Circus spectacle opens in Peoria
EVE EDELHEIT/JOURNAL STAR.Three stilt walkers play jump rope during the pre-show at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus performance at the Peoria Civic Center on Friday, Sept. 23, 2011.
Posted Sep 24, 2011
PEORIA — While some might consider the circus tiger trainer a brave person, for Isaiah Chapman of Peoria, a different word will suffice.
"He's crazy," said Chapman, 13, an eighth-grader at Trewyn Middle school said. "I think they're probably well trained, but they could turn at any time."
Chapman, along with his brother Kenneth Ward and father, Gregor Chapman, took in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on Friday night at the Civic Center. Ward, 13, an eighth-grader at Lincoln Middle School, said this was his first time seeing such a spectacle.
"We didn't know we were going to come here until we got out of school today," he said. Their father surprised them with the tickets.
"My son reminded me that he'd never been to the circus even though his sisters had, so I had to take them," Gregor Chapman said. "It's a lot more than I expected."
Motorcycle stunt men defied death by racing just inches from each other in a metal sphere, elephants performed tricks, and some of the 143 performers contorted their bodies into strange and unnatural positions for the crowd.
For Matthew Variell, and associate production manager with the circus, it's all a blur. Literally.
"We call it gig blur," Vareille said. "It's a term that we came up with that puts it very succinctly."
Vareille will mark two years with the circus on Tuesday and says that while people don't necessarily "run away with the circus," some who work with the circus in their hometown end up traveling with the group.
"We always have local people who work for us everywhere we go," Vareille said. "Some of them say 'Hey, this is cool,' and stay with us for a couple of weeks, sometimes a couple of years."
Ava McCreary, 2, of Pekin saw the event as something much simpler than a career path. It was an opportunity to get her hands on some of the flashy merchandise that vendors were hawking throughout the corridors of the arena.
"I want that, Daddy, and that, and that," Ava said to her father, Matt.
For a small group of about 10 protesters holding signs just off Jefferson Avenue near the main entrance to the arena, the event was an opportunity to spread the word about allegations of animal cruelty against the circus.
"He's crazy," said Chapman, 13, an eighth-grader at Trewyn Middle school said. "I think they're probably well trained, but they could turn at any time."
Chapman, along with his brother Kenneth Ward and father, Gregor Chapman, took in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on Friday night at the Civic Center. Ward, 13, an eighth-grader at Lincoln Middle School, said this was his first time seeing such a spectacle.
"We didn't know we were going to come here until we got out of school today," he said. Their father surprised them with the tickets.
"My son reminded me that he'd never been to the circus even though his sisters had, so I had to take them," Gregor Chapman said. "It's a lot more than I expected."
Motorcycle stunt men defied death by racing just inches from each other in a metal sphere, elephants performed tricks, and some of the 143 performers contorted their bodies into strange and unnatural positions for the crowd.
For Matthew Variell, and associate production manager with the circus, it's all a blur. Literally.
"We call it gig blur," Vareille said. "It's a term that we came up with that puts it very succinctly."
Vareille will mark two years with the circus on Tuesday and says that while people don't necessarily "run away with the circus," some who work with the circus in their hometown end up traveling with the group.
"We always have local people who work for us everywhere we go," Vareille said. "Some of them say 'Hey, this is cool,' and stay with us for a couple of weeks, sometimes a couple of years."
Ava McCreary, 2, of Pekin saw the event as something much simpler than a career path. It was an opportunity to get her hands on some of the flashy merchandise that vendors were hawking throughout the corridors of the arena.
"I want that, Daddy, and that, and that," Ava said to her father, Matt.
For a small group of about 10 protesters holding signs just off Jefferson Avenue near the main entrance to the arena, the event was an opportunity to spread the word about allegations of animal cruelty against the circus.
No comments:
Post a Comment