‘Show under the big top’ coming to Craig

Elephants Isa, Bennie and Bunny will be showcased May 15 in Craig when The Carson and Barnes Circus sets up its tent for two performances at the Moffat County Fairgrounds.

 Advance tickets for the performances, which are set for 4:30 and 7:30 p.m., cost $14 for adults or $6 for children 12 and younger. Tickets are $16 for adults and $8 for children 12 and younger when purchased at the gate.

By Craig Daily Press Staff Report

May 7, 2012 

Craig,CO--The Carson and Barnes Circus will perform at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. May 15 at the Moffat County Fairgrounds, the circus announced Monday in a news release.

Proceeds from the shows will benefit the Endangered Ark Foundation and the Craig Lions Club, according to the release.

“For more than 75 years our family has brought the excitement and magic of the circus to people in towns of all sizes,” third-generation owner Barbara Miller-Byrd said in the release. “There is no bigger entertainment opportunity, or better value for the dollar than this year’s show under the big top.”

READ MORE AT:

http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2012/may/07/show-under-big-top-coming-craig/

Acrobatics: More Than Entertainment

By ROWENA JOY A. SANCHEZ

from: mb.com.ph

May 8, 2012

Some members of the Grand China National Acrobatic Circus gave some teaser performances at the 'Legends of the Dragon' press conference, May 7 (Photo by ROWENA JOY A. SANCHEZ)

 MANILA, Philippines - For a regular spectator, watching an acrobatic show may simply be about enjoying a form of entertainment, a welcome relief from the mundane. But in China, there’s more to these gravity-defying presentations that meet the eye.

Acrobatics is a revered art form in China, with a rich heritage that dates as far as more than two thousand years ago that deeply reflects the Chinese culture. It likewise demonstrates a number of qualities associated with the Chinese—being hard working, patient, and determined—as acrobatics entails years of practice to perfect. Performers study the craft as early as their childhood.

"An acrobatic show is about challenging the limit of the human body, to get higher, faster, to achieve something that normal people cannot achieve, to give you this breath-taking sensation," Huang Bin, Deputy Director for the Performing Arts in China, told Bulletin Entertainment and other members of the media at the press conference of the Grand China National Acrobatic Circus' latest offering, "Legends of the Dragon."

Some members of the Grand China National Acrobatic Circus were part of the grand opening number of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which captivated audiences from various parts of the globe. They are included in the more than 40 performers that will showcase the art of acrobatics via 16 acts in "Legends," most of which have won accolades in international competitions.

It's the Grand China National Acrobatic Circus' second show in the Philippines, having performed in December 2010 for "Splendide." For their summer presentation the troupe will focus on a theme to commemorate the Year of the Dragon.

It took five months for the group to practice a single act. Notable routines include diabolo (a fusion of vivid jugglery and Peking opera), girls on speeding bicycles, and a boy on a soft steel wire. Adding more spice to the whole production is the incorporation of magic and comedy ("Swan Lake" with a twist, it is said), as well as audience engagement.

The Grand China National Acrobatic Circus is said to be the "birthplace of circus performers around the world." Similarly world-renowned ensembles such as Cirque du Soleil have, in fact, recruited some of their members. The whole group consists of 400 performers that tour the world.

"Legends of the Dragon" runs from May 8 to 13 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. For ticket inquiries, call 911-5555.

Circus in Figges Marsh, Mitcham, draws protests from animal activists

Charity calls for ban on animal acts as circus comes to town 

from,: yourlocalguardian.co.uk

By Lauren May

Tuesday 8th May 2012 in Wimbledon

An animal charity staged a demonstration outside Zippos circus this week – one of just seven UK circuses’ which still use animals in their show.

Zippo’s big top arrived at Figge’s Marsh in Mitcham on Thursday, May 3, for a six day run performing its new show ‘gold’ featuring an equestrian performance by Yasmine Smart.

But the Captive Animal’s Protection Society has called on the public to boycott the event.

They said the treatment of the animals is unfair because they are are transported from site to site, kept in temporary accommodation, and forced to perform tricks.

Charity calls for ban on animal acts as circus comes to town

Mr Paul Joy, 31, who protested outside the circus on behalf of the charity, said: "It is legal for them to be kept in these conditions but we think it’s morally wrong."

The charity is campaigning for a change in the law which will make using animals in circuses illegal.

 Liz Tyson, director of the charity, said: "We strongly believe that a life of constant transportation, confinement and repetitive unnatural performances is no life for any animal and we would encourage families to choose one of the fantastic all-human shows to get their circus fix this year".

