Aerobatics Act That Wowed St. Cloud Crowds Crashes at Texas Air Show

Stefan Presslein via Great Minnesota Air Show Facebook pageA husband and wife aerobatics team who brought their wing-walking act to St. Cloud last year are hospitalized with burns and other injuries after a fiery crash-landing Saturday in Texas.

By: Tim Lyon http://wjon.com/

Amanda — who was wing-walking — was able to get back in the plane and Kyle — who was piloting — crash-landed his bi-plane at the Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport.

Amanda and Kyle Franklin in a 2010 publicity photo.Kyle and Amanda Franklin of Franklin’s Flying Circus were performing in their first air show of the season in Texas when their plane’s engine caught fire.

From the Houston Chronicle’s coverage:
Kyle and Amanda Franklin were airlifted to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio after the Saturday accident.
Airshow spokesman Chris Hughston says doctors listed Amanda Franklin in critical condition but are “cautiously optimistic” of her recovery, while Kyle Franklin is in stable condition.
The Franklins were one of the acts at last summer’s Great Minnesota Air Show in St. Cloud. Their iconic wing-walking act is a favorite at air shows and is often photographed.
Their crash-landing Saturday was captured on video.

Shrine Circus coming to Klamath March 21 and 22

Monday, March 14, 2011
The Klamath Falls Shrine Club will host its annual Shrine Circus at the Klamath County Fairgrounds at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, March 21 and 22.
All proceeds from the event will benefit the Shrine Club, organization official Tom Reeves said. The Shrine Club uses funds to assist the Shriners Hospital in Portland and to fund Camp Spirit and provide T-shirts for attending children.
Acts at this year’s circus will include traditional fare, including clowns, acrobats and animals. There’s also the Sphere of Doom, a globe constructed for motorcyclists to race inside of at high speeds.
“We do lots of stuff,” Reeves said. “It’ll be a wonderful circus.”
Tickets are $16 for adults, $12 for children and are available at www.thejordanworldcircus.com or at the gate

CHINESE IMPERIAL CIRCUS 1996 PART 2 (FROM BILL PRICKETT)

Camanche Iowa--Sept. 5, 1996
Produced by Dorey Miller
Novelty Stand & Marquee


Errand Bus

Combination Office/Concessions--from Great American

Mechanic's Truck--from Great American

Front End Loader--From Great American

Generators--From Great American, Big Top--from Carson & Barnes

Next Installment will feature Show Personnel.

Lawmakers Consider More Regulation Of Amusement Rides

Chris Lehman / Northwest News NetworkChildren play on inflatable play structures at JJ Jump in Clackamas, Oregon.
Chris Lehman / Northwest News Network

Children play on inflatable play structures at JJ Jump in Clackamas, Oregon.Cary Hanson had a rotten Valentine's Day this year. She took her six-year-old daughter to a Beaverton amusement center -- the kind that specializes in inflatable playhouses and slides.
Hanson was having a great time with her daughter, until...
Cary Hanson: "Going down the slide I knew, ow, I'm getting injured really bad here. And when I got up and I looked, there was skin hanging off of the wound."
Hanson says she was following the posted rules when she went down the slide with her daughter. Their weight had shifted and Hanson's arm was dragged along the surface of the slide for most of the way down.

It still smarted when she showed it to me a few days later.
Cary Hanson: "Yeah, it's pretty bad. It was an open wound for about three days and it finally scabbed over."
Hanson's pain gave way to anger when she found out that inflatable rides like the one she was injured on are unregulated in Oregon.
She thinks that should change and at least one state official agrees with her.
Patrick Allen is head of the Building Codes Division of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. He presented to lawmakers a proposal that would bring inflatable rides under state regulation.
Patrick Allen: "They're kind of flying under the radar right now. And they really are an area where there are some significant safety concerns."
read more at: http://news.opb.org/article/70837-lawmakers-consider-more-regulation-amusement-rides/

