These days, circus is littered with
young, up and coming performers in acts that push the boundaries of what
circus and contemporary circus is. It has become a thriving art form. Batton &
Broadway are one such circus troupe, with a catch; instead of young circus
artists, The Classics is completely comprised of cinquegenarian
(folks in their fifties) performers.Circus veterans Deb Batton and Sue Broadway share decades of combined experience in the circus and met when they were teaching Directing Skills for Physical Theatre and Circus. "Through this we began to wonder what we might do as performers NOW and to explore what we are as artists and what we have learnt over the years. Mostly the purpose was to enjoy each other and our audiences and remind ourselves of how funny we can be," Broadway explains. "The Classics was in response to demand from both performers and the public. People wanted to see the legends that they had only heard about perform live, and older performers wanted a place to strut their stuff again."