Circus dazzles Amarillo crowds
Roberto Rodriguez / Amarillo Globe-News - Luisa Marinof performs Tuesday during the George Carden Circus Spectacular at the Amarillo National CenterBRITTANY NUNN
November 15, 2011
Circus dazzles Amarillo crowds brittany.nunn@amarillo.com Children with faces painted like tigers and butterflies ate cotton candy and talked excitedly about riding the elephant while they waited for the George Carden Circus Spectacular to begin.
The lights dimmed and ringmaster Audrey Alvarado stepped into the spotlight to introduce the show.
They kicked things off with Bruno Blaszac’s Bengal Tiger show, and murmurs rippled through the audience when a man with wild hair and black leather pants coerced several tigers to leap through a flaming hoop.
Later a clown came out to entertain the children, and they fueled his goofy antics with shrieks of laughter.
The lights dimmed and ringmaster Audrey Alvarado stepped into the spotlight to introduce the show.
They kicked things off with Bruno Blaszac’s Bengal Tiger show, and murmurs rippled through the audience when a man with wild hair and black leather pants coerced several tigers to leap through a flaming hoop.
Later a clown came out to entertain the children, and they fueled his goofy antics with shrieks of laughter.
Roberto Rodriguez / Amarillo Globe-News - John Dominguez, performs as Kikin on Tuesday during the George Carden Circus Spectacular at the Amarillo National Center.The audience gasped when acrobats clung to each other in midair. At the top of the arena, the acrobats linked hands and then flipped around, hanging by their ankles. When the male acrobat hung by his teeth while still supporting his partner, the audience broke into an applause.
Alvarado, a Texas native who is one of the few female ringmasters in the circus world, said she was born and raised in the circus, as many circus performers are, she explained.
She grew up performing acts with her brother, many of which involved a mix of animals, including elephants. For a while she was an aerialist, until she left the circus at 14 to go to school.
Alvarado had finished high school and her first semester of college when she met her husband, Israel Alvarado, who supervises the Circus Spectacular. Before she knew it, she was back in the family business.
She eventually became the ringmaster and has enjoyed doing that ever since.
Roberto Rodriguez / Amarillo Globe-News - A tiger performs Tuesday during the George Carden Circus Spectacular at the Amarillo National Center.
Nina Carden, an aerialist at the Circus Spectacular, said she is one of the few performers who wasn’t born into the circus business, but even she started young.
She went to circus school starting at age eight, and she said she fell in love with it but never believed it would become her career.
When she graduated high school, she still was passionate about circus performing, so she searched for an opening and began working at a small circus when she was 18.
Eventually Carden moved up the chain and got on the with the Circus Spectacular as an aerialist.
“Aerial arts was really my passion,” she said, “because I felt like it was the perfect combination of dance, which I liked, and theatrics, which I liked, but it was unique, which I am.”
Even now, Carden said she still has that passion for aerial arts and performing.
“Your crowd is what keeps you going,” Carden said. “I always say I like to come and inspire and be inspired by the people who come and see us every day and are entertained. For us, we do get jaded by what we do. You know, climbing up ropes is no big deal, but to see the faces of people who still think that’s amazing gives you energy and makes you think, ‘Oh, I guess that is kind of cool that I can do that.’”
Alvarado, a Texas native who is one of the few female ringmasters in the circus world, said she was born and raised in the circus, as many circus performers are, she explained.
She grew up performing acts with her brother, many of which involved a mix of animals, including elephants. For a while she was an aerialist, until she left the circus at 14 to go to school.
Alvarado had finished high school and her first semester of college when she met her husband, Israel Alvarado, who supervises the Circus Spectacular. Before she knew it, she was back in the family business.
She eventually became the ringmaster and has enjoyed doing that ever since.
Roberto Rodriguez / Amarillo Globe-News - A tiger performs Tuesday during the George Carden Circus Spectacular at the Amarillo National Center.Nina Carden, an aerialist at the Circus Spectacular, said she is one of the few performers who wasn’t born into the circus business, but even she started young.
She went to circus school starting at age eight, and she said she fell in love with it but never believed it would become her career.
When she graduated high school, she still was passionate about circus performing, so she searched for an opening and began working at a small circus when she was 18.
Eventually Carden moved up the chain and got on the with the Circus Spectacular as an aerialist.
“Aerial arts was really my passion,” she said, “because I felt like it was the perfect combination of dance, which I liked, and theatrics, which I liked, but it was unique, which I am.”
Even now, Carden said she still has that passion for aerial arts and performing.
“Your crowd is what keeps you going,” Carden said. “I always say I like to come and inspire and be inspired by the people who come and see us every day and are entertained. For us, we do get jaded by what we do. You know, climbing up ropes is no big deal, but to see the faces of people who still think that’s amazing gives you energy and makes you think, ‘Oh, I guess that is kind of cool that I can do that.’”
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