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From Denmark
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A weekly updated internet magazine
Last updated : 25. January 2025
24 January 2025
Freddi Steckel turns 75. Wednesday, January 29, Freddi Steckel can celebrate his 75 years birthday. Freddi Steckel is one of Denmark's oldest still active artists. When you see how easily he throws around with his partners and is thrown around with himself, you wouldn't believe that he now turns 75! Most recently, the Danes got a taste of it in connection with the awarding of circus awards in 2024, where the Minister of Culture presented him with Denmark's most prestigious circus award, the Danish Circus Award.
Freddi Steckel is the eldest son of circus director Frederik Schmidt, better known as the clown Gugele, and his Norwegian-born wife Dina. Until 1950, Frederik Schmidt ran Circus Schmidt Bros. together with his brother Arnold. After the 1952 season, Arnold became the sole owner of the circus, which continued until 1955. Frederik went to Norway with his wife Dina and the couple's children and toured with Circus Empress in 1953, 1954 and 1955. After the engagement in Norway, Frederik Schmidt continued for many years with his clown act Gugele & Co., assisted by, among others, his wife Dina and the children Randi, Freddi, Jacki and Heidi. The 4 siblings had their own act under the name 4 Steckels. An act that would undoubtedly have earned them a gold or silver clown in Monte Carlo, if the festival had existed at the time. Many Danes still remember the act from Circus Benneweis, whose performances at that time were broadcasted on Danish television.
Freddi Steckel changed his act over the years, and his knock-about table act Steckel's became one of the very best on the market. In 2004, he toured with Circus Dannebrog. In 2008 and 2009 he could be seen in Circus Baldoni. In 2013 he was back in Circus Dannebrog, this time as a ringmaster. His last circus season in Denmark was in 2018, when he toured with Circus Baldoni and had the owner René Mønster Baldoni as a partner. In recent seasons he has performed in Circus Jesper in Kristiansand Zoo in Norway.
22 January 2025
Circus Baldoni 2025. The season starts on April 5th at the circus lot in Hillerød, 30 kilometres north of Copenhagen. Circus Baldoni calls this year's performance Gold, Laughter and Guinness Records. They write (my translation):
Welcome to the 2025 performance at Circus Baldoni, where we take you to the beautiful and nostalgic atmosphere that is characteristic for Circus Baldoni. In 2025, our performance offers youthfulness and energy and offers a lot of funny features that will make both children and adults laugh. We are proud to present one of Europe's best clowns, José Michel, who masters the art of spreading smiles and laughter among both children and adults in the tent.
José Michel and his wife Giulia were also with Circus Baldoni in 2024. Not least their funnel act is absolutely amazing. Photo: Jacob Boas Leitisstein
In the artistic field, you will to be amazed by our cool jugglers and impressed by our skilled handstand artist Quincy Azzario, who has won silver and gold clowns at the International Circus Festival in Monte Carlo.
Quincy Azzario is daughter of Giulia and José Michel. Together with her sister Katie, she won a silver clown in 2012 for their act Azzario Sisters, which the Danes could see in Zirkus Nemo in 2014. The duo disbanded at the end of 2014, when Katie went to USA to her boyfriend, the big cat trainer Alexander Lacey, whom she later married. He performed at that time at Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey. Quincy then continued solo with a handstand act. In 2016 she was with the Swedish Circus Brazil Jack. A review of the performance on this page stated: “With a bright red wig – or was it her own hair that was dyed? – Quincy offered a beautiful and fast-paced handstand/contortion act. Such acts can be a bit stagnant. But not with Quincy – the girl is really good!” In 2023, Quincy, together with René Casselly Junior and his sister Merrylu, got a gold clown for their “pas de trois” on horseback. Photo from Circus Brazil Jack 2016.
You will also meet the fantastic balance artist Rubel Medini, who holds 7 records in the Guinness Book of Records and not least the spectacular acts in the air with Lenard and Daniella Matos. Our circus princess Diana Boiachin has a brand-new act on the program. Marine Durand is our tightrope walker who manages to tiptoe on the thin tightrope. Then we have a Spanish master juggler on the program, Alfio Macaggi, who juggles not only in the air but also with balls that “bounce” on the floor. We have carefully selected the best artists to create an unforgettable experience for you and your family.
Alfio Macaggi and Marine Durand toured last year with the Norwegian Circus Arnardo. In November and December 2024, they were part of Circus Baldoni’s Christmas performance. The photo of Alfio is from the performance in Circus Arnardo. Photographer: Thorbjørn Klæbo Flo.
