Not Coming to a Theater Near You
There are things you do hate, Lord. Perfume-smellin’ things, lacy things, things with curly hair.
There are things you do hate, Lord. Perfume-smellin’ things, lacy things, things with curly hair.
Ron Holiday takes us around his Floridian home during his morning routine: watering the flora in his garden, a session with some gravity boots, brushing his dogs’ teeth, selecting the wig he will wear for the day. At 70, Ron looks decades younger than he is. He speaks of a renowned career as an exotic adagio dancer in the 1960s, and later as a part of Cat Dancers, a provocative stage performance that incorporated wild tigers, panthers, and leopards. Ron would eventually settle with his beloved animals, tending to them at his private ranch. We see how ferociously they’ll devour helpings of raw meat for lunch, and later how Ron approaches them so nonchalantly, as pets and not wild animals. They are essentially his last friends, simultaneous reminders of his accomplishments and his losses.
He speaks of his days in Cat Dancers with conviction, and his hyperbole is justified with the 16mm footage that accompanies his thoughts (in an incredible instance, a leopard jumps some thirty feet into his outstretched arms). The nostalgia that his remembrance should conjure is disabled by the absence of the two people Ron speaks of so fondly — his wife Joy, and their younger co-partner Chuck. The three lived and performed together for the greater part of two decades.
Cat Dancers will elucidate the sudden and proximate tragedies that ended Ron’s eponymous stage show in the late 1990s, and the nature of Joy and Chuck’s deaths will not be unexpected. As much as this film is the story of their fates, it is also — and more disarmingly — a portrait of an extraordinarily compassionate man who is left with little to care for. He is an effortlessly unique person who has found his calling in spite of mounting debilitations, nourished it, and he now persists despite nearly unbearable heartbreak.
Cat Dancers concerns a theme I am partial to in film: how human compassion transcends human relationships. Ron Holiday’s compassion ensures a bountiful garden, his well-nourished animals, and even his own unnaturally fit body; I sense these are the results of tremendous loss, as Ron’s face will break into tears easily, his material comforts and health obscuring an emotional void that nothing remains able to console.
Rumsey Taylor / © 2007 notcoming.com
Ron , What can I say. My Mentor, My Friend, My Inspiration, My Hero. A man with dignity, Love, compassion for animals and all around wonderful man who knew how to treat and care for animals. Joy, My Friend, My Inspiration, My Hero, My Mentor, A woman of compassion for Animals, love for all around her. Chuck, My Friend, My Inspiration, My Hero, My Mentor. A man with Love and a great heart for animals, Magic, life, etc. The CAT DANCERS these people were my friends, my Mentor, My inspirations to this day. I worked with them, toured with them for years, I lived their life, I lived their love for animals, I lived knowing them as friends til’ the tragic days. Ron I admire you to this day still and love you as a dear friend. I miss Joy & Chuck and all the cats. This act should have a great film made about them one day and be seen by millions. They are LEGENDS. They are true Americans. They are A blessing From God, because He gave us them to admire and see for years. Whenever I become as big as you all were my act everyday will be dedicated to the GREATEST ACT EVER AND THE GREATEST INSPIRATIONS, AND FRIENDS EVER IN MY LIFE TO THIS DAY ”THE CAT DANCERS” Ron, Joy & Chuck and all the great felines that were stars along side them to this day. LOVE YOU RON, AND LOVE YOU JOY AND CHUCK AND I MISS YOU ALL TO THIS DAY. LOVE AND PRAYERS ALWAYS Jeff A.K.A. THE AMAZING GOTH
Ron is such an awesome person. He is my dance teacher right now and has been for several years. He basically saved my dancing career. He’s taught me more than dance though. He’s helped me achieve my goal of helping raise tigers. He’d just done so much for me and for everyone he’s touched.
Je t’aime, M. Ron! Tu es fantastique! Et tu es un bon prof. :D
tell ron i said hello and im living in milwaukee wisconsin address is 6160 south 6st 53221 lot:31 trailer court i met the holiday back in the 80’s .give ron my love?!.
I feel your pain, My name is Julie Burros, I had a tragic accident on February 9,2004. I too raised a black leopard named Jovani, ——( I’m crying) he was loved just like you loved your animals. E-mail me for more info.
has anyone contacted Amazing Exotics? I understand they are in Dire Straits and still have rescue animals they are trying to place…another thread in the consuming story of Ron and Cat Dancers
Amazing Exotics, i believe, is not doing very much right now. The owners are divorcing and the place is changing management. That’s the last I’ve heard about them. I know Mr. Ron is no longer keeping cats there after they let someone board a sick animal there and it killed one of his cats.
I was glued to the HBO documentary….I couldn’t move except for brushing away my tears…..I wish that I could take away some of your pain of what you have endured, even if just for a few minutes to give you peace. I never knew of your names, your dancing and the cats,,,,,,but now I will never forget. I hope that you find peace, love and comfort so you can smile again. You have touched my heart and soul.
I too was glued to this documentary. I watched it late last night and could not fall asleep thinking about Ron’s suffering. I kept thinking I wanted to somehow let him know that he is not alone…there are people out there that have heard his story and pray for him.
I would love to meet this man!! He has so much passion I would love to shake your hand and give you a big hug and tell you what in incredible man you are and that life may be dificult for you but when the time comes you will be more at peace and have the most wonderful life to come with your partners in a higher life then any of us here thinking that we suffer because we can’t pay for our bills you helped me to look at our lifes alittle closer because what you went through and still are going through lets us know we could be better humans as you are and your suffering you did the right thing.
Does anyone have an e-mail address or POB to contact Ron Holiday. I would love to see one of his recitals.
Just to say I recently saw the cat dancers documentary here on British TV and I was really touched by Ron’s story. Such a tragic story – Ron I genuinely hope you find peace and happyness and my thoughts and prayers are with you. All the best.
Nat Martin
am i the only one who finds this all highly suspicious , the cat kills two people but leaves Ron, hmmm ??????????????????
Obnoxious. Ron made my flesh creep – far too much information about his sexual pecadilloes. Oh, and I loathe seeing wild animals treated in that stupid, anthropomorphic way. Yuk.
Directed by
Harris Fishman
Source
35mm print
Features: The 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival
Posted on
22 March 2007
Read
5545 times
Comments
13
Amazing Goth
2 April 2007
9:34 AM