THE BALLOON MAN

 

 Circle the dragons: 'Greatest Show on Earth' rolls into SLC

"Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey The Greatest Show on Earth presents Dragons" is coming to the EnergySolutions Arena on Sept. 24-30, 2012.

 Ph: Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey
By Cody Clark, Daily Herald
from:  heraldextra.com
Sept 20, 2012
There will be no real dragons inside the building when Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey The Greatest Show on Earth wheels into EnergySolutions Arena this weekend to present its 2012 show "Dragons." Hey, even the circus isn't that magical. Besides, a real dragon would just eat all of the other animals and then set fire to the big top.

There's no such thing as the big top anymore, incidentally, unless maybe you think of sports arenas and their roofs as standing in for old-time circus tents. (Welcome to the 21st century.) Even though there's no tent and no real dragons, however, you can still find plenty of fun, excitement and eye-filling spectacle as the most famous circus of them all (still going after more than 120 years) visits Salt Lake City.

The "Dragons" theme of this year's circus was inspired by 2012 being the Year of the Dragon on the Chinese calendar. Circus director Shanda Sawyer said in an interview with Orlando Weekly that having a theme and a storyline gives the show a framework. Circusgoers will still see all of the same sorts of things that people expect to see at a circus, just as part of the same big presentation.

One thing people expect to see at a circus is the animals. That's where Hans Klose comes in: Klose is a second-generation circus performer (his parents were acrobats) and dog trainer. He has about 13 dogs who perform in the show, and travels with 20 dogs altogether.

 

"Once I have a dog and it performs in the show, it stays with me its entire life," Klose said. "You tend to get attached to them because you work so closely with them."

His dogs are a mixed lot, including four Standard Poodles, a Great Dane, seven Fox Terriers, an Australian Shepherd and a few mixed-breed dogs. Some of the dogs he works with were given to the circus by their former owners, Klose said, and others were rescued from dog pounds and animal shelters.

Klose said that different dogs learn at different speeds, and some tricks take longer than others to master, so he has plenty of work to do whenever there's not a show. And no, it's not true what they say. You can, in fact, teach an old dog new tricks, Klose said: "Some of my dogs do five or six different tricks. It just depends on what the dog is willing to do. Every dog is different, and some are a little bit more willing to learn than others."

Speaking of old dogs, Klose said that the longest he's ever had a dog in the show is probably 12 years. It depends, he said, on what you're asking them to do. "If they're just rolling over, or sitting up," he said, "they can do that their whole lives."
read more:
http://www.heraldextra.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/circle-the-dragons-greatest-show-on-earth-rolls-into-slc/article_636e6c44-c422-55f2-bab8-92926590e516.html