Soul’s Inspiration

To start a circus, you have to have a bit of the dreamer in you, not to mention an eye for the angle not taken. Cedric Walker has both, it seems: The utterly upbeat CEO and founder of the Atlanta-based UniverSoul Circus paid his dues during a life steeped in show biz, going on the road as a young man with the Commodores and the Jackson 5, and later promoting everything from early rap tours to traveling theater productions with African-American themes. About ten years ago, Walker, seeking to find a black entertainment vehicle that somehow combined it all — the music, the dance, the theatrics, the comedy and the culture — in a spirit of good, clean fun, sat down to brainstorm with cohort Cal Dupree. That led to research on the milieu’s evolution, from minstrel shows to vaudeville, and with all of that information dancing in their heads, Dupree turned to Walker and said, “Well, Cedric, why don’t you just do a damn circus?”

“I cleared the chair,” Walker says. “I hit the ceiling, I was so excited.” UniverSoul was born — at least the idea of it — but as Walker now admits, it takes more than positive energy (something he had plenty of) to keep an idea afloat. In terms of finding black circus talent, he really didn’t know where to begin. Then an encounter with a Philadelphia circus historian manning a booth at a black arts festival in New York gave Walker solid impetus: a list of current contacts in the black circus world, which did, indeed, exist.

He began making calls; to his surprise, the entertainers shared his enthusiasm from the get-go. “A lot of them helped us to find other performers,” Walker says. “And even performers from other circuses were very willing and eager to help train people for us.” It finally all came together in 1994, when UniverSoul Circus premiered its inaugural bigtop show in Atlanta. Put on in a rented tent and featuring Dupree as ringmaster, it was the first African-American circus to hit the United States in over 100 years.

Nearly a decade later, the circus has matured into a state-of-the-art touring production with two separate one-ring road companies. One of those shows, Soul in the City, hits the Denver area for the first time Wednesday night in a tent at the Aurora Mall, with comedian Shuckey Duckey (aka Cecil Armstrong) directing the action, which organizers describe as a blend of multi-ethnic traditional circus attractions, animal acts, high-tech effects, soul rhythms, vaudevillian humor and a participatory, revival-show energy.

Walker says the single-ring bigtop approach is one of the show’s greatest assets: “When you walk into the tent, it’s like entering your grandfather’s circus. But the modern effects will take you from the ’30s to 2004 in one second, visually.” And UniverSoul’s on-stage personalities, such as Soulman, a James Brown impersonator who seeks to put the crowd in a tizzy, and Maybelle, a comical stage character created by actress Patrice Lovely, add a whole new dimension to the experience.

The impressive-sounding lineup includes a pair of white lions; a Gabonese troupe of tightwire walkers who up the balancing-act ante by teetering through the air on stilts; the Twisted Sistas contortionist act; funky dancing elephants; the Trinidadian Limbo Mamas; and the King Charles Unicycle Troupe, which goes the Harlem Globetrotters one better by performing their basketball moves on wheels. Add the intimate confines of a tent, and you’ve got a circus that, as Walker affirms, is fun for everyone, regardless of race or creed. Most of all, he promises, this is one circus you won’t just sit through. UniverSoul is famous for keeping audiences on their feet.

“Bring your seat belts with you,” Walker teases. “Be prepared to have a real down-home good time, where even a grandma can jam right along with her granddaughter. At this circus, we don’t want to sit down; we get down.” Amen.