CIRCUS FLORA

Circus Flora takes 'A Trip to the Moon'


Circus Flora Trainer and equestrian Lisa Dufresne commands a trick as she rehearses the Liberty Show with miniature stallions on Wednesday, May, 22, 2013. The 27th Circus Flora, "A Trip to the Moon," which is located behind Powell Symphony Hall in Grand Center, continues through June 23rd. Tickets can be purchased at www.circusflora.org, through Metrotix or on location at the box office.
 Photo by Christian Gooden
from:  stltoday.com
By Calvin Wilson
May 26, 2013
Circus Flora has long been embraced as a family thing. And when the time came to pick the successor to Ivor David Balding as artistic director of the one-ring experience, the choice was very much in that spirit.
“I’ve grown up with Circus Flora — since I was a baby, really,” said Jack Marsh, 28, who was named associate artistic director. His mother is Cecil MacKinnon, the circus’ longtime theater director. MacKinnon is perhaps better known to audiences as Yo-Yo, the colorful character who narrates the shows.

Two miniature stallions with Circus Flora stretch their legs before a rehearsal of the Liberty Show with trainer Lisa Dufresne on Wednesday, May, 22, 2013. The 27th Circus Flora, "A Trip to the Moon," is located behind Powell Symphony Hall in Grand Center and continues through June 23rd. Tickets can be purchased at www.circusflora.org, through Metrotix or on location at the box office.
Photo by Christian Gooden
Some folks run away with a circus; Marsh has returned to one.
“The idea is that I’m understudying David for the next couple of years, in anticipation that he will retire and I’ll take over in that role,” Marsh said.
After earning a bachelor’s degree at Harvard, he went to law school at the University of Wisconsin. His professional career has included serving as a corporate lawyer in New York City and working for a South African

 
Circus Flora Trainer and equestrian Lisa Dufresne (foreground) and her assistant Rachel Bennett rehearses the Liberty Show with miniature stallions on Wednesday, May, 22, 2013. The 27th Circus Flora, "A Trip to the Moon," is located behind Powell Symphony Hall in Grand Center and continues through June 23rd. Tickets can be purchased at www.circusflora.org, through Metrotix or on location at the box office. Photo by Christian Gooden
Each year, the circus has a different storyline. “A Trip to the Moon” takes its inspiration from Georges Melies. A legendary French illusionist and filmmaker who made significant contributions to cinema in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Melies was portrayed by Ben Kingsley in the 2011 film, “Hugo,” directed by Martin Scorsese.
Circus Flora’s latest show shares its name with an iconic 1902 Melies film — silent and in black and white — about astronomers and their lunar adventures.
As an illusionist, Melies had his initial success on the stage, but “realized that you could use film to tell a story,” Marsh said. “Which is pretty obvious to us now, but it wasn’t back then. It’s something that he was at the forefront of.”

 

Jack Marsh to serve as associate artistic director of Circus Flora
Among those scheduled to perform in “A Trip to the Moon” are the dog act Johnny Peers & the Muttville Comix, equestrian Lisa Dufresne, Carlos Svenson and His Magical Flying Goats, the clown Rob Torres, the aerialists Andrew Adams and Helena Reynolds, juggler Kellin Quinn, the St. Louis Arches, the Flying Wallendas and the Flying Pages.
The result should be just what folks have come to expect from Circus Flora, Marsh said.
“Melies’ view of the moon as a late-19th-century guy is really fun, and in line with the way we like to tell our stories.”
read more:
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/circus-flora-takes-a-trip-to-the-moon/article_ea28d20e-59cc-5eee-ac2f-9e4e6f04f634.html