Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/439085
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 DECEMBER 2014 News MIRIAM DALLI WHEN Maltese parliamentar- ians approved a bill in parliament banning animal circuses from the island, long-time circus organiser Johann Said was one of the few vo- ciferous opponents of the law. Animal circuses became in- creasingly controversial in past years, with animal rights activists holding annual demonstrations whenever animal circuses reached the island. The protests were however suc- cessful in that the government en- acted legislation just two months ago effectively banning animal circuses from the country. Peo- ple like Said thought this was the end of circuses in Malta – but as he himself admitted, he has been proven wrong. "I always opposed the idea of banning animals from circuses because I couldn't see how a circus could be without animals. I was very sceptical of the thought, but the public has proven me wrong," the third generation circus coor- dinator said. Knowing that it would have been useless stamping his feet at a de- cision that was imminent, early January 2014 he started planning this festive season's circus: a cir- cus on ice. With an ice arena required to remain frozen under -18 degrees Celsius, Said combined the tra- ditional circus with magicians, clowns, trapeze artistes and ice skaters among others. The artistes – among whom is European champion and aerialist, juggler and ice skater Zoe Bald- ock – hail from Italy, P o l a n d , E n g l a n d , C o l o m b i a and Switzer- land. The highlight of the show is a dance on ice to the music from the ani- mated movie Frozen's theme 'Let it go' and the children's favour- ite Olaf the snowman. The forced absence of animals did not make the planning of the show any easier, especially since Cir- cus on Ice is not a travelling circus but one where different artistes were brought together. "The language bar- rier was one of the main problems. But despite the challenge, I must admit that I'm very satisfied with the outcome," he said. Said is also experiencing an increase in children visit- ing the circus: "With schools telling children that animals should be banned from cir- cuses, we had noticed a drop in the number of children at- tending circuses. But this time round we have actually noticed an increase." Circus on Ice is being held in Marsa until 4 January with three daily shows at 3.30pm, 5.30pm and 7.30pm Animal-free circus meets ice arena PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD