I haven't been to the circus in... well, it's probably been twenty years, or close to it. It was definitely time to remedy that situation!
I arrived in time for the final twenty minutes of the pre-show, featuring the two Asian elephants and many of the clowns.
Wonderful!
The official title of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Built To Amaze! - Nuts & Bolts Edition is a bit wordy, but it adds a blue-collar feel to the circus concept - and that is a very good thing. Everyone can understand and embrace the idea of working people who are also entertainers.
The construction themed attire was a bonus!
Back somersaults!
Flipping from one horse to another!
All done bareback, all done while the horses are trotting around the ring!
Amazing to watch!!!
At times, I felt myself holding my breath while a maneuver was in motion!
Such beautiful horses, too!
"archer' is simply not enough!
By the end, there were nine crossbows arranged on stage, with small balloons in front of each. He pulled the trigger for only the first shot. They were precisely aligned for a continuous and sequential release of arrows as each balloon was burst by an arrow.
Utterly amazing!!!
Think Harlem Globetrotters on ever-moving unicycles and you get the picture!
Very funny show they put on, too, with lots of trick shots and a little dribbling...
and a super-tall unicycle for those hard to reach areas!
There's more!
Inside the Globe of Steel, two motorcyclists whizzed along, intertwining with each other in a series of near collisions!
Not exciting enough?
Fine. They added a third cyclist and a daring young woman to stand in the middle while they all spun around her!!!
WOW!!!
First up was a quartet of aerialists - very strong acrobats they were, too.
How did I know?
They performed a "flying trapeze" style of act - but with no trapeze. They literally threw each other from one platform to another!
I cannot even imagine the musculature needed for that.
Performed on a high wire
right in front of me
was a single motorcyclist, racing along and balancing the actions of the two aerialists on an attached perch below him, while Ozzy's "Crazy Train" served as his soundtrack - superb!!!!
Alex Petrov, you are incredible!!!
back down
to Earth again!
How better
than with a
group of cute dogs?
Especially
if those dogs
are of a variety
of sizes and colors and breeds -
definitely!
Hector and Tatiana are a hand-balancing team known as Duo Solys and they are incredible to watch.
She is the one supporting him throughout most of their act.
That's a pretty cool switcheroo!
Two young men
worked with this
double pendulum,
dancing and running
and jumping in
- and on top of! -
the moving, rotating wheels.
Such great balance and talent!
You can't have a circus without elephants, right?
No fears, my dear!
Here they are, one older, one younger, both thriving on the applause of the happy crowd!
Clearly, this group is treating these sweet beasts like the stars of the show!
Hooray!!!
Everyone back on stage one last time!
Aerialists, dogs, horses, bicyclists, clowns, everyone!
Add confetti! Add flashing lights!
Add applause!!!
Wow...
what a grand experience!
1 comment:
Well, I'm glad I went.
The elephants performed for their final time on Mother's Day.
Now, they have all retired to the Center For Elephant Conservation. That's in Florida, home of retirees.
ba-dum-BUM!
As happy as I am for the pachyderms, I'm glad I was able to see the circus intact, with the elephants proudly marching along in the ring.
It just won't be the same for me.
Then again, the circus is for children, right? In five years, no one - except the adults - will even recall that elephants were ever part of the circus.
And that will be the true end of the era.
Post a Comment