Looking for speakers who will share their experiences with us in a lively manner at our CWL meetings is always slightly nerve-racking. Whom shall we ask? Will they be willing? Will they turn up? Will they be good at it?
Richmond CWL Section shared this Speaker: Brenda on the Wire
For our meeting in July, we hoped to hear something interesting but also amusing and entertaining. Who could be better than Brenda Baliga, a bona fide circus artist?! St Elizabeth’s parish magazine had published an article on her, and she is part of the Sunday Mass Welcoming team – so was very easy to approach!
Brenda did not hesitate and certainly didn’t disappoint! She brought some of her beautiful costumes and jeweller, her balancing fan, many photographs …
Brenda Larenty was born into a circus family. Her father, a Hungarian springboard acrobat, had formed a troupe before the war and travelled all over Europe. In 1935, when performing in Manchester, he met Rita. She was Russian and performed a low wire act with a Chinese company. They married in 1939. After the war, they worked all over Europe as well as in the UK. It was in Glasgow that Brenda’s career started, even before she was born in 1953, as her mother was still performing when (secretly) six-months pregnant!
Brenda’s early life was marked by travelling with venues changing weekly although they did spend two years living on a very uncomfortable train in South Africa. Brenda began dancing and acrobatics from age 5 and only attended school when they returned to England. Although being separated from her family was difficult, she came to like studying and wanted to be a teacher or a secretary. She studied ballet for 12 years, joining Ballet Rambert, but ultimately wire dancing was her true vocation. Her parents tried to dissuade her from the circus life (especially as they had retired from performing) but she was determined. Her father trained her in the family garden while she was studying for O-Levels. After Billy Smart Snr came to see her performance in the family garage, Brenda was offered her first professional contract for the 1971 Christmas Season with Billy Smart’s Circus at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. Having one month to make costumes, have music written, her mother’s wire props redesigned and practice on the wire, taught her how to work quickly.
She toured the UK in 1972, with Chipperfields Circus – one of the largest in Europe and famous for its menagerie. Could Brenda work with an elephant? Of course! Work with parrots? Of course! Perform a flying act? Of course!
During her performing career, Brenda suffered two very bad accidents, one in France, one in Switzerland, but recovered and resumed her professional life. She loved this special circus world and especially performing in public.
Brenda is very grateful to her parents for enabling her to lead such a life and to the Good Lord for preserving her from danger. She has now moved on and has not missed her life in the circus, or rather did not, until she tried on all her costumes before showing them to us which, unavoidably, brought on much nostalgia. Aline Cook
Photo one caption: Brenda performing at Hansa Theatre, Hamburg, Germany 1989
Photo two caption: One the wire – performing the Can-Can dance at Circus Krone, Munich, Germany 1974.