TV spot sweetens baker's dream

Before it was devoured by partying children, the cake was 64 inches in diameter and included 37 animals and circus people carved from chocolate. It included 32 full-size sheet cakes. Francis estimates it was worth about $4,000. With the exception of the caboose, everything was edible.
by Charlotte Ferrell Smith, Daily Mail staff
Monday March 14, 2011
BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va.--A 300-pound, circus-themed birthday cake made in West Virginia will be featured on national television tonight.
Sweet Confections Bakery in Barboursville created the cake that will be on "Outrageous Kid Parties" at 9:30 p.m. on TLC. The show will air again at 12:30 a.m. March 15.
The cake was delivered last December to Ashland, Ky., for a party for siblings, Jasmine, who was turning 7, and Carson, who was turning 9.
While the cake was devoured long ago by a bunch of children, it can still be seen on TLC through cable and satellite nationwide. The 30-minute episode is titled "Jasmine and Carson's Circus Party."
Sweet Confections Bakery opened last October and has since lured a steady crowd of customers with its custom-made cakes, cookies, pies, pastries and various treats, including no-sugar added goodies.
Proprietor Tina Francis said opening a bakery has been her dream since childhood.
read more at: http://www.dailymail.com/foodandliving/201103130274

Ringling Mansion in need of repairs

Elks Lodge board Chairman Craig Giese show some of the water damage to the historic Al. Ringling Mansion they are trying to correct by making extensive roof repairs. Brian D. Bridgeford / News

By Brian D. Bridgeford, News Republic

Posted: Monday, March 14, 2011

Members of Baraboo's Elks club are trying to figure out how to preserve a century-year-old piece of Baraboo's history, the mansion of circus entrepreneur Al. Ringling, now the Elks' lodge on Broadway and Fifth Avenue.
Elks member Craig Giese, chairman of the board of trustees for Baraboo Elks Lodge No. 688, gave the BNR a tour Friday of the imposing, if time worn, building.
It has much of the grandeur, extensive stained glass, fancy wooden fixtures, chandeliers and massive scale, you might expect of the home used by someone leading what was then a major nationwide business. A variety of original oil paintings with literary and biblical references also are part of the decor.
However, the Elks are beginning work on roof repairs expected to require tens of thousands of dollars, Giese said. The major problem is pinholes developing in a thin metal flashing that covers parts of roof and which is now letting water get into the walls and ceilings.

Elks Lodge board Chairman Craig Giese shows an original oil painting of a sword fight which includes a whole that has sparked may stories among local Elks. Brian D. Bridgeford / News Republic

Giese said the club no longer allows its secretary to use a former office in the southeast corner because of mold. The walls and ceilings in the room have deteriorated so much pieces are hanging down.
"The tin goes around all the fireplaces in the building," he said. "We have problems around all the fireplaces.
When Al. Ringling and his wife Lou began building the red stone mansion in the spring of 1905, it was a spectacular home for its time and place, said Paul Wolter, president of the Sauk County Historical Society.
Early in their careers as circus innovators, the Ringling brothers were on the road with the show much of the year and returned to Baraboo each winter where they rented houses or hotel rooms until it was time to hit the road again, he said. However, when their father died in a rented house in 1898, the Ringlings realized they had the money to adopt more settled lives and began building their own homes.
Al. Ringling's first home on the Broadway and Fifth Avenue was a small wood-framed Queen Anne house, which rapidly proved too "small, too under-scaled and too unimpressive," Wolter said.
So Ringling moved that house around the corner and built the present one.
"This was the largest and costliest home built in Sauk County, probably ever," he said. "If you had to replace it now it would be millions."read more at:http://www.wiscnews.com/baraboonewsrepublic/news/local/article_42659554-4dda-11e0-8a7c-001cc4c03286.html

Cirque Du Soleil Brings the Circus to Africa

Cirque du Soleil travels to Johannesburg for its first-ever performance in Africa

An artist from the international entertainment group Cirque du Soleil performs during a rehearsal in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 9, 2011. Cirque du Soleil will perform for the first time ever in South Africa with a cast of around 50 artists hailing from 20 different countries taking part. (AP Photo)

By JENNY GROSS Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG March 10, 2011

(AP) The audience gasped as a performer in Cirque du Soleil's "Saltimbanco" circled up a brass-colored pole and stretched his body out into an extension perfectly perpendicular to the pole while his hands gripped it tightly.
As the acrobat slid down 20 feet to the floor, in pranced Daniel Buckland, Cirque du Soleil's only South African performer, clad in a blue sparkly pair of pajamas and a long pointy hat. Buckland murmured some phrases in a made-up language, dancing across the stage and seducing the Johannesburg audience into the show's dreamlike world.
Wednesday's opening performance in Johannesburg was the Montreal-based company's first-ever performance in Africa.

