CULPEPPER & MERRIWEATHER....

Circus entertains young and old alike

Sunday, July 25, 2010
By Sean Ellis sellis@journalnet.com
AMERICAN FALLS — “Oh, that’s too good,” said a little girl in amazement as “Miss Karina” (aka, the hoola hoop lady) dazzled kids and parents alike during a traveling circus in American Falls Sunday.
Miss Karina twirled several hoops at once — four, five, six, then too many to count — moving her body a host of different ways while doing it.
Everyone who attended the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus at the Power County Fairgrounds seemed to have a different take on the best routine, but Miss Karina was clearly a crowd-pleaser.
“I liked when the girl did the hoola-hoops because it was really cool how she did it all over her body,” said Maddie Sabela, a young girl from Arizona who was in town to visit her grandmother, Debbie Tiede.
The circus had a little something for people of all ages.
“I kind of liked the hoola-hoops also,” Tiede said. “But I really liked the way that gal changed into those beautiful dresses very quickly.”
She was referring to the “Quick Change Artist” who quickly changed into different-colored outfits after very briefly being hidden by various objects.
“How’d she do that?” several people asked in amazement as she changed into one dress after another, each time in about two seconds.
Visitors were greeted at the circus entrance by David “Stilts” Volponi, a 5-foot-8 man who reached Goliath-like heights with the help of his hidden fake legs. His job was to set the scene by getting people excited about the circus immediately.
That didn’t seem to be a problem for Volponi, who has been with the circus for 23 years and said he enjoys every day, even though performers put on two shows a day for 220 straight days.
“Even though you do the same thing seven days a week, you’re always in a new town with new people, new scenery, and there’s always a new adventure,” he said. “It’s not always glamorous, but when you see that little kid and he looks up and smiles at you, that’s your reward.”
The only animals that performed Sunday were a male African lion and two rare golden tabby Bengal tigers that appeared in the ring at the same time.
“Wow,” one child said in amazement as the trainer got the lion to sit on a platform with the simple command of, “Sit, please.”
The only moment of suspense while the three big cats were in the same ring together came when the lion leaned down and playfully nipped at the ear of one of the tigers while they were both standing on different platforms.
While the show may have been short on animals, that didn’t seem to be an issue for the kids who responded vocally to the entertaining and humorous acts.
“Ohhhh, that’s cool,” said one girl as a trapeze artist hung seemingly effortlessly on a fast-spinning rope. “Whoa,” added another child as the performer then spun upside down.
Kids in the crowd started giggling as “Melvino” the clown tried in vain to walk a rope tied between two stepladders. By the time he had fallen off one of the ladders and then his pants fell down to reveal “Batman” boxers, the children were roaring.
“Is that a real gorilla,” some children wondered aloud when the “Almost Human Gorilla” was marched into the ring. A few moments later, after he had tackled one trainer, spanked another and walked on stilts, the answer was clear.
When he jumped into the crowd, stole a woman’s purse and put on funny glasses and underwear he found in the purse, everyone was laughing hard, even the adults.
“The Arlise Troupe” unicyclists performed several tricky maneuvers, as evidenced by a few falls in the beginning. They executed precision drills while riding different sized unicycles. One of them jumped rope while riding a unicycle and another one got a kid to scream “Whoa!” when they she juggled flaming pins.
“Miss Pauline and her feathered friends” was a charming performance by a young girl who gently coaxed a half dozen birds to follow her commands, including sitting on a rotating mini Ferris wheel.
“Miss Simone” added some suspense with her single trapeze act. Things got a little nerve-wracking as she began swinging high off the ground with no net below her.
Things got really tense as she slipped a strap around her neck, attached it to the trapeze bar and began twirling wildly while the bar swung back and forth hard.
April Dykes put on a show of balance and precision during her “Rola Bola” routine as she balanced on a board set on top of a pipe and then jumped rope and juggled while doing it. She upped the ante as she added a second board without dismounting. And then another. And another.
After the show, it was hard to know who was more entertained, Tiede or her grandkids.
“I just like the whole atmosphere of being at a circus with the kids,” she said. “These things amaze me."