Published by Modern Vaudeville Press, An International Circus Affair: How a Nanjing Acrobat in San Francisco Changed American Circus Forever is the fruit of collaborative work by Jeff Raz, Stephanie Greenspan, Qri Quesada and Devin Holt. All authors are circus artists who had close relationships with the book’s main protagonist, Lu Yi, a former acrobat and troupe director from Nanjing, China. Targeting a broad readership, this book provides a window for readers to learn about the transnational character of “American New Circus” in the context of US-China cultural exchange.

In the author’s note, lead author Jeff Raz claims:

I will be your ringmaster, introducing fascinating people and letting them tell you their stories. I’ll share my own thoughts and opinions, as well as some of my experiences when I become part of this history halfway through the book (xvi).

The first act, titled “Before the Journey to the West,” charts divergent, parallel and overlapping personal trajectories of Chinese acrobat Lu Yi and American juggler Judy Finelli. Interestingly, when China’s state-run acrobatic troupes began seeking economic profits overseas, American circus artists were experimenting with a non-profit and egalitarian model of “New Circus” (41–51). From the 1980s to the early 1990s, these paradoxical trends created the conditions for Lu Yi and Judy Finelli to collaborate at the Pickle Family Circus and School in San Francisco, where Lu Yi assumed responsibility for training performers and young students.

In acts two and three, entitled “East Meets West” and “Stars of the Future” respectively, the authors delve into the stories told by the cast of the Pickle Family Circus and Lu Yi’s former students. These personal accounts reveal how Chinese elite acrobats and American circus performers struggled to reconcile their differences as they worked and trained together. While creating live entertainment for a working-class audience, the Chinese and Americans had contrasting ideas in almost every aspect of circus life and work, from performers’ artistic approaches, social status and interpersonal relationships, to labor and living arrangements. At the circus school, Lu Yi’s teaching style worked well for some but did not appeal to others. Tensions between Lu Yi and American students intensified after Russian acrobat Sergey Zenov joined the Pickles and contested the supremacy of Chinese acrobatic training. Yet the pioneers of cross-cultural circus exchange still found ways to foster lasting friendships and to create a sense of belonging in this community.

In 1993, three years after Lu Yi arrived in San Francisco, the Pickle Family Circus declared bankruptcy. Act Four, titled “From Sunshine to Stage Lights,” and Act Five, titled “Each One, Teach One,” explain how over the following seven years, several new circus organizations arose from this economic crisis. First, the original circus school was divided into two organizations: the San Francisco School of Circus Arts (SFSCA) under Lu Yi’s leadership and Acrosports led by Sergey Zenov. Meanwhile, the Pickle Family Circus was re-branded as the New Pickle Circus (NPC), where Lu Yi and Tandy Beal, a veteran choreographer and artistic director, produced two touring shows: Tossing and Turning and Jump Cuts! The Circus Goes to the Movies. Both marked the Pickle Circus’s transition from outdoor entertainment to theater-based performances. Then, in 2000, the Clown Conservatory was founded within the SFSCA. Finally, 2001 saw the SFSCA and the NPC merging into a new organization, the San Francisco Circus Center. Testimonials from the former artistic directors, coaches, students and performers offer varied perspectives of how the American New Circus evolved as an art form as well as an institution on the West Coast during this transformative period.

In the final act, titled “Journey to the East,” Jeff Raz tells the tale of two cultural missions that brought the art of clowning from San Francisco to China. In the fall of 2008, Raz and three colleagues from the Clown Conservatory offered the first Western style clowning workshop to Chinese acrobats in Nanjing. Lu Yi, who was the driving force behind this initiative, believed that the techniques of San Francisco clowning would help revive a popular interest in Chinese acrobatics (240). In the second mission, with the help of Lu Yi, a team of American clowns participated in the pre-show and created transitions between different circus programs at the twelfth Wuqiao International Circus Festival in Shijiazhuang, China. The American clowns and Lu Yi hoped that their efforts would “inspire Chinese acrobatic troupes to use more San Francisco-style clowning skills” (254). Subsequently, San Francisco performers travelled to China many times to disseminate their ideas of humor and audience engagement.

The strength of this book lies in the rich interview materials that Raz and his team gathered through their extensive professional networks. Numerous direct quotes from more than forty-five circus artists as well as four chapters on specific Pickle performers are valuable empirical sources for revealing the nuances of the American New Circus movement. The book’s oral history touches upon a range of key research topics such as artists’ subjectivity, ideals of circus bodies, training ethics and methods and circus institutions (Batson and Fricker 232). As I read the text, I wished that the authors had shared photos of the interviewees in their training or performance settings because visual materials can provide readers with information on learning environment, performance atmosphere and people’s emotions that texts do not convey as effectively.

While the authors did not offer readers their theoretical interpretations of the Nanjing/San Francisco circus affair, the book suggests that the rise of American New Circus is part of a larger changing political-cultural landscape, from the late nineteenth century’s anti-Chinese policies to the acceptance of Chinese immigrant acrobats into the San Francisco community. In this light, I think that the book opens room for future academic research on the implications of this circus history for understanding the American politics of class, race and ethnicity at the turn of the twenty-first century.

Finally, the book cover combines the image of the Golden Gate Bridge with the drawing of a Chinese Buddhist monk, Sanzang, his disciples and deities, which are the characters from the Chinese mythological novel Journey to the West. Throughout An International Circus Affair, the authors insert paragraphs from this novel about the arduous journey that Sanzang and his disciples endured to obtain holy Buddhist scripts from India in the seventh century. By juxtaposing the story of acrobats and the story of Sanzang, Raz et al. invite readers to draw connections between the historical and contemporary global circulations of knowledge and to reflect on the success of the Nanjing/San Francisco circus affair amidst the ebbs and flows of US-China relations.

Cynthia Enloe reminds us that “the personal is international and the international is personal” (350). Chinese acrobatics and acrobats have been instrumental in shaping a particular interpersonal sphere that has enabled the Chinese government to ally with the United States (Zhang 126). This book demonstrates how intimate relationships have been internationalized through the making of new circus bodies and shows. As well, diverse memories of this history highlight the indispensable roles played by visionary circus artists who have not only influenced international politics but also circus arts and cultures in both countries. In the shadow of the ongoing US-China trade war, this book offers some hope for building meaningful relations between Americans and Chinese beyond the state-to-state framework.

Author Biography

Tracy Ying Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at York University, Canada. Since 2014, she has researched and written about topics on transnational circus labour and international relations. Research results appeared in books and journals such as: The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, Cirque Global: Quebec’s Expanding Circus Boundaries, Feminist Media Studies, The International Journal of Cultural Policy, Humanimalia, and The Journal of International Labor and Working-Class History.