A artist from the international entertainment group Cirque du Soleil perform during rehearsal in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 9, 2011. Cirque du Soleil will perform for the first time ever in South Africa with a cast of around 50 artists hailing from 20 different countries taking part.(AP Photo)
"Performing with Cirque is an absolute dream," said Buckland, who joined the company in January, and has since performed in France, Germany, Turkey and now his home country of South Africa.Cirque du Soleil, renowned for creating surreal atmospheres and showing captivating and awe-inspiring stunts, is reaching out to new audiences worldwide, said the company's spokesman Maxime Charbonneau. In the past year the show "Saltimbanco," has been performed in Budapest, Hungary and Croatia, all new countries for the company. After the success of the World Cup, the Cirque du Soleil organizers knew it was possible to bring the circus to South Africa too, Charbonneau said.
"Everywhere we go here, people say, wow, finally, this is cool," Charbonneau said.
After 19 shows in Istanbul, 94 crew members and artists boarded a plane for South Africa, some making their first trip to the continent, Charbonneau said. Cirque du Soleil chartered another plane to transport the artists' more than 2,500 costume pieces and 250 shoes, all handmade in Montreal.
"It was brilliant," Marianne Sutherland, a Johannesburg native, said after the show. "You always hear about all these shows and we've seem them in other countries, but it's fantastic to have them here."
read more at: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=13102887&page=1

GO! Community Events for March 13-19

North County Times, North San Diego & Southwest Riverside County

Sunday, March 13

Circus Vargas ring master Ted McRae drums up support for the circus, which has returned to Vista, with shows through March 21. (File photo by Jamie Scott Lytle - Staff Photographer)

Circus Vargas ---- Family owned traveling tent circus features trapeze artists, jugglers, clowns and acrobats is playing through March 21; 12:30, 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. (also 6:30 p.m. Monday; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to Friday; 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday); Vista Village Drive on the south side of Highway 78, Vista; $25-$60, adults; $15-$50, children ages 2 to 10; 877-468-3861 or circusvargas.com.

Randy Geller takes a ride with his grandson, Gage Todd, 2, on the merry-go-round at a carnival put on in 2010 by the Escondido Chamber of Commerce and Christiansen Amusements. The carnival returns March 17. (File photo by Don Boomer - Staff Photographer)

Street carnival opens in Escondido ---- The Escondido Chamber of Commerce and Christiansen Amusements present a carnival featuring game booths, a merry-go-round and rides, including the Crazy Plane, Motorcycle Jump, Sky Diver, Alligator Alley, Scooter, Paratrooper and Zumer; 5 to 10 p.m. (also 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, 1 to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. March 20); 1330 E. Grand Ave., Escondido; eight-ride ticket books are $10 in advance; 760-745-2125.

CHINESE IMPERIAL CIRCUS, 1996 (FROM BILL PRICKETT)

CHINESE IMPERIAL CIRCUS...

I visited the winter quarters of the new CIC , located on property owned by Carnes & Barnes, and next to C&B winter Q's, on March 14, 1996.

At CIC winter Q's, I saw circus equipment letter for CIC, C&B, and Allan C. Hill's Great American Circus, side by side waiting transformation to the new show.

A new shop building was built on the property and seat wagons repaired.

Show had 5 seat wagons - four from GA and one from C&B.

Two generators came from C&B and were installed in GA genertor trailer. The old GA generator was left at C&B winter Q's.

Two new bunkhouse trailers were purchased for the Chinese performers.

Original Concession/Office trailer from GA was repainted and lettered for CIC. Errand/passenger bus came from C&B and was lettered for CIC.

Elephant truck came from C&B.

There were two cookhouses on the show.

The large trailer from GA and a Chinese cookhouse built into the back on one of the white school buses.

The fork lift was from GA. Tent from C&B.

Spool box came from GA and had the large arrow still on side.

