from: Elmira Star Gazette
Written by
John Cleary
Correspondent
Apr. 25, 2012
The Royal Hanneford Circus will give three performances next week at First Arena in Elmira. Shows are planned for 7 p.m. Tuesday and 3:30 and 7 p.m. Wednesday.
The circus' annual visit is a fundraiser for the charitable activities of the Kalurah Shrine.
The Hanneford Circus traces is history of performance to Edwin Hanneford, a juggler who performed for England's King George III in 1778. The Hanneford family first began performing as a traveling troupe in the early 1800s, and by 1903 was calling itself the Hanneford Royal Canadian Circus. That show was purchased by John Ringling and incorporated into the famous Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. Members of the family continued to perform in that and other circuses.
In 1975, Tommy Hanneford reorganized a traveling circus, renamed it the Royal Hanneford Circus and began a tradition of teaming with local Shrine Temples for fundraisers.
Hanneford died in 2005. The circus is now operated by his wife, Struppi Hanneford, who gained fame as a tiger trainer, high-wire walker and, under the name Princes Tajana, Goddess of Flight, an innovative trapeze artist.
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