eight years old

Well I tried to remember the last time I was at the circus and I was I think about eight.  I was with my grandfather (of course since he LOVED the circus and the excuse to hang out with the grandchildren.) I got a clear balloon with a blue mouse head inside and my sister got one that was pink...LOL lines drawn from pretty much day one for us... but I digress... last year I visited the Circus Arts Conservatory during my Sarasota Arts class.  See this post which is chock full of information about it...

http://blog.semifreelife.com/2015/03/schools-out.html

I learned that we have a terrific circus here each winter.  The Sarasota Circus was sold out by the time we visited the Conservatory so I had tucked the idea of going in the back of my mind.  When we read a terrific review of this year's Circus Sarasota I was worried that we might again be too late but we squeaked in under the wire (or the tent flap-LOL) to attend one of the last performances of this particular circus: Red White and Bello!

So I had some trepidation about this because when I actually thought back I wasn't really all that keen on the actual circus - more on the concept of its historical role in the growth of America - the pre automobile era and how important it was to small towns across the country in the days before TV and even before radio... And also fascinated by the logistics of putting on a circus in that era... This has been somewhat expressed in prior posts on the Circus Museum here at the Ringling complex...

http://blog.semifreelife.com/2014/12/the-ladies-of-ring.html

But last night I found out once and for all that even the most cynical of us is an eight year old kid at the circus... We were on the edge of our seats a good deal of the time and laughing and enjoying the evening's centerpiece of entertainment - the incomparable Bello! There is no way to describe the fun we had because it would sound like we had lost our minds and maybe we did, but in a good way- we went with the part of our brains that didn't spend a lot of time analysing everything and picking it apart intellectually but just opened up to the sheer pleasure of being there with our little kid eyes and hearts.

virtually all the photos come from their website or the program (the few bad ones are from my cell phone LOL)

the new series are my cell phone photos-

now on to better photos and more information from the program-

the ring master - who held his high hat in his hand the entire time but never put it on LOL

the juggler - extremely fast - did it while walking around the ring side ledge (kind of balance beam sized) - very impressive!

the horse whisperer lady and her beautiful horses!

an amazing contortionist who worked high above the ring in this bubble that opened and closed with her pushing and pulling and hanging by a leg etc...

a biker dude who did bike stunts - clearly this bike was attached to his body at birth LOL - only kidding...

the strong men team who held each other up by their hands - the wiggling wrists gave me a lot of worry that they would fall but they held steady...

some cute dog tricks - but the assistant puppy was the best along with the rescue dogs -

a stunningly beautiful performance by Dolly Jacobs and her current partner - both of them getting up in the years but with bodies to envy no matter what your age-

 the foot juggler - perhaps my least favorite act - oh well...

Bello's daughter - they worked this act together - he was amazing- but she has a real future as well... she just went into the Guinness book of world records for part of this act-

but the star of the show was definitely Bello- I hate clowns - really detest them - they are so totally creepy- but not Bello- he was funny at the same time he was an amazing aerial performer.  He did stunts throughout the night that would have constituted an act by themselves alone, but he did multiples.

such charm- such talent- and all in a package that comes up to my chin...LOL - he was terrific- if you EVER get a chance to see him - don't miss it!

 

so a huge thumbs up for the Circus Sarasota performance and all the performers! We won't miss it next year-

after the show we had burgers at a place we loved when it was across from the Sarasota Memorial Hospital - but it has now moved way out east and the food isn't as good anymore - they no longer have our favorite app (Frito pie) and have changed the menu (why is that always a bad sign???)

so tonight dinner with friends and then next week we may have our last company (at the "guest house" we call home) of February... heading into March and a new term for school so always something to look forward to.... more later-