Reviews:

This is a big, rowdy, colourful, three-ring-circus of a book, packed with death-defying feats and acts that will thrill and amaze - not the least of which is [the performers'] breath-taking commitment to feminist process. One of the Circus's first never-before-attempted acts of derring-do was to give priority status to recruitment of women who were survivors of sexual abuse.

"But that's impossible!" I cried. "Don't they know that we survivors have learned from childhood not to draw attention to ourselves, not to trust our bodies, and certainly not to trust anyone else?" How could the Women's Circus hope to take a population of women like myself and train them to fly through the air, to support each other in human pyramids, to eat fire, to juggle, to walk a tightrope, and to flaunt their strength and their beauty before hundreds of spectators?

But that's exactly what they did.

Under the unique and inspired leadership of the Circus's first trainer, the auspiciously-named Sally Forth, members learned to work with mind, body, and spirit. Forth's training was a blend of Oki-do yoga, corrective exercise, Iyengar yoga, ballet, European and Chinese circus skills, holistic diets, and cold showers - which, according to Forth, reduced the number of injuries by enhancing proprioception. Each woman was in charge of her own program, in that she could select the skill she wanted to learn, set her own goals, and work toward them at her own pace. Forth's philosophy was, No competition, no judgement, and strong backs, arms and thighs. Commitment to something beyond "me". (p. 85)

Did it work? Here is one survivor's account of her participation in the human pyramid balancing act: "As I was climbing I was at first thinking only of myself, of doing it well. As others climbed to where I already was, I was fearful they would upset my tenuous hold. I didn't think to help them, that they might feel like me. I even had the urge to push them away. I learnt that we had to watch each other's eyes closely, that we had to be conscious of our dependence on each other. That we were a formation of intricate links, minds and bodies. That we had to work together for each other and for ourselves. I learnt that I was very brave." (p. 30)

By 1993, with an average of 50 women waiting to join the Circus, the members decided it was time for another bold feminist leap, and priority was extended to women over 40 and immigrant women. Toward the end of 1995, as a result of research for the human rights theme of the Beijing performance, the Circus also decided to give priority to Australian Aboriginal women. In 1996, members took another leap, this time adding big women to the priority list.

The Women's Circus: Leaping off the Edge was written with the same guiding principle as the Circus itself, with each member taking responsibility for her contribution. As a result, the book is filled with poetry, essays, stories, critiques, and photographs. With so much simultaneous activity, the reader is hard-pressed to decide where to put her attention. In one ring, there are the courageous first-person narratives by big women, old women, immigrant women, survivors. And in the practical arena, there is a whole smorgasbord of "how-to" information, with everything from the trainer's pumpkin pie recipe to instructions for making do-it-yourself juggling balls. And then, of course, there is that ever-popular feature of any feminist organisation, the arena of process. It is here that women discuss the juggling of priorities that is necessary for true inclusiveness, the attention required to walk the tightrope of fiscal responsibility without falling into the abyss of classism, and the constant balancing act between individual needs and the requirements of the group.

Reviewed by Carolyn Gage
The Lesbian Review of Books/ Vol. V, No. 1/ Fall 1998