Universoul Circus Brings a little extra soul to Savannah, SSU campus

Savannah experienced a little bit of extra soul this week when the Universoul Circus rolled into town with its eclectic entourage of performers.

The only black-owned circus in the world was held on the SSU campus Feb. 3 - Feb. 9. A special SSU night was held on February 4.

About 1,400 enthusiastic SSU faculty, staff and students and member of the Savannah community, were entertained by an assortment of performers, some with two legs, others with four, as they performed feats not thought possible.

Casual Cal, the ringleader, dressed in a sparkling gold outfit and hat, directed the events for the night. Cal, the first African American circus ringmaster, was in charge of keeping the Savannah audience enthusiastic, and with the variety of acts, he didn't have to work too hard.

The show opened with Little City, a group of four little men doing a dance routine, to a classic R&B tune.

There were a number of animal acts, including dancing chimpanzees, flipping dogs and stomping elephants. The circus was truly universal, representing nations from all over the world. There were troupes from Africa, China, Europe, South America and the United States. The local Sankofa dance group even made a surprise appearance at the end of the show.

An African dance group amazed the audience by leaping down onto a seesaw, while launching each other through the air. They did flips, landing on a platform held 20 feet up.

The Double Dutchers from New York twirled, flipped, and performed a little break dancing while skipping rope. Pumping China Soul twirled ropes with meteors, instruments that looked like heavy metal incense burners on each end. This feat was performed to the beat of pounding techno music. The performers did flips and splits as they tossed the meteors 30 feet up in the air, only to catch them with their feet and toss them back up again.

There were demonstrations of amazing strength and balance throughout the night. The Woman of Soul climbed a pole about 20 feet into the air that was balanced on her partners shoulder. She then put her foot into a strap at the top of the pole and twirled around it with her back parallel to the ground. In her next act, which Cal called "the weave tester," she was twirled around a pole by just her hair, at an extreme speed. Motorcyclists from South America put the audience on the edge of their seats as they raced around inside a metal sphere at gravity defying speeds with one, then two, then three, and finally four motorcycles.

Cal continued to get the audience worked up throughout the show. "Let your hair down," Cal said. "If that doesn't work than take off your wigs."

The audience followed his advice and grooved to the popular dance tunes throughout the night that accompanied the acts, as well as the funk performed by the Universoul Band. Some of the audience, including some SSU faculty members, became a part of the entertainment when Cal invited six "old school" brothers and sisters down to center stage to perform Universoul's "Soul Train Live."

At another point in the show one young couple and one older couple were chosen from the audience and were made to serenade each other by lip synching to the likes of James Brown and Alicia Keyes.

Cal informed everyone that they were celebrating their 11-year anniversary.

"Any black owned business that last 11 years deserves a round of applause," Cal said.

The audience laughed at Cal's joke, and gave him a standing ovation.

There was a spiritual side to the circus as well. At one point Cal had everyone point up in the air as if they were blessed. When someone didn't point, Cal called him out. "You woke up this morning so you were blessed," he said.

For the final performance the local Sankofa dance group performed alongside members of the circus. Cal donned a minister's robe with a crucifix and put his hat aside. The audience sang along with Little City, dressed in choir attire, to the gospel music playing, some raising their hands in praise. At the end Cal noticed that some people didn't respond to the spiritual aspect of the show.

"I see that some of you didn't react because you're not in church," Cal said. "Well, let me tell you, God is everywhere."

The audience cheered in agreement.

Cal bid everyone a good night and stuck around to sign autographs. The audience slowly streamed from the big-top tent with smiles as the Universoul Band bid them farewell with a little more of the soul music that echoed throughout the Universoul circus.