The performance is presented by the young Mickey Juel Prüssing. His ability to entertain both children and adults is unique, and he has Leonardo, our faithful partner on his arm. Mickey has trained hard with our skilled instructor and former ringmaster and ventriloquist, Peter Nørgaard, to deliver a spectacular performance.
Mickey Juel Prüssing was also ringmaster in 2024. Photo: Jacob Boas Leitisstein
Before the summer season starts, you can see Baldoni's winter circus in Ishøj City Center in week 8. Ishøj is a Copenhagen suburb. An approx. 30-minute long performance, where you meet Diana Boiachin and Nandor Varadi, as well as Nandor's father Michi as a clown. You will also meet the breakdancers Artist of Dance, who was with Baldoni in 2024.
21 January 2024
Winter holidays at the Circus Museum. The Circus Museum in Hvidovre writes (my translation):
In both weeks 7 and 8 we offer plenty of activities for the whole family.
Every day at 11 a.m. from Monday the 10th to Friday the 14th of February, a great experience awaits you when Kim Kenneth, one of Denmark's most renowned illusionists, present his fantastic family-friendly show. With an impressive international career behind him, where he has performed in some of Europe's largest circuses and variety shows, he offers everything from small tricks to large "Las Vegas-style" illusions, presented with a good dose of humour.
Kim Kenneth last performed at the Circus Museum during the winter holidays 2018, where his performances drew full houses.
During the winter holidays, we open the doors to a brand-new magic exhibition, where you can experience both Rune Klan and Tryllestøv as recurring characters. Some of Denmark's best magicians have also contributed elements that will arouse curiosity and inspire you to try your hand at your own magical abilities.
Have you ever dreamed of being a juggler, tightrope walker or trapeze artist? In both weeks 7 and 8, you can test your skills at Circus Fun, where our artist is ready with good advice and guidance. Circus Fun takes place in weeks 7 and 8 Monday to Friday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
For those looking for a little quieter activity, we have a cozy playground and a creative workshop where you can make everything from magic hats to circus collages. The youngest museum visitors can also go on a fun circus hunt, where they get around the exhibitions and are rewarded with a small prize at the end.
20 January 20 2025
Silver clown for troupe with a Danish member. At this year's circus festival in Monte Carlo, the six-man troupe Scandinavian Boards received a silver clown for their springboard act. An act where they use their springboards as seesaws. See photos reproduced from the Italian circus friends' website. Most other springboard troupes use a springboard as a catapult, sending an artist up so that he lands on the back of another artist - sometimes up to five man high.
One of the members of Scandinavian Boards is a Dane: Daniel Shamitha Bendtsen. Daniel is a member and co-founder of the Danish contemporary circus troupe Volantes, which in addition to him consists of his brother Jonathan and Mads Panik from Circus Panik. The trio has performed on national and international stages, including in Cirque du Soleil. They have also been in Denmark got talent. In addition to a silver clown, Scandinavian Boards received two special awards at the festival, namely awards from the English Blackpool Tower Circus and the Swedish Circus Brazil Jack. Carmen Rhodin, who was the director of Circus Brazil Jack until she and her husband a few years ago passed the reins on to their son Trolle, was a member of Monte Carlo jury.
Here is the full list of this year's winners of a gold, silver or bronze clown:
Gold Clown
Djiguites du Turkmenistan - Cossack riders
Troupe Nationale Acrobatique de Chine - bicycle acrobats
Flying Caballeros - flying trapeze
Silver Clown
Scandinavian Boards - springboard
Trio de la Troupe acrobatique Zheijang - balancing with parasols
Animaux Exotiques de la Famille Martini du Cirque Madagascar - exotics
Pastelito de Chile et Junior - clowns
Bronze Clown
Triple Breath - wire
Duo Acero - handstand
Wolfgang Lauenburger - dogs. He was part of Benny Schumann's mini circus in 2008 and was with Cirkus Arena in 2010 and 2015. The Swedes experienced him in Circus Maximum in 2009 and 2011.
Alan Silva – tissue
Wolfgang Lauenburger in Cirkus Arena 2015. Photo: Rud Kofoed / Ajour Press
In addition, some junior prizes were awarded as well as a large number of special prizes.
