The Day the Circus Came to Town....

A Review by Ken Kiunke
Staff Writer

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus has come to town, appearing at the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento and the Stockton Arena through September 16th. The show is billed as “Dragons”, but if you come expecting to see a big show featuring lots of dragons, you will be disappointed. There is a nice looking dragon that appears and blows fire, quite impressively, but most of the show is standard modern circus acts. Photo: Dragons at Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Circus, by Dawn Santos

I thought of the question “is the circus still a relevant form of entertainment for the family?” It is one of the oldest forms of traveling entertainment, and still carries many of the same themes and acts. But it has been displaced for many people by the more contemporary “circus” acts like Cirque De Soleil. I think, however, going to the circus remains a unique experience in the world of entertainment, and they have gone to a lot of effort to update the show for today's audiences.

Of course, when discussing the circus the “elephant in the room” is in fact the many elephants in the room, along with the tigers and lions that make up the wild animal segments of the show. Animal rights organizations such as PETA always station protesters outside the gates to hand out literature protesting the training methods, living conditions, danger to people and the animals, along with other issues. Ringling Brothers denies their claims and says they treat and train their animals very well, giving them long and happy lives, and that most were born and raised in captivity, not taken from the wild. They even run the Ringling Brothers Center for Elephant Conservation to conserve, breed and understand the animals. So it is up to you to determine if supporting the circus is worthwhile or detrimental to the animals. Photo by Dawn Santos

And though the acts they are in – the big cats and the elephants segments – were impressive, to me they were not the highlights of the show. It is pretty remarkable seeing eight big cats following the direction of one trainer, and watching the elephants pirouette has to be seen to be believed. But it all seemed so unnatural to me. Much more enjoyable were the horses and their acrobatic riders, and of course the dogs, who were delightful to watch doing their jumps for both skill and comedy. They went “3 Ring” for that segment, bringing in ponies (yes, a dog and pony show) and cats at the same time, but most of the time, all eyes were on the dogs. Photo by

The real draw for me, though, is the human acts. They have traditional, such as the trapeze, and new, like the Shao Lin Kung Fu displays. The acrobats were truly impressive, especially the act featuring the teeter jumpers, who use a teeter totter lever to launch themselves in the air, flipping and landing up to four high on each other's shoulders. Another special highlight was the Globe of Steel, featuring multiple motorcyclists riding inside a steel mesh globe about 15 to 20 feet across. They ride inside, circling and crossing in a tightly choreographed dance of speed driving. And just when you thought they couldn't fit one more in, they did, and did again! Photo by Dawn Santos

And naturally there were clowns, but the team didn't have a lot of great stuff to do, and were just “okay” for a clown act. Perhaps that is one area of the circus that is getting more and more challenging in today's culture, getting laughs from slapstick humor and dressing funny. But we had hoped for more from them. The ringmaster role has changed somewhat, as he spent more time singing the part than speaking it. It was often difficult to understand what he was saying or singing over the music and fanfare, but it usually doesn't matter anyway. He did sing a lot about the Dragons, bring the theme more alive himself that the actual dragon they brought out at the end. And it is great that they have a live band throughout the show, playing horns, drums, electric guitar and keyboards. Seeing and hearing them added a lot to the overall feel of the show. Photo by

At times I nostalgically wished a bit for more of the old fashioned circus feel, but the format they use has enough to keep the old folks satisfied, while at the same time keeping the young kids, who may be at the circus for the first time, entertained and engaged. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Dragons show runs until September 9th in Sacramento and opens in Stockton September 13th – 16th. For more info see www.ringling.com Photo: The amazing elephants at Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Circus, by Dawn Santos

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