The Stage

Ali Hassani

Published Tuesday 2 February 2010 at 12:05 by Don Stacey

Ali Hassani, who died on January 16 at the age of 83, in Epsom, Surrey, was the leading producer of Arabian tumbling acts for circuses, night clubs, television shows and cabaret or theme parks in the postwar period.

At times he had three or more troupes appearing around the world, ranging from Las Vegas casinos and television shows such as The Paul Daniels Magic Show, to two or three troupes in the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Ali Hassani was born into a large family - he had 12 siblings - in a remote village near Marrakech, Morocco, on March 7, 1927, and as a child was fascinated to watch and join in the acrobatic exploits of the youngsters he watched in the market place of Jamaa el-Fna, Marrakech. Years later, he would return to the same spot to find new talent for his own acts, the eager young gymnasts flocking around the man they came to know as the Boss, anxious to gain a career in circuses and visit the world.

His early days were marred by tragedy however, for he was kidnapped from his family at the age of seven and forced to join a troupe, whisked off to Spain where he survived the vicissitudes of the Spanish Civil War.

Working for years without any recompense, he emerged a talented young acrobat, and found himself in Britain in 1950 with Billy Smart’s Circus, just before it grew into being Europe’s largest travelling show. He was a member of the colourful group of Arabian tumblers known as the Ifni Sahara Troupe, and was the strongman anchor of the troupe - the man who bore the weight of seven or more men.

There he met and married Tamara Polakovs, daughter of the famous Bertram Mills Circus clown Coco from Russia, and in 1956 they launched their own group of acrobats, the Hassani Troupe. Following appearances at the Hippodrome Circus, Great Yarmouth, they were in demand for other leading British circuses, among them Sally Chipperfield’s, the Belle Vue International Circus in Manchester, Blackpool Tower Circus, Billy Smart’s, and Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall Circus and Carnival, as well as TV shows including The Paul Daniels Magic Show, not to mention dates in pantomimes, and in variety, with numerous appearances at the London Palladium and major London hotels and the Royal Albert Hall.

In Europe, top dates in the leading circuses included Switzerland’s Circus Knie, the big French shows like Cirque Amar, Cirque Bouglione, Cirque d’Hiver in Paris, and German’s elite shows, Circus Krone, Circus Barnum and Circus Willy Hagenbeck, while in America Ali Hassani provided troupes galore for leading shows, among them the Miller Johnson Circus, Circus Vargas, Las Vegas hotels, the American Adventure theme park, and several times for the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus, the world’s largest, known as The Greatest Show on Earth.

In 1979 Ali and Tamara Hassani launched their own small tenting circus in England, sinking their savings into the investment. Without animals and at a time long before the advent of Cirque du Soleil, it failed to attract audiences.

An All Human Circus also failed, but as a Circus of Human Skills the show found sanctuary at Chessington Zoo in Surrey, later named as Chessington World of Adventures theme park.

From the early eighties it provided all human circus skills in a big top for the summer season there, as Tamara Coco’s Circus, and later in the Alton Towers theme park a second unit appeared as International Circus Hassani. It remained a popular free attraction in both parks and continued at Chessington until the company’s management produced its own in-house shows.

Tamara Hassani died in November 1988 and subsequently Ali married a fellow Moroccan Souad. After his retirement from the circus world, Ali and Souad fostered children in their home at Epsom, Surrey, Ali no doubt remembering his own early traumatic days as a child, and determined to give other youngsters a better chance in life.

Some of his former troupe members attended his funeral on January 19, bearing his coffin to a rose bedecked grave in honour of the man they had all revered as the Boss. Ali Hassani is survived by his three daughters of his first marriage, by his second wife Souad and by their son Yasime.