17 January 2025
Rent of circus lots. Most Danish circus lots are owned by municipalities. Danish circuses have had problems in the past, because some municipalities increase the rent for the lot wildly. Most recently, according to Sjællandske Medier, Vordingborg municipality has raised the rent from DKK 2,000 to DKK 5,000, i.e. more than doubling. Circus owner René Baldoni, whose circus usually plays at two lots in the municipality, calls the decision hostile to culture and fears that it will make it financially unaffordable for Circus Baldoni to visit the municipality. Brit Skovgaard, who is chairman of the municipality's Culture and Leisure Committee, defends the increase as part of general price adjustments and points out that local associations can still use the areas for free. This indicates that the municipality is quite indifferent to whether a circus comes to town, but in a year of municipal elections, will like to please local associations.
Circus Baldoni says that they visit all municipalities on Zealand. With the new price increase, Vordingborg Municipality's circus lots will clearly be the most expensive lots to visite. If Circus Baldoni do not opt out of visiting Vordingborg and Stege. Another option is to have particularly high ticket prices in Vordingborg.
Fortunately, there are still a number of municipalities that appreciate when circuses is coming to town and either make the circus lot available free of charge or charge a more reasonable rent than they intend to do in Vordingborg.
René Baldoni fears that high rent may make it impossible for circuses to visit Vordingborg and Stege
17 March 2025
David Sosman one man show. On Facebook, David writes that he has always dreamed of having his own one man show. Now his dream has come true, after years of "just" being part of larger productions with just a few minutes of stage time. In 2023, he performed for the first time on cruise ships, where he had four different 15-minute entrées. Throughout most of 2024, he continued to perform similar acts on various ships, occasionally getting the chance to present his 45-minute show at the ships' largest theater.
Now he is engaged to perform on NCL Norwegian Sky with two different 45-minute long shows in the ship's main theatre. That is a total of 90 minutes of solo entertainment. The ship has room for just over 2,000 passengers and a crew of almost 900.
Many artists have jobs on cruise ships for shorter or longer periods.
David Sosman. Archive photo
16 January 2025
Danish Circus Forum. Many follow the write-ups which are posted Monday to Friday in the Facebook group Dansk Cirkus Forum (Danish Circus Forum). Several have asked if it was possible to search the many write-ups. It is a cumbersome procedure on Facebook, where posts are in reverse chronological order. That is why we have included the posts from 2024 in the article collection on this page, which you can find by clicking here. You can search in the articled by using the function Ctrl + f. We have also added the series of articles about Circus Arena's history to the article collection. With photos!
The language
is Danish but using Google translate you can easily translate the articles to
English or another language.
10 January 2025
This year Circus Arena can celebrate their 70 anniversaries. On this occasion, I have written a 10-section article on the history of Circus Arena. Monday to Friday in week 3 and week 4, I post them with one section per day on the Facebook group Dansk Circus Forum. The language is Danish but using google translate you can easily translate the articles to English or another language.
This tent was used by Circus Arena in some of their earliest years.
Circus Arena's current tent is from 2022. It has a diameter of 40 m2 and is the largest circus tent in the Nordic countries
But fortunately, the circus is something more than history. And Circus Arena aims to celebrate the anniversary with a bang of a performance, which offers both new artists and reunions with artists that we have seen before in Circus Arena. The 2025-season opens at Bellahøj in Copenhagen on Tuesday 25 March. Then they visit the rest of the country. The 2025 tour ends on August 25 in Sorø.
As in 2024, it is Bubber and Malene Qvist who present the performance.
Subject to changes, you will meet the following artists in this year's Arena performance:
Steven Ferreri – tight wire
Michael Ferreri - juggler
The two brothers were also with Arena in 2023.
Christofer Eötvös with illusions (magic). Christofer performed in Arena’s theme part Circusland in the 2024 summer season.
Circus Arena's house clown Jimmy Folco
William Tournoud – rola bola in trapeze. He comes from France, and has not previously performed in Denmark.
David Hammarberg - aerial number. He was also with Arena in 2023 and 2024. David says that this year he is showing a completely new act.
Duo Costache. It is Leonardo and Vita Costache's 6th season at Circus Arena.
Los Ortiz performs in the wheel of death wheel and on high wire. They were also at Arena in 2023, where the Danish Circus Award gave them the prize for the year's best act.
Gabriel Delacruz - handstand. He has not previously performed in Denmark. In 2022 he won gold at the European Youth Circus festival in Wiesbaden. One of the most prestigious festivals for young artists.
There are also liberty horses in the performance. It is likely that it is Arena's former elephant trainer Rudy Althoff, who present the horses. Circus Arena do not any longer have their own animals. Thus, it is a horse act which is booked in the same way as other artist acts. It is the performances only animal act.
