Is the Circus Still "The Greatest Show on Earth?"

yes i do i recalled i've watched the chinese circus once when i had my trips to mainland china one chinese new year years ago, it still mind boggles me and still the most exciting show on earth...

And the chicks in the leotards are hot.

I loved the circus as a kid and even as an adult. The guys in the leotards were pretty hot too.

I remember my cousin and I, at 17 or 18 years old, taking her young sister to Ringling Brothers one year and attracting the attention of an entire unicycle troupe. They were so outwardly flirty and we were just so tender and fine. And we had such good seats.

Cirque de Soliel (?) is still one of the most incredible visual experiences I've ever had.

I think a child would be just as enthralled by the live experience of a circus. Hopefully the REAL THING is still the real thing.

Eoe--

Before I replied to this thread I was rereading the review in Time
of Cirque du Soleil: Ka the new show opening in Los Vegas.

http://www.time.com/time/arts/

Performances like this appeal to well-wined and dined sophisticated adults. The old tent shows are vanishing which is a shame. The sawdust and the midway (complete with banners for the freak show and all the other side shows) and cotton candy and the Step Right Up games of chance enchant a child's five senses in a way that a television program cannot.

That's just what I was thinking. Seeing the animals and hearing the music and smelling the food (and the animals), all of that is part of the experience that you just can't get from a television program.

An old-fashioned circus came through Naperville every year. Sozlet absolutely loved it. It was small enough that we were right there, 4 rows away or whatever. Also lived nearby and watched the elephants raise the tents, etc. Her all-time favorite make-believe game is circus, which she taught to friends here, and now her whole preschool class is doing it.

You know, you read about some of the conditions that the animals are kept in, especially in some of the smaller circus operations, and that's always at the back of my head when I go to one.

I took my daughter for the first time last year, and she loved it also.



She even got to ride on an elephant.

InfraBlue--

Your daughter is adorable--and she was obviously having a wonderful time.

WOW! I want to ride on an elephant!!

In winter quarters in Florida one of the clowns arranged for a circus elephant to visit his grand daughter's nursery school on her birthday and give all the children rides.

Some children are just luckier than others.

The 'real' circus terrified me when I was a kid. Still does.

I love Cirque de Soleil. Interesting that you perceive it as being for 'sophisticates' Noddy, as it's usually been packed with small thrilled kids when I've attended. Best of all, it doesn't stink like the 'real' circus does.

Ohh, the stink is a part of the experience, tho. What's a circus without a whiff of the good ol' outdoors?

There were hardly any kids the two times I've been to Cirque. Or maybe I just didn't see them, blinded by the magnificence of the show.

Thanks for the compliment, Noddy.

i loved just strolling around before or after circus show, pretending i was one of the circus people. i would tell people not to come too close to the animals, make up answers if they asked anything. loved the circus, although now am torn up about the whole idea of a circus. i prefer when they don't involve animals, but of course that changes the whole show...