Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Ringling Bros. amaze kids of all ages
By Liz Bertrand
The Capaha Arrow (Southeast Missouri State U.)
06/13/2006

(U-WIRE) CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Around 3,000 parents, children and students came to the Show Me Center Monday, April 17 to witness the legendary Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey's Circus.

Included with every ticket was the opportunity to attend a pre-show, which allowed the performers to mingle with the crowd, and fans to obtain autographs and get sneak peeks of what the performers would be doing during the big show. Children were also allowed to go backstage and look at the circus animals.

The actual show had many impressive acts, including aerial artistry, pretzel-like contortions, upside-down juggling and, of course, some crazy clown antics.

"It's really a pleasure to be a part of the circus," said Victoria Zsilak, a Hungarian juggler. "I like to see the audience's reaction to my performance."

The 34-year-old has been juggling since she was seven years old and practices two to three hours every day. Her experience showed in her jaw-dropping upside-down juggling act, where she was suspended from the ceiling without the support of wires, harnesses or safety nets.

"[The juggling performance] was really amazing and I couldn't figure out how she was walking on the ceiling," said Ilene Davis, a 22-year-old student. "It was unlike anything I would have expected to see."

Another notable act was performed by one of the aerial artists. Long, silky red material was hung from the ceiling of the set and the woman climbed the ribbon, using it as her only support, and wrapped herself in various positions, some of which placed her upside down and dangling by her legs.

The highly trained animals in the show were also impressive. Audience members got to see Asian elephants, born and raised at the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation, perform tricks in unison. Sylvia Zerbini, a trapeze artist, trained her Arabian and Andalusian horses to work with her and is the first person to ever combine trapeze artistry with horses. The "canines in flight," which were Australian shepherds and Border collies, wowed the audience with their high-jumping Frisbee tricks.

Although the "sizzling, stunning and simply sensational" show was geared mostly toward kids and the cotton candy was a bit pricey, students at Southeast enjoyed themselves.

"It was quite a different experience now that I'm 22 from when I was eight," Davis said. "I still managed to enjoy myself, though."

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