Cirque du Santa Monica

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Cirque du Soleil is currently in Santa Monica. The tent is adjacent to the pier, on the North side.

The first time I saw the chapiteau was in 1986, when it suddenly appeared in the parking lot of the old Navy Hospital in Balboa Park in San Diego. I was in high school and my only exposure to the circus was the kind that smelled like elephant poop.

I remember walking up to the tent, nearly 25 years ago, to inspect the odd behemoth. I circled it like it was a beached whale, or an asteroid that just landed in a corn field, trying to figure out what it was and why it was there. At the time, no one had heard of this French circus with an unpronounceable name. It was early in the day, so no one was there yet. Even the ticket trailer was closed. But the price list was in the window. I remember saying out loud, "Fifteen dollars?! For a circus ticket? Yeah... right. Good luck with that here in the U.S."

Last night, I approached a very similar tent again—with the same sense of awe. Music pounded inside the tent as I looked through the ground glass, sea air blowing under the focusing cloth. A show was in progress.

A lot has changed in the years since. Not least of which is the ticket price.