The official Gandey World Class Productions Blog. Home of Gandeys Circus, the Lady Boys of Bangkok, Gandeys Circus, Cirque Surreal, the Chinese State Circus, Spirit of the Horse and other UK touring shows. Bringing you the best in culture, food, lifestyle and travel that we hope you'll enjoy. Created by the powerhouse duo of Carol Gandey & Phillip Gandey, leaders in some of the most popular household entertainment shows in the UK. Exporting talent across the globe
We've finally come to the end of our touring season and what a year it's been! Our Gandeys cast have been rather busy touring the UK, including another summer at Butlins and bringing The Greatest Halloween Spooktacular back to Dudley. Meanwhile, Cirque Surreal made a grand return to the big top at Manchester's INTU Trafford Centre with a weirdly, wonderful show. It's safe to say, we've had a jam-packed year and we've loved every second of it! In honour of the end of another spectacular year of touring, here are just some of the highlights of our 2019.
We made another return to Butlins Minehead, Bognor Regis and Skegness and what an amazing summer we had! One particular highlight of ours was when Chico Rico made his directorial debut in 'A day in the life of a clown' for International Clown Week. If you haven't seen Chico's first feature yet we suggest you grab the popcorn, this is one you won't want to miss!
Two clowns are better than one!
Our Greatest Halloween Spooktacular was particularly special this year as both Andreea AND Bippo came together for the first time! Alongisde ringmaster Joel, this troublesome trio certainly caused a whole host of mayhem. The perfect way to finish such a great year!
We'd love to this this trio back together again soon!
Welcoming Simeon the juggler to the show
Simeon blew us away earlier this year when he asked if he could join Bippo in the ring, turns out he could juggle not two, not three but 10 balls! Following an audition (which he nailed) Simeon joined us for one of our performances in Dudley and simply stole the show. You can check out Simeon's YouTube channel here.
Mayor of Dudley pays a visit
We love seeing all our wonderful fans at our shows, but every now and then we see a few familiar faces. It turns out even the likes of MPs, footballers and local celebs can't resist stepping inside our big top when it comes to town. This year, we were fortunate enough to have the Mayor of Dudley join us!
Joel and Bippo with Councillor David Stanley, Mayor of Dudley
Cirque Surreal
We finally made our return to the big top this autumn with an all-new show at Manchester's INTU Trafford Centre. 'A Night at the Museum' met contemporary circus in 'Quirki', our first show following our sold out performances at the Lowry back in 2015. Here are some of our Cirque Surreal highlights:
Introducing... Gandeys flying saddles
Our Quirki shows featured the debut of our Gandeys flying saddles. We love coming up with new concepts to surprise and amaze our audiences with and this is one we were particularly excited about!
Our Gandeys flying saddles debuted at Cirque Surreal
Famous faces
We had one or two familiar faces come out to see us in Manchester, one of which was Gandey's Circus clown Bippo's dad (left), who just so happened to be sat next to Man City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne. Rumour has it Kevin was especially starstruck by Bippo's dad!
Some famous faces paid us a visit in Manchester
A Cirque Surreal wedding
We are incredibly excited for our aerial skills duo, Brandon and Jacqui, who are getting married this month! Did you know that Jacqui is the daughter of cheeky chappy Chico Rico? We wonder whether he'll be sticking to his usual Chico attire or something a little more formal for the big day?
Big congratulations to Brandon and Jacqui
Our ITV feature!
A particular highlight was when Caroline Whitmore and the ITV crew came to cover our show and talk about some of our dancers who were from the local area. We are so fortunate to have so many talented individuals from all around the globe in our shows! You can check out our feature here.
It was pretty Surreal seeing ourselves on ITV
Thank you to all our wonderful audiences members who came out to see our shows throughout 2019. And a very big thank you to all the amazing international artistes that have worked so hard in making it a wonderful tour and season! Look out for Gandeys Circus 2020 tour dates across our social media and website.
Hip hip hooray! It’s our crazy clown Andreea’s birthday! The lovable Andreea has been appearing in shows with Gandeys Circus for nearly a decade. Now Andreea is actually French – so perhaps we should say ‘bon anniversaire’! We’re proud to have Andreea as part of our current team in the big top at Butlin’s Skegness . While our other clowns – currently performing at Butlin’s Bognor Regis and Minehead – Bippo and Chico Rico are more traditional, Andreea opts to show off her sense of style with an offbeat modern look. We think her pink tutu / Converse / blazer combo is pretty iconic… especially paired with her blasting boombox! (she’s never been shy of making an entrance). Andreea likes interrupting the action with her silly routines. And you know something else… she is the UK’s only female clown! So you could say she’s a bit of an innovator when it comes to clowning around. With that in mind, let’s look at how much clowns have changed ov...
200 BC – 200 AD – Han Dynasty, Sichuan Province – Juggler with balls and knives – Carving, stone of the “Hundred Games.” [source: Chinese Acrobatics Through The Ages, p15] The origins of the Chinese circus are not entirely crystal clear. There are debates and differing opinions when it comes to the exact history behind the circus, which is not a surprise when you take into account how long it has been around! First records of the Chinese circus - including carvings and mural paintings - date back more than 2,000 years to the Warring States period (475–221 BC), with evidence of performances developing further during the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 BC - 230 AD). Although it is believed that the art may have actually started around 3,000 years ago! One theory is that the acts originated in imperial courts, with performers entertaining the houses in a manner similar to western court jesters. However, it is more likely that the circus was a folk art that was later adopted by...
In honour of International Women's Day and the 'Women in Circus' movement, we would like to share these photos of strong women with whom we have worked - past and present. Women who inspire us here at Gandey World Class Productions , and who influence and empower other women across the world. There are many strong circus women who we have not mentioned here. Please be aware that this list is by no means definitive – there are so many more strong women whom we would have loved to include, and who remain an important part of the Gandey family. The pictures can also be found in a Flickr album here . Mary Gandey: Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Performer – the foundation upon which Gandeys as we know it was built Carol Gandey: Director and Producer – Gandey World Class Productions Hayley Gandey: Circus Director and Performer – Gandeys Circus Coral Gandey: Brand Manager, London Mariska Gandey: Circus Performer – Gandeys Circus Andreea D...
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