80s Pilsen Backyard Circus

Cfa collection: Tom Palazzolo Collection
Notes: After a brief overhead shot, a woman twirls a flaming baton on a stage. Adults and children watch from folding chairs set up in a crowded backyard, which has a two-dimensional painted circus tent set up behind the stage and a divider constructed from a quilt of American flags. Next, an older man wearing a fake nose lifts oversized weights while a young girl plays an accordion. In the next shot, a woman sings while a man hits a singing saw with a mallet. Local puppeteer Matthew Owens is up next; he slowly unbuttons his shirt to reveal a large rubber face covering his abdomen. He performs a dance with a straight face, moving his chest and hips so as to make the face appear animated. The following scene depicts one woman playing a flute while another woman dressed in a leotard dances with a pair of oversized butterfly wings. Then, a clown (Douglas Grew) delights children in the audience by balancing (and then dropping) a large number of boxes. The ringleader then invites all of the performers to join together to march across the stage.
Subjects: Circus; Creativity; Performances; Performance art; Clowns; Musicians
Places: North America > United States > Illinois > Chicago > Lower West Side > Pilsen
Cfa elements: Print, 108 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/24760