Paul Binder co-founded the Big Apple Circus, a nonprofit, which has been thrilling audiences in New York City since 1977. Binder didn’t fall in love with circuses until later in life.
“I was never really impressed. Seemed strange and odd to me as a child,” Binder said.
He received a master’s of business administration from Columbia University and worked as a talent booker in Manhattan, but didn’t find the work fulfilling.
“It was an incredible time in the late ‘60s and early ’70s. There were a lot of social changes going on,” Binder said. “I felt I really wanted to be part of the scene, to explore myself and to explore what was going on culturally.”
Binder joined the San Francisco Mime Troupe. There, he learned to juggle and met Michael Christensen, co-founder of the Big Apple Circus. Later, the two traveled through Europe with a juggling act.
“We were basically living hand to mouth, staying in small hotels and youth hostels, and occasionally in a tent.” Binder said. “Wherever we were, we found a way to do a juggling act and make some money.”
But Turkey was as far as Binder would go.
“When we got to Istanbul, we were looking at the ferries that were going across the Bosporus into Asia. I stood there, and I looked at Michael and started crying, and I said, ‘We’re not coming across that water, because on the other side of that water lies madness,’” Binder said. “And I wasn’t talking about Asia. I felt that I would be completely unstuck if we continued to travel at that point.”
During his travels through Europe, Binder found the intimacy of a one-ring circus superior to large three-ring acts and decided to bring the show to New York City.
“I had enormous passion for the circus and for New York City. Born and raised here, always loved New York. It’s a special place. Between those two things, those two passions, for me it was inevitable,” said Binder.
Big Apple Circus started as a 1,000-seat tent in what is now Battery Park City. It has since moved to Damrosch Park in Lincoln Center.
“I think that circus serves a great cultural purpose. Circus is a means of ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” Binder said. “It brings to light peoples’ aspirations. The audiences all dream of the ability to fly. They really identify. They’re not distant superheroes in the intimate circus. You can tell they’re people like you and I doing amazing things. And the message is: we are amazing as human beings. We can achieve what we set out to achieve.”
Friends Read Free