creates an overwhelming sense of community,” Walker said. “It opens the mind of young Black kids who feel like there’s an opportunity to be part of something bigger.”
Ringmaster Sifiso “Mister Whistleman” Kamela has been with UniverSoul Circus for 14 years. A former street performer, he joined the show from Johannesburg in 2007 when he was 16 years old.
Kamela says UniverSoul Circus is an escape for the audience members from real life.
“Everyone should bring their energy and smiles,” Kamela said. “We want you to forget about your problems and just have a good time.”
Tim Pethel
Tim Pethel
In 1960, at seven years old, Walker saw his first circus with his mother. It left him mesmerized.
The Baltimore native moved to Atlanta in 1975, becoming a live event and concert promoter for various agencies. By the mid-1980s, he noticed hip-hop music had followings at skating rinks and underground nightclubs without radio airplay.
He came up with Fresh Fest in 1984, rap’s first ever arena tour, which had its first stop in Atlanta. The tour ran for five years.
Walker later came up with the concept for UniverSoul Circus while producing gospel plays like “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” “Wicked Ways” and “Mama Don’t.” With subject matter addressing issues like street life and drug addiction that affected the Black community, he saw people of all ages filling up rows and enjoying live theater.
Tim Pethel
Tim Pethel
He knew then it was time to create an event that the entire family could enjoy. “They all could see themselves on that stage, and theater is the oldest form of entertainment,” Walker said.
Through research, Walker discovered there were Black animal trainers during the Vaudeville era and decided to create UniverSoul Circus. He wanted to incorporate jazz, blues, soul, funk, hip-hop, history and laughter into the show.
Walker says some of the investors and backers doubted he could pull the idea off. “Everybody told me it wouldn’t work and Black people didn’t go to the circus,” he said. “It was scary, but I believed in it.”
Spending all of 1993 to produce and develop UniverSoul Circus, Walker traveled the world to find talent for the show.
The first UniverSoul Circus premiered in 1994 in Fulton County Stadium’s parking lot. The audience loved the show but Walker’s idea left him in a mountain of debt.
It took five years before UniverSoul Circus became a profitable business, he says, though he knew his plan would be successful when he noticed a 90-year-old Black woman in the audience applauding, which he believes was for casting a circus full of Black performers and cultural elements.
“I might’ve sold 100 tickets out of 1,600, but it made me feel like I had to make this work,” he said.
Tim Pethel
Tim Pethel
By 1997, UniverSoul Circus was traveling to 10 cities. Two years later, an HBO special on the event earned an Emmy Award nomination. In 2001, the show went international for the first time, visiting Johannesburg.
By the mid-2000s, UniverSoul Circus was touring 32 markets.
Inducted into the Circus Ring of Fame in 2018, Walker says the success of UniverSoul Circus comes from keeping the show relevant with new dances and musical styles from Black communities.
“It doesn’t get old,” Walker said. “There’s always something to explore and something to do. When you leave there, you feel like you’ve been to one big family reunion.”
UniverSoul Circus runs May 17-26 at Atlantic Station. More info and tickets are available at UniverSoulCircus.com.
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