Martin Burton, founder and managing director of Zippos Circus, has had horses performing at his circus for nearly 20 years has said they are kept in the highest of welfare standards.

He said: "We follow a code of conduct with animal welfare at a very high level. 

"It’s important that our horses are given outside exercise areas to practise in, that they get lots of mental stimulation, and we feel it is very important that the time spent in the horse box is kept to a minimum.

"One of the things we do which was revolutionary at the time was to stable the horses at the front of our circus so before the show you can come and look at the horses and admire them.

"We have magnificent horses and I would rather put them on display at the front of the circus."

He added: "If these people have any evidence that there is any compromise to the welfare of our animals then they should report us to the RSPCA who would then visit with the police.

"I completely defend their right to protest - that’s fine. 

"What’s more difficult to defend it when they accuse us of things that are not true."

Circus comes to town
Catch the show today at the fairgrounds

El Kahir Shrine Circus: Elephant trainer Larry Carden introduces 43-year-old Asian elephant Cindy.
from: press-citizen.com
Written by,Alesha L. Crews 
Iowa City Press-Citizen
May. 7, 2012
The 2012 El Kahir Shrine Circus kicked off its summer tour Monday, entertaining the crowd with a show full of acrobats, aerialists, motorcycle tricks and exotic animals.


A parade of semi-tractor trailers and mobile homes filed Monday into the Johnson County 4-H Fairgrounds, filling the air with roars and trumpeting from the circus’s four-legged performers.


It took about three hours to transform the fairgrounds into a three-ring circus, with the troupe working methodically to unload eight semis, which held everything from the stage and props to four elephants and 10 tigers that travel with the company across the country.

Aerialists perform during the El Kahir Shrine Circus on Monday at the Johnson County 4-H Fairgrounds. / Benjamin Roberts / Iowa City Press-Citizen
For 11 months out of the year, the troupe travels and performs across the country — in the next three months alone the group will visit 60 towns and perform 120 times.


While living on the road may not be for everyone, aerialist Nida Carden, 26, said it feels like home.


“What you love has to stay with you,” Carden said. “And the rest of the stuff doesn’t matter.”


Carden said she first fell in love with the circus when she attended a circus camp when she was 8 and began working professionally when she was 16.


“I thought it was the perfect combination of theater and dance and athletics all combined,” Carden said.


Carden has been traveling with this show for four years along with her husband, Larry, who is the elephant trainer.


She said the entire company feels like a family and that a good deal of the performers are indeed families. Generations of performers work side by side to bring the show to towns across the country and in many cases couples raise their children on the road.


Right now, about 15 children travel with the group working alongside their parents.


“As soon as they can walk, our daycare is putting them in the ring with their parents,” Carden said. “That’s how the children learn their skills.”


Tiger trainer Daniel Raffo, 40, comes from five generations of tiger trainers. Raffo — originally from Argentina — performed in a circus for the first time when he was 11.


He said living and working with the circus doesn’t really feel like a job.


“For us, it’s work, but at the same time, it’s fun,” Raffo said.


Raffo — who works with the show’s 10 tigers on and off stage — said he spends time with the tigers to figure out what they would naturally be good at. If a certain tiger is high energy, he will work with it on jumping and running. If another tiger is a bit lazier, he works with it on rolling and posing.


“Every animal is different, some show you right away what they like to do, others take time to show you what kind of abilities they have,” Raffo said.


The troupe will perform again today before packing up and continuing on to the next destination.

BILL PRICKETT VISITS--
THE GREAT AMERICAN FAMILY CIRCUS
MAY 5-6 2012--EAST MOLINE, IL


GREAT AMERICAN FAMILY CIRCUS showed in E. Moline, Il, Sat, 5-05, and Sun, 5-06-12. Dennis O'Keefe, circus fan from LaSalle, Il, and I went over Sat afternoon to see the show and visit with circus friends, some  that I had not seen since 1994. 

#2. Elephant rides 
The Liebel family: Tommy, Franceska, Cathalina (16), Tommy Boy (14), Marishka (12), Roman (6), and Nina (4), all work in the show along with TINY, their elephant. Patrick Lewellen also worked  rolo bolo, novelties, and concessions. 

#3. Cathalina, Tommy Boy,Marishka -"unsupported ladder act"
The show will back under tent in about two weeks. They started under tent in Florida in Feb., then changed to buildings as they worked the upper midwestern states. 

