If you frequent the blog, you have probably caught on by now that Scott and I like to attend pretty much any kind of event that comes to town. This one, however, is one we have been waiting for!
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has been around since the early 1900s! Known as “The Greatest Show On Earth,” the company runs three types of shows, simultaneously. The Red and Blue Tours are full three-ring circuses and travel by train to perform in large venues like stadiums and arenas. The Gold Tour is a one-ring circus that travels by truck and is scaled down to be able to perform in smaller venues.
Besides going once while growing up, the first time I had really been to the circus was last year in Orlando. I was not particularly excited for it, because in my head it was just going to be a bunch of comedy geared towards kids and acts I have already seen before.
I could not have been more wrong and to my surprise, I was thoroughly impressed with every single act. Before the show, Scott informed me we would be seeing an entirely different tour than before. Yippee!
For shows like this one, we usually try to arrive early enough to see the pre-show and interact with the performers on the main floor. This time, however, that was not the case.
We arrived with just enough time to catch the clowns goof around before curtain call. I have to admit that they were pretty entertaining and pulled out some relatively unique tricks.
I know some people are afraid of clowns. As long as they don’t look evil, I am pretty okay with them and Scott loves them! (Shocker.)
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey clowns – I am happy to report – are harmless.
At around 7:30 p.m. it was time for the main event to start. The crowd was full of excited children and I really think we were the only people there without one in their party. I thought it was comical when the lady checking our tickets saw us and asked “Okay, who drug who here?” Ha.
That’s okay… kiddos with us or not, we certainly had our circus faces ready!
When the show opening with everyone came to a close, it transitioned right into an exciting act of juggling. I found it interesting that there were not just a handful of jugglers, but a handful of entire acts going on all at the same time.
I was not sure where to look, because everything was impressing me. My focus changed from one side to the other, then back again throughout the entire segment.
Then came the tight rope walkers. We were front and center for this one!
To put it simply, they were incredible. They only used a safety net for this last part of their act, which entails two people riding bikes on a tight rope, connected by a pole that is also holding up a woman who is standing up and balancing on a chair. No biggie.
I took an absorbant amount of photos during the show, and decided to only post the highlights. All of the aerialists were fantastic, but my favorite part was when (count them) five men held each other from a high swing. What?
I was sitting at my edge of my seat by this point.
My absolute favorite part of the circus is seeing the animals. The main trainer was very nice to them and I could tell that he forms a special relationship with each one. I mean… I guess you would have to in order to be able to feel comfortable in a closed in ring with Bengal tigers.
We have taught Roadie to sit like that and we call it “sitting pretty.” I can not imagine trying to train our cats to do the same thing, much less wild animals!
Check out this Pyramid ‘O Tigers!
Incredible.
As if that wasn’t impressive enough, the finale act to the show were the elephants. Oh, how I love the elephants!
They all came out holding each other by trunk to tail, and it was the cutest.
Each one did a variety of tricks and they ended by starting an elephant conga line!
I want them.
Just like the last show, I really enjoyed our trip to the circus. A lot of people think it might be silly to go without a reason (meaning a child who is asking to go!), but you, my friends, are missing out!
We had a wonderful time and I am excited to see it again, maybe in a few years when we do have children to bring.
Until then, we will just enjoy the circus, animation films and zoos on our own! 😉
Question of the Day
• Have you ever been to the circus as an adult? Did your perception of it change from when you were a child?
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