No Funny Business

After becoming the first Cuban circus clown to perform with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Joan Fernandez Cabrera, 30, saw that dream disappear in May of 2017 when he learned that the 146-year-old circus closed its curtains for good. He and 500 clowns, acrobats, and stage crew members were left scrambling for new jobs at the end of an era. Motivated by the American value system, he looks for success back in his home country of Cuba by joining the Cuban National Circus.

 

Credits

Brittainy Newman - Director, Producer, Editor, Photographer

 
 

In Pictures:

Joan Fernandez Cabrera poses for a portrait as Cantata the clown in Santiago, Cuba on Jul. 15, 2017.

Joan Fernandez Cabrera assists in tearing down equipment after the final show of the Ringling. Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Uniondale, NY on May 21, 2017. “Being at Ringling Bros. and in the United States are the best things to ever happen to me, Joan Fernandez Cabrera said. “I am the first Cuban clown to perform with The Greatest Show on Earth.”

Joan balances a wooden pole on his nose on the roof of his home in Havana, Cuba on June 21, 2017. "My clown acts have changed throughout the years in different ways,” said Joan. “It's like a tree; a little seed you plant and it grows and grows. You see how it nourishes with the water, with the sun. You realize that intuitively, you've changed.”

Joan plays dominos with his family outside of his home in Havana, Cuba on June 20, 2017.

Joan. looks in the mirror after receiving his haircut in Santiago, Cuba on July 13, 2017.

Yunier Lopez (left) and Joan Fernandez (right) look out the window as they depart for their tour with the Cuban National Circus on July 4, 2017. "I think it cannot be ignored, that superhuman effort that they do when they leave their countries, their home, their people, their customs and come to Cuba to adapt, and even if they have here all their expenses covered they do not receive a cent for workings," says circus director Jose Manuel (not pictured).

"I think it is extremely fascinating being able to work with my brother," says Yunier Lopez (front). "A duo we are regenerating again, in Cuba, in our country, where we were raised, where we grew up, where we still have an audience that follows us. An audience that is anxious and eager to see the duo of Cantaleta and Petunio in the circus ring once again". Yunier Lopez and J.F.C. put their makeup as they prepare for a show in Sancti Spiritus Cuba on July 5, 2017.

Inside an abandoned movie theater in a working-class section of Havana, a girl practices a handstand during a circus training session in Marianao, Cuba on Jun. 21, 2017. As a Cuban, the circus is a lucrative career path and a rare opportunity for Cubans to make real money on the communist-led island.

A clown is reflected in a motorcycle mirror while waiting backstage during the International Circuba Festival in Havana, Cuba on June 27, 2017.

Circus performers peak through the curtains backstage during the International Circuba Festival in Havana, Cuba on June 26, 2017.

Joan and Yunier perform for an audience during the International Circuba Festival in Havana, Cuba on June 27, 2017.

A trapeze artist's shadow is casted upon the audience during the International Circuba Festival Tour at the Yayabo Theater in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba on Jul. 8, 2017. "There are cities in Cuba that don’t have the same economic situation as others. And when there’s a political, social, or economic problem, the circus is the only instrument to relieve tensions," says Circuba circus director Jose Manuel.

Yunier Lopez lifts his two-year-old nephew Lucas Cabrera while waiting backstage during the International Circuba Festival in Havana, Cuba on June 28, 2017.