THE BALLOON MAN

Circus Sarasota 2013 Opens


from: sarasotamagazine.com
By Kay Kipling
Photos by Ian Dean
January 28th, 2013
A sellout crowd turned out under the Big Top near Ed Smith Stadium for this year’s opening night of Circus Sarasota, and, as usual, they laughed, they cheered and they even held their breath at times—the ultimate tribute to the fun, chills and thrills this hometown circus always provides.

Neither the performers nor the fans can ever get complacent about that mix of live excitement, though. The wonder of the circus, as with any live entertainment, is that the performers really are doing it anew every time, no matter how many weeks and months they’ve practiced and rehearsed, and each show truly is different

 

 That’s especially dramatic, of course, with the headliners of this year’s show, daredevil Nik Wallenda and his wife, Erendira, sister, Lijana, and cousin, Blake, who take to the high wire for the circus’s closing act. People expect miracles each time the troupe performs, especially after Nik’s high-profile Niagara Falls walk, and they won’t be let down by the act, which includes Lijana doing splits on the wire and also rising from a chair high atop a pyramid balanced on bicycles. You may want to look away out of anxiety for their safety, but you won’t be able to.

The Wallendas earned a standing ovation, naturally, but so did returning hand balancer Encho Keryazov, who manages to pivot and extend his body in ways that would be amazing enough even if he weren’t doing it on one hand atop a slim rod inserted into a small platform. The audience loved him last year, and they loved him again Friday night.
read more:
http://sarasotamagazine.com/on-stage/2013/01/28/circus-sarasota-2013-opens/