How does one become a ringmistress of a circus? Cheryl Livingstone speaks to Yasmine Smart about how she did it
HI, YASMINE. SO HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WITH THE NETHERLANDS NATIONAL CIRCUS?
Well, this is my first year in Britain with the Netherlands National Circus. I was in Holland a couple of years ago and did a season with them then and now I’m back while they are doing the British tour.
AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED IN CIRCUSES?
I was born into circuses. My grandfather was Billy Smart, who had a very large circus. It was the largest in Europe way back in the 60s and 70s. Circuses are in my blood. My mother was a trapeze high-wire walker and my father was the circus director, so I’ve always been in the circus. I’ve always been passionate about horses, so I mostly worked my horses doing liberty and high-school routines. The ringmistress came about when I was about 14. Normally, it is a male-dominated role. When I was a teenager, our ringmaster became ill. My father asked me to do the announcement around the back, so they heard my voice on the microphone. And then they thought, oh her voice sounds quite good. So next year, when I was 15, I became the youngest ringmistress, probably in the world at that time. I was the ringmistress for many years with our own circus.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE GROWING UP IN THE CIRCUS?
Obviously, everyone asks me the same thing, but for me it was just a normal way of life. Looking back, I suppose it was like being brought up in Disneyland. We travelled from town to town and went from school to school.
WERE YOU HOME SCHOOLED?
No, I went to school wherever we were performing. Our season was from March to November, so all those nine months I would be touring and then, in the winter, I would go back to my school in Windsor. Then, when I got to about 11 or 12, my parents decided to leave my sister and me at home with a nanny and we went to our regular school. But because I was so in love with horses and the circus at that stage, I didn’t learn a thing. The head teacher told my parents that I wasn’t concentrating and they’d be better off taking me back on tour. So my father said to us, well OK, you can come back, but when you go back to your regular school in the winter and you take your exams you have to be in the top three, and I always was.
DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE THE FIRST TIME YOU BECAME THE RINGMISTRESS?
Well, I’d been performing at the weekends since I was 11, so I was quite an experienced performer I suppose before I took over the ringmistress role. I was a little bit nervous and, when I look back at myself, I think I was quite shy, but it just seemed a natural thing and I had a lot of fun with it. The ringmistress takes part with the clown acts, telling them off, so I had a lot of fun with that.
WHAT IS A RINGMISTRESS’S ROLE IN A CIRCUS?
Well, what it used to be was the ringmaster was always the circus director, so you are in charge. Really, I am the host. I am presenting, but I’m more a modern-day ringmistress. I don’t announce every act, but you announce at the beginning and where it is needed so the show flows.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE THING ABOUT THE ROLE?
When I used to present horses, I would have all these little girls look at me like I’m a princess, but now I get all these little boys coming up to me and looking at me with admiration. I think with the ringmistress you get to interact with the audience members.
When you see the people come into the tent, there is always a special atmosphere. But when they leave, the fantastic thing is seeing them with a smile from ear to ear.
WHAT CAN PEOPLE LOOK FORWARD TO WITH THE CIRCUS STOPOVER IN ABERDEEN?
It’s all-round entertainment. There is something for people of all ages. We even have people bringing babies along. What we have which nobody else has is a live orchestra, and that is so important.
We have flying trapeze with a bit of a
twist; we’ve got trampolines with a difference, and we’ve got a fantastic illusion act.
Join Yasmine and the rest of the acts from Netherlands National Circus at Aberdeen Queens Links. The show runs until August 9.