Forced to part with its animals, the Claudio-Zavatta circus must reinvent itself

“We were one of the greatest troops in Europe,” Didier Prein likes to recall, proud to represent the fifth generation of a family of tamers. I can’t look at old photos, it hurts my heart too much to see everything that is disappearing.”

Since the accident of his big brother, Jackie, which left him quadriplegic, twenty-five years ago, Didier has managed the logistics of the Claudio-Zavatta circus on a daily basis. Convict labor, bordering on priesthood. Born and raised in the circus, he defends a certain vision of culture for all by offering popular shows, under big tops, even in cultural deserts.

Rethinking circus life

Despite his attachment to his wild animals, Didier has resolved to withdraw them from the show, following the recommendations of the law relating to the commercial exploitation of wild animals which is gradually coming into force and will prohibit, from December 1, 2028, the detention, reproduction and new acquisitions of wild animals in traveling circuses.

With what remains of the Prein family and the Obando-Perez, Colombian acrobatic bikers, they seek to preserve their way of life, made of itinerancy and intergenerational transmission.

At the end of his ring act, disguised as Spider-Man, Samuel, Didier’s son, slips: “We are the sixth generation of circus performers; If we were doing this for the money, we wouldn’t be doing it. We inherited the circus, but we do it because we love it. »