 
 #4. Marishka (12), Franceska, Nina (4)
The talented young performers do juggling, web, lyre, hulla hoops, contornist, world's smallest animal trainer, unsupported ladder act, and all perform with TINY their elephant. Hashi Dubsky is show the office manager, and he and Lauran Fairchild Dubsky have the novelties and concessions. Assisting them are Marc (Chandler) Barr, Matt (23) Fairchild, and Jeff Hamm. 

#5. Harry (Hashi) Dubsky, Jr.  

More acts will be added 
as they go back under the tent.They also had 
elephant and pony rides. This is really a "family 
circus" and geared toward your family's pleasure. 

#6. Matt (23) Fairchild and Lauran Fairchild Dubsky  

#7. Marc (Chandler)Barr
Looks good Mark!
Reminds Me of back in the Day!
and don't forget--"flash is cash!"
From Brother Dick
As your Dad used to say!

#8.TINY getting treat 

#9. Lauran Fairchild 

 

And last but not Least--
Bill Prickett, TINY, Tommy Liebel          
 ALL Photos: Bill Prickett

PICTURES FROM THE PAST!
FROM BOBBY COX


CONCESSIONEER MAX SILAS

 

"THE greatest promoter of the 20th Century"

 

Back in the day purple was IN!

Saturday night at the fair in Anderson: Camel rides and Skee ball 

Photo by Nathan Gray, Anderson Independent Mail 

Fair-goers ride the Cyclops in Anderson. 

By Kirk Brown 

Anderson Independent Mail 

May 5, 2012

ANDERSON COUNTY — The lines for food and rides at The Great Anderson County Fair lengthened Saturday evening as the setting sun gave way to the rising “supermoon.”

Standing behind his older brother, 6-year-old Jackson Tillirson had serious doubts about climbing onto a camel named Bubba.

After their ride, however, both boys were smiling widely.

“I don’t why I was crying,” Jackson said. “It was fun.”

Cameron, Jackson and their younger brother, 2-year-old Langdon, went to the fair with their grandparents, Williamston residents Mike and Joy Tillirson.

The boys’ mother, Jean Tillirson, traveled to Washington, D.C., for the weekend to visit her husband, Todd Tillirson, a major in the National Guard who is currently deployed in the nation’s capital.

While the Tillirson boys got in line for another ride, Maddie Grace Kyker, 3, was climbing out of a spinning tea cup.

“That was her favorite ride,” said Maddie’s mother, Anderson resident Nicole Kyker.

Maddie’s father had a slightly different opinion, however.

“I feel a little sick,” Will Kyker said with a sheepish grin.

Over on the fair’s midway, Hunter Manley, 4, was wearing a Spider-Man cap while clutching an inflatable Batman. 

Fair-goers play Skee-Ball at The Great Anderson County Fair. 

Hunter’s uncle, Anderson resident Tyler Stamps, won the caped crusader by achieving a 220 point score in Skee Ball.

Stamps said he was enjoying the county fair, which is happening at the Anderson Sports and Entertainment Center after a five-year hiatus.

“It’s great,” Stamps said.

Steve Henderson helps his daughter Kinsey Henderson play a midway game. 

Chuck Roberts, one of the employees working on the midway, has been doing carnival jobs for the past 30 years. Saturday night he guessed the weight, age or birth dates of customers.

After paying her $3 fee, Anderson resident Deborah Mize asked Roberts to guess her age.

“This is a dangerous job guessing women’s ages,” Roberts said. “If I go a little over, there is no scratching or kicking.”

Roberts guessed that Mize was 54, which is four years under her correct age. That was far enough off for Mize to collect a prize.

She chose a photograph of a tiger.

The fair’s five-day run ends Sunday.

The Culpepper & Merriweather Circus in Winslow April 23 2012

Published on May 1, 2012 by sweetsview

The Culpepper & Merriweather Circus When: Monday April 23 @ 5PM & 7:30PM Where: Winslow Indiana behind the Winslow Elementary School Sponsored by the Winslow Lions Club

Circus coming to Alamogordo Sunday

By John Bear / Alamogordo Daily News

lcsun-news.com

05/04/2012 

For Barbara Byrd, the circus has always been a family affair. They even name the elephants after family members. 

Byrd is one of the owners of the Carson and Barnes Circus and a former performer. The circus is making a stop in Alamogordo on Sunday. 

"We're out of southeastern Oklahoma," Byrd said. "The circus was founded in 1937. They moved down to Oklahoma to get a warmer climate for the animals." 

She said the circus started in Kansas, and hit up Missouri and Arkansas before settling in the Sooner State, just north of Paris, Texas. They travel, as Byrd puts it, "coast to coast" and "border to border." 

"We have over 100 people who travel with us, set up and give performances. It's about a two-hour show. 

