Former Ringling Bros. showgirl reflects on end of circus

It is the end of an era for the Ringling Bros. Circus as the famed troupe will come to end in May. The stunning announcement came in January when Feld Entertainment, the parent company of the circus, made the decision.

For Linda Holst, a former showgirl who now resides in Northern San Diego County, it was a time for reflection on what she felt were some of the most formative years of her life.

“It’s the kind of production that let you relate to people as you dance by and you look at people’s eyes and see their reactions,” she said. “It brings back those memories about what the circus is all about for performers.”

Holst was a showgirl and performer on various acts during the 1970s and 1980s with the circus. It was during that time she met her husband, Tim, and had her children. She remembered living much of their life traveling from place to place across the country for shows on the circus train.

“The train is really important,” Holst said. “It was our moving community and was I believe a mile and a half long…the animals, the equipment, and each of our tiny houses.”

She said being with her fellow performers with the circus created a close-knit community where everybody supported each other. It also created an environment where valuable life lessons were taught to her children such as punctuality and performing under the spotlight.

“The culture and the disciplines, the thoughtfulness…a lot of those attributes came from the circus,” Holst said. “You know, parents like to claim that but you know your environment has a big influence.”

Some of her most endearing memories came from the elephant acts as she had the opportunity to perform with one.

“I loved the elephants,” she said. “I was privileged to be able to ride an elephant. My very first year as a circus showgirl and you’d be in costume and you’d look at their eyes and you know that there was an intelligent being inside.”

The elephant acts were eventually retired by the circus due to a growing list of state and local rules dictating the treatment of exotic animals and pressure from animal rights groups.

“What was interesting is that the elephants always, even unsupervised, knew where they were going to go, so you bond with your elephant,” she said. “My elephant’s name was Teachy and she was the one that would stand on her head in the show so I think probably emotionally the elephants are probably the key that everybody looks to.”

The retirement of the elephant acts, declining ticket sales and high operational costs eventually led to the circus announcing its closing.

“It’s certainly understandable because the cost to run the circus to keep the high caliber show is enormous and being a family run business…just my own self-tells me that they took on whatever burden financially just to keep the circus going,” she said.

Animal rights groups such as PETA frequently protested outside of their shows. Their activists voiced opposition to what they saw as animal abuse, especially at the elephant acts. They said the animals were not meant to be performing in a circus. Holst said that was not the case when she was in the circus.

“They don’t realize that during the time that I was with Ringling, all the animals were well-taken care of…but you enjoy a special relationship with elephants that you might never have had which carries over into your life.”

Holst said she planned on being at the very last performance of the Ringling Bros Circus in May in Nassau County where the circus will bid its goodbye.

“So I’m sure there’s going to be lots of tears…hugs,” she said. “It makes me tear up even to talk about it.”