CIC opened April 20,1996 in Hugo, OK, and lasted one season.

I visited the show on Sept. 05, 1996 in Camache, Iowa.

These photos will be shown in next installment. All photos by Bill Prickett.

CHINESE IMPERIAL CIRCUS, 1996 PHOTOS (FROM BILL PRICKETT)

New Shop Building

Seat Wagon

Truck 211 w/ seat wagon

New Bunkhouse

Generators being fixed up

Spool with Giant Arrow

Elephant Ride Platform

(More comming!)

Ringling Bros. Juggling Flash Mob in Times Square New York

Uploaded by ringlingbros on Mar 10, 2011

On March 9, 2011, Ringling Bros.® took over NYC Times Square in a spontaneous juggling extravaganza, an event that has never happened before.

The entire cast of Fully Charged SM , Ringling Bros. all-new production, along with of curious onlookers who joined in the fun were part of a massive flash Fun mob that juggled to get New Yorkers Fully Charged.

Led by the Ringling Bros. Clown Alley, over 150 performers and local juggling aficionados, juggled balls, scarves, and other apparatus for dazzling display of dexterity as 450 objects filled every inch of vertical space.

Golden Gate residents celebrate Frontier Days with parade, carnival

By www.naplesnews.com

Naples, FL Daily News

March 13, 2011
GOLDEN GATE — Golden Gate Frontier Days and parade began as a little neighborhood affair, with a parade and, later a cookout.
Now, a community center stands on the field where volunteers plucked hamburgers and hot dogs from outdoor grills.

Golden Gate Frontier Days continues from 3 - 10 p.m. Sunday at the Golden Gate Community Center, 4701 Golden Gate Parkway.
There's a carnival with rides, games, food and entertainment. Admission is $5, adults; $2, children 5-16; $1, children 4 and younger. Sunday is Family Fun Day, and unlimited rides with purchase of a bracelet for $20. DJ Diuvany Flores will play tunes from 6:30 - 9 p.m.
For more information, go online to www.ggfrontierdays.com.

FRONTIER DAYS FOTOS

Food and Fun for all during the third day of this weekend's Golden Gate Frontier Days at the Golden Gate Community Center on March 12, 2011. John M. Wissocki/Daily News Correspondent

Plenty of food, rides and arcade games were spread out through Midway during the third day of this weekend's Golden Gate Frontier Days at the Golden Gate Community Center on March 12, 2011. John M. Wissocki/Daily News Correspondent

Madison, age 2, left, and Emmarie Vila, age 4 cast their lines hoping to catch the big one during the third day of this weekend's Golden Gate Frontier Days at the Golden Gate Community Center on March 12, 2011. John M. Wissocki/Daily News Correspondent

Starship 2000 was a popular ride for the young at heart during the third day of this weekend's Golden Gate Frontier Days at the Golden Gate Community Center on March 12, 2011. John M. Wissocki/Daily News Correspondent

The Midway was lit like a mini Las Vegas during the third day of this weekend's Golden Gate Frontier Days at the Golden Gate Community Center on March 12, 2011. John M. Wissocki/Daily News Correspondent

RATTLESNAKE ROUND-UP, CLAXTON, GA

Uploaded by wtoctv11 on Mar 11, 2011
Are you ready to see some snakes? If you are then Claxton's the place to be this weekend for the annual Rattlesnake Roundup.
From the booths to the floats to the rattling reptiles, it's a combination that draws people from all across the region.
WTOC's Bureau Chief Dal Cannady shows us some of the last minute preparations and why organizers hope for their best event yet.

Cirque du Soleil's Stunt Woman in Chief .

MARCH 12, 2011.

From The Wall Street Journal

By ALEXANDRA ALTER

In a large industrial building on the outskirts of Montreal, 14 Russian trapeze artists and six aerialists gathered for rehearsal in a studio the size of an airplane hangar. They were in the final months of choreographing "Zarkana," Debra Brown's 11th creation for the circus company Cirque du Soleil. The show cost $50 million and opens in June at Radio City Music Hall.

