There's an interesting, albeit longish, read at BBC on the history and eventual demise of RBB&B - the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey circus and the effects it had on the people, who in some cases were born and raised on the circus trains.
Ivan Vargas, like generations of circus kids before him, first lived on the train with his parents, and attended school in the travelling classroom that set up amongst the dressing rooms at every stop along the tour. He was not allowed to perform unless he went to class, which often took place in between shows.
Then comes Taba Maluenda’s tiger act. A burly, bald Chilean with a scar across one cheek, Maluenda is one of the only performers with his own microphone. It picks up a sob that escapes his throat as the 13 tigers watch curiously from their perches. He summons one of them down and buries his face in her fur.
It’s their last time working together - though he’s raised some of the tigers since they were cubs, they don’t belong to him, and Feld is not disclosing where they are being sent. Maluenda thanks each tiger by name as they exit the caged ring.
Wrenching.