Animals the circus uses include several endangered Asian elephants, Appaloosa horses and a pygmy hippopotamus named Katie. 

"She is larger than a normal-sized pig," Byrd said. "We have a swimming pool we take along with us and she is quite the pet around here. Everyone loves her." 

Byrd said the circus helps breed Asian elephants and has the second-largest gene pool in the United States behind Ringling Brothers. She said the circus works with zoos to keep the animals around for future generations to learn about and enjoy. 

"There isn't really a wild," Byrd said. "Even back in India. 

read more:

http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_20547273/circus-coming-alamogordo-sunday

Circus sets down at the RI County Fairgrounds

from: qctimes.com

Times staff 

Saturday, May 5, 2012 

How about spending some time with the circus this weekend?

The Great American Family Circus is ready to oblige, with performances at 5:15 and 7:30 p.m. today and 2 and 4 p.m. Sunday at the Rock Island County Fairgrounds, corner of Archer Drive and the Avenue of the Cities in East Moline. Tickets are $18 for adults and $9 for children 12 years and younger. The website GreatAmericanFamilyCircus.com has buy-one, get-one-free adult tickets and free children’s tickets. Call 877-461-1564 for more information or to order tickets.

The company is one of only a dozen family-owned big-top and indoor circuses left traveling the country. It travels 40 weeks a year to nearly 100 cities for more than 400 shows.

In Great American, no one is more than 30 feet away from the ring. The 90-minute show includes acrobats, aerialists, bareback horse riders, monkeys, hula hoop artists, contortionists, horses, magicians, fire-eaters and elephants.

Read more: http://qctimes.com/entertainment/circus-sets-down-at-the-ri-county-fairgrounds/article_cdfffa6a-96d0-11e1-85c6-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1u6dqzD42

New Cirque Du Soleil Show Opens Saturday

from: WJZ, CBS, Baltimore, MD

May 5, 2012

Flagstaff History: Carson and Barnes circus came to town 

from: azdailysun.com

SUSANNAH CARNEY  

Sunday, May 6, 2012

50 YEARS AGO

Another circus is coming to town. The big Carson and Barnes three-ring wild animal circus will hit town Tuesday for a two-show stand at the City Park. The big top is carried on large truck-mounted spools, spread on the ground and raised in the air by ponderous elephants wearing special work harnesses.

Last Saturday, sponsored by the VFW Post, Weber Brothers put on two shows at the Flagstaff Plaza Shopping Center, where about 60 Daily Sun carrier boys were guests of the post, along with a crowd of about 1,500 people.

Read more: http://azdailysun.com/news/local/flagstaff-history-carson-and-barnes-circus-came-to-town/article_cf251541-d683-5e0c-acc9-9a9a17e2f35e.html#ixzz1u6ZQdNep

Circus is not coming to Mansfield

from: nj.com

By Erin Duffy/The Times 

Sunday, May 06, 2012

MANSFIELD — The striped blue and gold Piccadilly Circus Big Top — with its animals, acrobats and clowns underneath — won’t be pitched at Liberty Lake this week. 

A zoning dispute between Mansfield officials and the organizers of the traveling circus is to blame for the circus picking up and moving on to the friendlier environs of the New Egypt Speedway. 

“It’s just unfortunate they had to deny the community an event, especially since this would have been the very first circus to ever be in Mansfield,” Piccadilly Circus promotional director Cuinn Griffin said. 

Griffin contends Mansfield Township waited until two weeks before its scheduled dates of May 9-13 at the Liberty Lake Day Camp, off Route 295, to inform the circus it didn’t have the zoning board approvals needed to host the circus at the Liberty Lake site. 

read more:

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2012/05/circus_is_not_coming_to_mansfi.html

HSUS: Lawyers In Cages

FROM: MIKE NAUGHTON

Published on Apr 20, 2012 by ConsumerFreedomVideo

The Humane Society of the United States is not affiliated with your local pet shelter, but ads imply that they do.

 

 

Circus comes to town


 

Michelle Omar rides an elephant during the Naja Shriners Shrine Circus on Saturday, May 5, 2012, at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center's Barnett 
Arena. (Ryan Soderlin/Journal staff)
Ruth Moon Journal staff 
Posted: Sunday, May 6, 2012
Four-year-old Cody Stalcup’s favorite part of Saturday’s circus wasn’t the lion tamer, the motorcycle stuntmen or the magic show.

It was riding an elephant.

“It was very fun,” the brown-haired boy said after climbing down from the animal.

