He has a private jet called G-Laci. He also rides a Harley Davidson and loves Rock & Roll. He was who displayed the images of Freddie Mercury’s vocal improvisation at the closing of London 2012 Olympic Games to 750 million people, the estimated global audience that night. He was the artistic director of that show.
Laci Endresz was also who devised the presentation of Take That: The Circus on Tour, one of the albums of the English popular band Take That. On stage, he simply made an elephant and an over 20 meters high big top; both built with fiber optic lights disappear, plus he made the singers to ride on monocycles and doing stunts, for which they were subjected to months of training.
He led the Tower Circus in Blackpool, England, just when the manager of the company, Lord Delfont, disallowed animal presentations in the big top. It was 1992 and Laci Endresz, who is the sixth generation of his family devoted to the circus life, had already traveled the world with his trapezes and trampolines. By these days he is in Havana, and not for the first time, as a member of the jury of the 12th International Summer Circus Festival: Circuba 2013.
” There is much interest in circus here, which is not common in Europe now. I think the circus tradition has waned a bit. Anciently Russia and Hungary, for example, had many young artists. But there is still much interest in Cuba and the kids have considerable energy. They also have very good technique and presentation in terms of Cuban music and the joy they transmit. That is why they have great success in Europe , because it is different to the personalities and characters of artists, “the circus producer, recognized among the most important in the United Kingdom, told OnCuba.
It is been four years Endresz has Cuban artists working with him. As he is also a producer of other circuses and shows, he has opened other spaces for Cubans. “With them I have an act of scales and other of flying trapezes, he explains. The latter has choreography for eight persons mounted by me and is called White Devils. We also have some girls that make artistic Poll Dance [or dance of the pipe], which is developed on some sticks, but not like in a night club. They do many pirouettes and contortions in a kind of fountain. It’s very colorful. “
“I have a close relation with Germán Muñoz, director of the Cuban National Circus School, and I advise him a lot about what may or may not operate in certain acts. My connection to Cuba comes from there and every year I find cool things here. I find it very useful and interesting, because it implies the possibility of establishing links with Cuban circus students and professionals. There are many Latin American directors during these days of the event here, and that allows you to see how circus is made in other regions. This creates many projects and job offers, “he told.
Endresz is who oversees every aspect of their shows: lights, costumes, scenery, music … and also hires the acts seeming more complete to him. And that is certainly a lot of work, because the Tower Circus remains working almost the whole year, except Mondays, the resting day of the entertainment industry. He knows well, even though he is committed to provide a worldwide recognized art quality product, the circus also must sell. “The point is that I have to make the circus that people like, that is why it is called show business. If there is no business, show ends, “he says.
He no longer uses animals in the acts of his company because it is forbidden. But formerly he had tamed tigers, lions, chimpanzees, etc. For this , among other reasons, he has a high regard for the clowns, a job he considers among the most difficult. “In other acts the viewer can know what the artist is going to do and the likely outcomes , but with clowns he can not know it,” he notes.
For the renowned circus businessman speaking of clowns, and especially about Mooky, is like talking about his family. The popular clown is one of the iconic characters of the Endreszes: first his father, then he, and now his son, Laci Jr., who has been elected twice as the Best Clown in Great Britain by the British Circus Friends Association.
” My two sons are clowns and I think they are fantastic, he proudly recognizes. In England, when children misbehave, parents scold them with the possibility of not going to see Mooky and Mr Boooo. They are very popular. One has traditional clown face, and the other is a little more serious. They are designed not so grotesque and they even has finer features in terms of makeup.
“Mooky has a very nice style. When at the stage, people can feel very close to him . He interacts both with kids and grandparents. He works with all ages, including adolescents. And that’s very important. I think, and not because he is my son, he is one of the best clowns in the world.
“For a clown is essential to establish a family atmosphere, and sympathy, of course. He must have talent and mastery of various skills. My two sons are world juggling champions. Mooky was it twice, once at 9 and again at 17. They make motorcycle juggling acts, double and triple jumps, play music. Even though they make the fool, as clowns, hey demonstrate to the public they are not so.
” I have been traveling all my life, he notes, and consider myself a traditional circus man. I was part of a traveling convoy, especially in the 1960s. That was mainly my training. The circus is that, moving from one place to another . But it is also a highly expensive way and everyone has to be extremely timed because it involves great risks. If you do not do your job properly, it can be an accident on the other side of the rope; it could even lead to death. Hence it is said that the circus is like a family , and I think that’s exactly right . “
By: Eva Pizan
Author
Redacción OnCuba
