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‘Three days after I was born I went on tour with the circus’

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‘Three days after I was born I went on tour with the circus’

  • Author, Jonathan Geddes
  • Role, BBC Scotland News

Maddie Cottnedock was literally born into the circus.

Within three days of her birth in Paisley, Renfrewshire, she was on the road with her parents with Cottle and Austen’s Circus.

Now 21, she has returned to Scotland to work as a performer, continuing a family tradition that dates back to the 19th century.

“On my great-grandmother’s side, I’ve been in the circus for about 200 years, so I was really born for it,” she says.

Image source, Extreme Circus

Maddie took her first steps as a performer when she was two or three years old, performing in dance routines among the various clowns, acrobats and stuntmen.

Today, she performs an energetic roller skating routine for Extreme Circus under the name Maddox Dock.

Maddie said: “I love it – both the travelling and the performing. It’s special to be a part of it.

“I’m obsessed with circus, so I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Her parents were both performers and her grandfather was Gerry Cottle, the famous circus tent owner who brought the Moscow State Circus to the UK to perform.

He also co-founded the Gothic show Circus of Horrors.

“My mum and dad lived in Glasgow at the time, so I was born in Paisley.

“Three days later we were back in the caravan and on our way again. So it’s been like that my whole life.

“When I was little I used to take part in dance performances. I was three when I first performed in Scotland.”

Since then, Maddie has learned all kinds of skills.

Around the age of six, she began training in all kinds of tricks, from magic tricks and hula hooping to a pyramid bike act, where she stood on the shoulders of others while someone else steered the bike.

“I went back to school and told them what I had done during the summer, while everyone else had just been to Tenerife.”

However, her greatest passion was ice skating, together with her older sister. She has now mastered this skill as an adult, albeit at a faster pace than when she was little.

Together with her partner Jamil, she performs ‘high-speed roller-skating’ routines, where they spin around together on a platform.

She says performing is her “way of escape.”

“When I go on stage, I can forget everything around me.

“My partner and I only learned it in January and started doing it in March, so it only took a few months to work on it.

“I then turn my neck, we do somersaults and things like that.

“We really have to trust each other, but it’s like anything: when you get used to it and follow the training, you get the feeling that you’re on top of it.

“When I was young, I really enjoyed skating with my sister. It felt good when I got the chance to do it again.”

Image source, Maddie Cottondock

Image caption, Maddie started performing in circuses as a toddler

She will perform this dynamic routine during the circus’ stay in Scotland, which will be at the Silverburn shopping centre in Glasgow until 28th July, and then in Aberdeen until 18th August.

The programme is varied: Extreme Circus usually tours from March to November, followed by a Christmas season of performances and then two months off from New Year’s.

In the winter, Maddie sometimes works at the family’s other business, the Wookey Hall Caves attraction in Somerset, where she lives.

But her thoughts are never far from the circus tent.

“I keep thinking about going back on the road with the circus,” she adds.

“I get bored when I’m not traveling.”

But her parents are still involved in her travels, as both her father and mother now work behind the scenes.

That has its advantages, but it also means they can sometimes be Maddie’s harshest critics.

“There is no critic like your parents.

“They used to perform, so they knew what to look for. Then when I come off stage, they’re like, ‘Oh, your leg’s not quite straight,’ and stuff like that.

“But it’s good to always have that constant reassurance and little criticisms so you don’t get too comfortable.

“And it’s also nice if you can have a cup of tea with them after a performance.”

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