Children lined up around one ring of the three-ring Shrine Circus in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, waiting for their turns on the giant animals. The elephants, loaded with a half-dozen small children each, plodded in circles around the ring to give children a taste of circus life.

Cody was at the circus with two sisters, Lexi and Trynity, and his father, Brian, who said the family has been coming for years.

“The kids love it,” he said.

It was intermission at the 62nd annual Naja Shriners’ Shrine Circus in Rapid City. The circus’ three rings had transformed into an elephant ride, a pony ride and face-painting booths, and children wandered the arena with Batman-painted faces and stuffed animals, parents in tow.
 foto
The Ghost Riders perform at the Naja Shriners Shrine Circus at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center's Barnett Arena on Saturday, May 5, 2012. (Ryan Soderlin/Journal staff)


Early in Saturday’s circus, the audience in the nearly full arena gasped as lion tamer Adam Burck led six tigers through a routine that ended with jumps through a flaming hoop. Shrine Circus clowns, many from Rapid City and the Black Hills, invited audience participation in a performance of the Chicken Dance. The other performers in the circus came in a group from Las Vegas.

The local Shriners group hosts the circus every year to raise money for their activities, including driving children to Shriners Hospitals for Children, circus chairman and Rapid City resident Dan Arnio said. He has been circus chairman for six years and a Shriner for 15.

“Anytime you can put a smile on a child you’re doing a good deed for the day,” he said. “That’s what we are for.”
Read more: http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/circus-comes-to-town/article_63f178d8-9725-11e1-a287-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1u6Xc1abd

Big top beckons king of calliope


 

Joe Blundo | DISPATCH
“Calliope King” Myron Duffield playing his favorite musical instrument 
Joe Blundo is a Dispatch columnist. 
FROM: columbus dispatch.com
Sunday May 6, 2012
The Calliope King of the World lives in Gahanna. Who knew?

He’s Myron Duffield, a jovial 79-year-old with a passion for playing tunes on unusual instruments. You should hear him on the musical skillets.

On Thursday, the king will enter a prized calliope realm: the circus.

When the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus comes to town, Duffield will perform on the instrument for 20 minutes at the “pre-show” (a warm-up event preceding the main performance).

“I was a little bit shocked,” Duffield said.

Calliopes, high-pitched keyboard instruments that force air through tuned whistles, were once fixtures at circuses and on riverboats. Myron fell in love with their happy sound in his boyhood home of Middleport on the Ohio River.

Later in life, he built his own calliope, and for the past 40 years he has played it at thousands of parades, fairs and festivals.

His son, Jeff, of Westerville, decided it was high time for his dad to play at a circus, too. He contacted Feld Entertainment, producer of the Ringling Bros. circus, and asked whether Myron could appear. Feld passed him onto Irvin Public Relations, its representative in Columbus, and pretty soon the king had his gig.

The Calliope Queen of the World will be there, too.

She’s June, his wife of 58 years. It’s a love story that began in the seventh grade.

“I kissed her for the first time by the big oak tree in the schoolyard,” he explained.

They married after Myron’s military service. They had two children and moved frequently during his career in data communications. They were living in northern Ohio in the 1960s when Myron decided to build a calliope for a Cub Scout parade float.

He assembled it from organ pipes, whistles, a vacuum cleaner motor and a piano keyboard. The float won first place, but Duffield wasn’t satisfied with the calliope.

“I said to my wife that I’ve got to have a real one.”

He bought what he describes as a pile of old calliope parts from a mechanical music dealer in Troy, Ohio, and turned them into an authentic instrument. The dealer is the person who first jokingly dubbed Duffield “Calliope King of the World,” a title he quickly adopted.

Then he researched circus vehicles and, using salvaged and homemade parts, built a red wagon with wood-spoke wheels to transport his prize.

The calliope made its debut at a Fourth of July parade in 1972 in Medina, Ohio. Since then, it’s been all over the Midwest. The Duffields charge a fee, but the calliope business is no way to get rich, they say.

“We wore out five cars and seven transmissions,” Myron said.

June, 78, did most of the driving until a couple of years ago, when Parkinson’s disease forced her to stop. Their son does the driving now.

The Duffields moved to Gahanna from Coshocton about a year and a half ago. When he’s not touring as the Calliope King, Myron is often found at schools or retirement centers as “Professor Myroni.” He has an hourlong act in which he plays antique instruments, such as cowbells, medicine bottles, musical saws, rattles and skillets.

But the calliope seems to be his biggest musical joy.

“Very few of the present generation have ever heard the joyous, exciting music of a calliope,” he says in a brochure.

The Calliope King aims to remedy that wherever he can.