Sentence:  But for all the manifest intention to `` show off '' , this <WSD>was</WSD> a circus with a difference , for instead of descending in quality to what is known as a popular level , it added further to the evidence that this is a very great dancing company . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)