"I can't wait to see this," Ms. Brown said as three young acrobats climbed into metal rings suspended from the 75-foot-high ceiling. Frantic drum and piano music blared. The rings spun rapidly, rising and plunging like yo-yos. The women flipped upside down and arched their backs, as agile as spider monkeys. They scissored their legs into full splits, pretzeled themselves into cross-legged positions and dangled by their arms, their bodies whirling like ceiling fan blades.

A performer in 'Kooza,' above.

Ms. Brown specializes in creating bizarre, hair-raising stunts that seem physically impossible. In her 25 years with the company, she has helped transform the circus into an art form. She developed a routine with four contortionists who twist their bodies into a single, 16-limbed vehicle. For "O," she choreographed a wild water ballet with a giant tank of water serving as a stage, featuring 85 synchronized swimmers, high divers and acrobats. She discovered that a performer in the show "On Air" could bounce on a trampoline and play the electric guitar at the same time; within hours, they had a routine where he strums and does multiple back flips in a row (his record is 39).

"It was in the show the next day," said performer Dominic Dagenais, who declined to give his age because "I don't believe in time."

At 56, Ms. Brown shares her performers' energy. On a recent morning, she bounded around Cirque du Soleil's international headquarters, dressed in black yoga pants and a long black scarf that dragged on the floor. She rehearsed with Mr. Dagenais, bouncing and dancing on the trampoline and nearly tumbling into a giant pit of yellow foam cubes. Later, she coached performers on aerial rings, led a dance workshop for 14 Russian trapeze artists and worked on a floor routine with two acrobats. read more at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704758904576188722477737668.html

The Royal Lichtenstein Circus - 1983 Welcome


The Royal Lichtenstein 1/4 Ring Sidewalk Circus,

under the direction of Nick Weber, performing in California in 1983. This clip is the beginning of the show - welcoming the audience, explaining the rules, and the opening spiels. The cast includes Nick Weber, Jens Larsen, Eric Wilcox, John Hadfield, Dan Trainor and manager Mitch Kincannon.

Vero Beach, Indian River County Fair

March 11 thru March 20, 2011

Come out and Eat Some Food, See A Show, Find The Clown, Check Out The Poultry Exhibit, Look At Rabbits, See Creative Craft Exhibits, View The Baked Goods Exhibit, Agricultural Exhibits, Fine Arts & Photography Exhibits, 4-H Club Exhibits, County Exhibits, Enjoy Music, Watch Wood Carving, Be a Blacksmith, See Commercial Exhibits and Non-Profit Displays, Have A Ride On The Midway, Watch A Magic Show, Be A Firefighter In A Show….But most of all, ENJOY SPENDING TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY

The popular Firefighters' Training Show will be returning to the 32nd Annual Firefighters' Indian River County Fair March 11 through 20 at the Fairgrounds, 7955 58th Ave., Vero Beach

Mulan Chinese State Circus: The Anvil

Friday 11th, March 2011
From: dailyecho.co.uk
FROM the land of legends and Shaolin Warriors comes the incredible new Chinese State Circus production, the live action spectacular Mulan.
Mulan – based on the legend of one of China’s greatest heroines – tells the story of a strong-minded country girl who joined the Emperor’s all-male army in place of her father who was too old to fight.
Four spectacular performances will take place this weekend at The Anvil in Basingstoke.
The title role of Mulan is performed by martial arts expert Cao Jing, making her first appearance in the UK.
Her 15 years of Kung Fu training is showcased in a dramatic fight sequence in which she encounters a giant warrior. Cao Jing started learning martial arts when she was only six years old and has won three championship titles.
Witness a breathtaking fusion of precision acrobatics, Shaolin martial arts, dazzling circus skills, colourful characters from Peking Opera, physical theatre and drama choreographed to an original music score.
From gravity-defying gymnastics to the seemingly impossible body manipulations of the hand-balancer; from the leaping, rolling, somersaulting repertoire of the hoops divers to the lavish tradition of the Lion Dance, the undisputed masters of physical theatre will have the audience on the edge of their seats.
This is entertainment for all the family from the world’s leading Chinese acrobats.
Mulan will be performed tomorrow at 4pm and 8pm, and on Sunday at 2pm and 6pm. For more information, call the box office on 01256 844244 or visit anvilarts.org.uk.