Source: Rob Farnell Photography
Everyone has to go see the Florida State circus at least once in their time here as a student. My first time at the circus was last week, and the only thing I regret is not going to see it sooner. Beginning on April 2, the circus opened its doors up to the students, faculty and staff of Florida State for a free, special performance. After that, the circus has performed eight other events open to the public and FSU students alike. Throughout the month of April, the team puts on outstanding shows, catering to all age groups.
At a performance you can catch a large variety of fun and exciting things. The circus opens up with a comedy act, where you can see three clowns performing the 20th Century Fox Fanfare with one ever so real-looking lion roaring just like the real thing. This opening act sets up the theme of the circus, which is ACTION! After the clowns and MGM lion run off the stage, the crowd is greeted with an edge-of-your-seat performance by the true masters of balance: the Tight Wire performers. And if that wasn’t amazing enough, two young ladies performing the Cloud Swing leave the audience with a jaw-dropping performance right after. In this act, two Collegiettes swing on ropes over 50 feet in the air!
Source: Rob Farnell Photography
If those acts don’t sound like an amazing time to you, there are countless others that will be sure to have you standing up and cheering. Some of the other acts you’ll encounter at the circus are the Chinese Pole, where two super heros climb and perform tricks on a ten foot pole; Jump Rope, where a fleet of sky-high jumping ladies will wow you with their intricate leaps and tricks; and the Russian bar, where you’ll see an acrobat Collegiette pull off flips on a bar that is only about three inches wide!
Source: Rob Farnell Photography
At the FSU circus, the phrase “saving the best for last” is definitely an understatement. The last act is a crowd pleaser, and will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat. The Flying Trapeze is an amazing experience and by far my favorite act of them all. During the act you’ll see a total of ten performers (five on the left side of the circus and five on the right) swinging on the trapeze at an unbelievable height. One acrobat is swinging—backwards, mind you—with his hands and feet in the air awaiting another brave performer to leap off the stand and into the air. Once the momentum is right, the second performer catches the hands of the first acrobat and they swing back and forth in the air. To get back onto the stand and out of the strong grip of the first acrobat, the second performer does a flip in the air and latches onto his first swing, which brings him/her back onto the stand safely. The event lasts about ten minutes but those ten minutes are sure to be the most exciting minutes of your experience at the circus.
Source: Rob Farnell Photography
Although The Flying High Circus had its last performance this past weekend, you can catch them in action in the fall! It’s a free event that we as students should definitely take advantage of. I enjoyed every minute of it and I know you will too!
A special thanks to Tim Hart, a member of the FSU circus, who helped me write this article!
“I’ve been apart of a lot of performances in my life, but this is a totally new and amazing experience for me. Being apart of the circus is so new and refreshing—and fun!” -Tim Hart
Thanks also to Rob Farnell Photography for letting us use all of the pictures! Check him out here!