Highlights Archives
Circus World Begins New Season May 20!
The old adage "everything old is new again" may come to mind when you include a visit to Circus World Museum in Baraboo on your spring and summer getaway itinerary. After decades of wowing visitors of all ages with rollicking circus entertainment of all sorts, Circus World has lined up a brand new show for its 2006 performance season, which opens Saturday, May 20. All the way from mainland China comes a troupe of Chinese circus acrobats who promise to dazzle audiences with gravity-defying feats of athleticism twice daily — at 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. The Chinese acrobats will perform their astounding antics this year within the intimate confines of the newly renovated Hippodrome building, a unique entertainment venue that gets the audience closer to the performers than ever before.
Of course it wouldn't be a circus without elephants! This year Circus World will feature an elephant show of a different sort. Elephant Encounters, offered twice daily at 1:15 and 4:15 p.m., will give circus goers an up-close, firsthand look at how trainers educate and care for their elephants and what the animals' lives are like as circus performers.
There's magic afoot at Circus World this year as well. Master illusionist Tristan Christ and company will present their Illusions of Reality show inside the Hippodrome twice daily at 12:45 and 4:45 p.m. The magic show brings back some razzle-dazzle sleight of hand that visitors haven't seen for several years at Circus World.
No circus would really be complete without at least one traditional American circus clown. That's where Doodles the clown comes in. Bob "Doodles" Kelmer, a graduate of the prestigious Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, will present a clown makeup demonstration daily at 10:45 a.m. and a "clowning around" show at 2:45 p.m. in the Ringlingville Courtyard.
Kids have had a fascination with the circus and circus life for many generations, and it's no different today. A popular interactive circus program that returns to Circus World this year lets kids become a part of the show. KidsWorld Circus engages selected youngsters in practicing and performing their very own circus acts for their peers and parents on a special stage inside the historic Ringling Elephant House twice daily, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Another new feature of Circus World's 2006 entertainment lineup will be daily guided tours of Historic Ringlingville, the area on the north side of the Baraboo River that includes the remaining structures of the original winter quarters of the Ringling Bros. Circus. For the first time, costumed guides will lead tours of the Ringling Animal House, the baggage horse barn and the wardrobe department as they point out where the Ringlings' hippopotamus resided and how wardrobe artisans created the costumes for their show many years ago. The buildings' historic importance led to their listing in the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark.
Every visit to Circus World should include a self-guided tour of the world's largest collection of historic circus wagons in the W.W. Deppe Wagon Pavilion and the C.P. Fox Wagon Restoration Center. Circus scholars estimate that two-thirds of the world's most grand circus wagons reside at Circus World Museum. Nearby, in the Irvin Feld Exhibit Hall and Visitor Center, visitors can peruse exhibits of the world's largest collection of circus graphics and learn the story of the Ringling Brothers' remarkable lives and careers.
For a complete rundown of Circus World's daily entertainment fare, see the daily performance schedule. See you at the circus!
:: Posted May 15, 2006
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