Nothing makes miracles like a circus. Grown men and women, mature and sober, shriek and bang their hands together, tense up with the same ooohs and aashs as their own children, when a clown does a pratfall or douses himself with paint, when a rider does handstands while a horse gallops around the ring, when a tiny dog pushes a grown man face down into the tanbark, when tumblers leap and cavort, when high-wire walkers show off their balance, when flyers–well, when flyers fly.
That’s the sort of miracle circuses create, and Circus Flora is one among many with that magical ability. But Circus Flora lives here, has for more than 30 years, and the familiar faces and routines bring an extra fillip of laughter and tension. It opened its annual two-week run on Friday in the Grand Center space just east of Powell Symphony Hall, and will amuse and confound and bring enjoyment through June 21.
A few new acts and a little extra polish here and there highlight a fine new production called "Medrano". If I was disappointed at all, it was in the fact that the great clown, Giovanni Zoppe, was in evidence too briefly, though his abbreviated routine with little Donald Hughes was a highlight.
Zoppe’s half-brother, Tino Wallenda, led his wire-walking family in traditional stunts, and the Flying Pages, after a year’s absence, returned with a dazzling flying routine. Two "catchers" were used, one as high as possible over the middle of the ring, the other at the end opposite the swingers, to provide outstanding leaps and somersaults.
Alesya Gulevich made as many as 18 hula hoops practically sit up and talk, and Johnny Peers’s Muttville Comix, dogs of all sizes and shapes, achieved both feats. The St. Louis Arches, under the direction of Jessica Hentoff, were superb, and Terry Crane brought an unusual routine on a rope and with a rope. Fascinating. Riders Sasha Alexandre Nevidonski, Omar Chinibekov, Sergey Lahtokin and Elexey Bashaev were almost as skilled and passionate as our memories of the Lone Ranger and Tonto recalled and ringmaster Cecil MacKinnon kept everything moving.
Janine Del’Arte led the band, with music by Miriam Cutler, all coming together for a charming evening, just right for the traditional circus audience, made up of children of all ages.
Circus Flora, on the Powell Hall Parking Lot in Grand Center, through June 21
-Joe
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I like your post I’m a circus performers and I like to read circus blogs.
thank you