Danise Payne
aka
Baby Dee
Lady Dee
Granny Clown
Thank you
Thank you to our dedicated Roustabouts (Donors & Volunteers) who made this exhibition possible.
Kinetic Arts Center
Jaron Hollander
Victoria Angello
Jennifer Wong
The Cast and Crew of Watch the Throne Cabaret
The UNCLE JUNIOR PROJECT is a community driven digital exhibit dedicated to celebrating and sharing the inspiring stories of African American circus performers.
This exhibit was made possible by our Roustabouts. This is our community of passionate and named after the title given to people who would set up and tear down circus tents.
If you’d like to help us continue preserving and celebrating the history of black circus performers, please consider donating below.
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Beginnings…
Danise grew up in England until the age of 7.
With her father in the military, her family would move every 4 years.
“My parents were from the South and grew up with the racism there.
They didn’t want us to know about racism.
So, growing up in England, I didn’t know I was different.
Once we came to the United States, I saw how people really were.”
“Growing up
I wanted to be a serious dramatic actress.
I wanted to be the next Cicely Tyson.”
(1969) Cicely Tyson in the off-Broadway production of "To Be Young, Gifted and Black: The World of Lorraine Hansberry"
1977 RCA ColorTrak TV Commercial featuring Cicely Tyson
“After college, I needed a job,
but I still wanted to perform."
Danise started working at Fairytale Town in Sacramento, CA.
She preformed in children’s theater and puppet shows.
“I was the dummy to a ventriloquist.”
“A women came up to me after the show and asked me,
Have You Ever Thought About Being A Clown?”
“At first, I was insulted.
But by the end of the day, I thought,
Being a clown might be fun.”
Danise went to Ringling Bros. clown college.
After the 8-week training program, she would be allowed to audition for their circus.
Click picture to enlarge
Ringling Bros. Clown College Reunion, 1987
“It was an intense bootcamp!
You had to learn everything in the circus arts.”
Mentors at Clown College
Fred Garbo
Lou Jacobs
“Everyone who was there wanted to be a circus clown.
Those 8 weeks at clown college was the most fun part of my life.”
Falling In Love
With The Circus
Danise Auditioned and was accepted into the Ringling
I’ll just do this for fun.
“Opening night came…
We had our costumes on,
and I’m looking around scared to death.
I’m seeing the people right there.
I’m smelling the elephants, the popcorn.
I’m hearing the annoucer saying “Ladies aaaand Gentlemen, children of all ages…”
“the lights came up
and the people were cheering.”
Right then and there I knew
I was born to be a clown.
CLOWN STEREOTYPES
Most people think of clowns as men.
Not just men – white men.
I wanted to be unmistaken as a clown who is a woman.
As a human, I’d like to be known as a clown, who happens to be a woman, who happens to be black.
Race & The Circus
“But the circus is made up of people from all over the world.
I never had any problem with people in the show.
In the towns, it was a different story.”
Danise and two clowns from Gerry Cottle's Circus
“In one town I had a gun pulled on me by a security guard because he “just knew” I was trying to steal something.
He had hassled the other black performers too– not the ‘working men’ because that was ‘our place.’
I turned his little butt in and he was fired the next day.”
“Joining an all-black circus- a black-owned circus– was the epitome of everything.”
Click below to watch
Danise Payne’s performance at Universoul Circus
Danise outside a school where she performed.
Danise Performing at Ringling Bros.
Danise as Granny Clown on at UniverSoul Circus
“I started teaching circus arts to black kids, and I have this saying that I have the kid say:
I am somebody.
I can do anything.
I won’t let anybody steal my dream,
Because I am somebody.”
“That’s my legacy.”
–
Danise Payne
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