9 January 2025
Circus Trapez winter circus can be seen in a number of indoor arenas in Jutland from 7 to 23 February. Isabella Enoch Sosman tells that the artists in the winter circus are:
Swetlana with ferrets and cats. She was also with Trapez in 2024.
Swetlana with one of her cats
Rudi Brunson and Irina Skuratova with new run-is
Rudy Brukson the clown. Press photo from Circus Trapez
Rico Brukson with ladder balance
Elena Brukson in aerial ring
Bernhard Kaselowsky with ponies
Bernhard Kaselowsky and his ponies. Press photo from Circus Trapez
The first week we have Nicolina Bak with us in aerial silks (tissue). Next week Frida Lindskov Dyrholm Nørskov, performing in aerial spiral.
By the way, Isabella has recently married her long-term fiancé Bernhard Kaselowsky. Congratulations to the newlyweds.
9 January 2025
CIRCUSTRANSPORT DENMARK is the title of a new book by Dutch Henk van den Berg. It has 112 pages, all in colour, and contains 650 photos and posters from the Arena, Arli, Benneweis, Baldoni, Dannebrog, Krone, Nemo, Moreno, Mascot and Schumann circuses. The book will be published in February and the price incl. shipping in Europe is 42.50 EURO. The book is in English and can be ordered at www.circuswebshop.com
Henk van der Berg has previously published a large number of books with photos and posters from European circuses.
8 January 2025
Zirkus Nemo 2025. In a post on Facebook, Peter Marrott, who was bandmaster at Nemo in 2024, writes that Zirkus Nemo will unfortunately not be on tent tours this year. Due to this he has time for other projects. He believes that Zirkus Nemo is trying to do something in concert halls this autumn. In circus and artist circles, it has long been known that Nemo was unlikely to go on tent tours in 2025.
There is no announcement from circus owner Søren Østergaard about the 2025 season. At the end of February and the beginning of March, he will give lectures about his life in several cities in Denmark.
3 January 2025
Danish circuses in 2025. We know for sure that at least 5 Danish circuses will be on tour in 2025: the large Circus Arena, the medium-sized Circus Baldoni and the slightly smaller Circus Arli, Circus Mascot and Circus Trapez. Denmark’s last two circuses, Søren Østergaard's Zirkus Nemo and the Thierry family's Circus Krone, have not yet published anything about their plans for 2025.
Three of the circuses mentioned offer winter circuses in February. Circus Trapez has a tour in Jutland's indoor arenas from 7 to 23 February. Circus Mascot performs in HerningCentret shopping mall in week 7 and Circus Baldoni in Ishøj Shopping Centre, Copenhagen, in week 8.
In week 7, Jimmy Enoch presents a circus show in the Rosengaard Shopping Mall in Odense. Circusland in Circus Arena’s winter quarter in Arslev by Slagelse is open from 8 to 16 February.
The tent season starts on 25 March in Copenhagen at ‘Bellahøj’, where Circus Arena premieres their 70th anniversary performance. Circus Arli and Circus Mascot both opens the season on 29 March. Circus Arli tours with a tent. Circus Mascot just like in 2023 and 2024 in sports halls etc. Circus Baldoni starts the tented season on April 5.
A so-called horror circus, Circus of Torment, visits Denmark in March and April. There is a premiere in Copenhagen on March 13. From there they continue to Odense, Vejle and Aarhus. They were most recently in Denmark in 2024. It is owned by DarkThrills Entertainment / Dutch Michaël Betrian).
3 January 2025
Birthdays with a round figure 2025. Several persons from in the Danish circus and artist world can celebrate a birthday with a round figure during 2025:
29 January 2025: Freddi Steckel, acrobat, 75 years old
9 February 2025: Suzanne Berdino, artist, 60 years old
14 February 2025: Dennie Enoch, former artist, 70 years.
6 April 2025: Leif Conradi, former bike acrobat, 95 years old
29 April 2924: Ulla Steckel, former circus owner, 70 years old
23 May 2025: Benny Schumann, clown and multi-artist, 80 years old
20 July 2025: Lasse Nørager, clown, 60 years old
23 August 2025: René Mønster Baldoni, circus owner, 60 years old
14 December 2025: Helle Abildgaard, painter, 70 years old
1 January 2025
This website had approximately 21,000 visitors in 2024. The news section, being a weekly internet magazine and the tour list (“What’s on) are usually updated every Saturday. Apart from news and tour list the website has pages with facts about Danish circuses, Danish circus families etc. Links to those pages can be found at the bottom of the opening page.
Link to news from 2007
Link to
news from 2006