Bigtop in Little Town

                If you’ve ever been to a parade, then you have seen the Shriners. They are the group that wears the little red hats with tassels. They ride little tiny cars that have their heads and shoulders poking out of the top. Doing their part, they have donated to numerous children’s hospitals across the country. When children are facing illnesses that put them in the hospital for extended amounts of time, the Shriners are there to lighten their mood and put a smile on their face. Today they were bringing joy to the Las Cruces area. They packed the Pan Am Center to witness the performer’s amazing displays of flexibility, strength, balance, acrobatics, and animal training.

                   

I have been to at least ten circuses and never have been disappointed. I have never experienced the circus in Las Cruces. I was born in the DFW metro area where the shows put on were always excellent. I consider Las Cruces to be somewhat of a small town, but I have traveled around quite a bit and have seen massive cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix, Miami, Houston, and Denver. Growing up in Dallas and surrounding areas gave me a predetermined idea of what a big city is. So being in Las Cruces I didn’t know what to expect.

As we get inside the arena, we found that we were able to sit where ever we liked. We found a spot about halfway up the lower section seats right around mid-court and settled in. Or so I thought. As we started getting situated, we noticed that some crowd members were going down the floor level where the performers were going to be putting on their show. They had animals that were also going to be part of the show giving rides to little children. For a small fee, your child would be able to ride one of the show animals. There was a handful of miniature ponies, a camel, and an elephant. Really? How many times in your life are you going to get the chance to ride on an elephant or camel? That’s an awesome deal. We bought some tickets to ride the ponies as elephants and camels can be a little intimidating to young children. As our receipt was being printed, an announcement was given on the loud speaker. “The show is set to begin in five minutes, can everyone clear the floor and find their seats.” 

When we got back to our seats, a group of clowns made their appearances. They announced who they were and that they were members of the local Shiners Club. They did a few skits, juggling and goofing around with each other before they made their way off the floor. On their way out, they made the introduction for the first act. This circus brought out the big guns early, in the center ring were seven huge tigers. The tigers showed a great rapport with their trainer as he guided them through a series of tricks, randomly selecting one or two out of the group to perform. As they finished their portion of the routine, they happily returned to their perch atop a narrow metal stand. I was impressed with the relationship that the trainer showed with the animals.

The second set in the show was Luigi and his ‘ring of death’. This thing was insane. It was a ring that an adult human could stand up in. The ring led to a shaft that attached to the support frames. Past the support frames, it continued down to a weighted bottom. This gave the whole apparatus a counterweight for the human. As he started to walk within the ring, it would start to sway the direction he walked. As he builds pushes the pace, the whole ring gains speed and by this point is moving very quick circles. Inside the ring, Luigi is doing flips and laying down as if inside a tire rolling down a steep hill. He then slows it to a stop, then goes from the inside to the outside of the ring. He then proceeds to pull a jump-rope out of who knows where and starts to get the apparatus back up to speed, while jump-roping. He has a few close calls, but I’m not so sure that they aren’t part of the show. Adds some excitement to his already death-defying stunts.

The next big act was the acrobats. They came out and hung from dangling cloth while contorting their bodies into shapes not meant possible by medical standards. They showed incredible control over their body the whole routine. They had a portion where Luigi came back out and straddled a hanging bar. Then he did a handstand on that bar and balanced his body on it without using his arms or legs for any support. It was insane. They also had performers standing on platforms balancing on a board that was on a tube laying down. Using a surfing motion, they were able to stabilize themselves on the board and not fall. Then they upped the ante and built up a tower, put their tube on it then the board, now they are at least four foot higher than the platform they were standing on. I don’t see how they can balance on such a small round object.

The next act was a display of archery precision. A man equipped with a crossbow shot balloons, apples, flower stems, and balloon strings almost flawlessly. His assistant was even brave enough to face the man with an apple on her head, William Tell style. She was brave, but accidents have happened and she was smart enough to have a paddle to protect her face. He closed his routine with the firing of one bolt that sets a chain reaction off. That one bolt would trigger the firing of crossbows set to hit the plate attached to other crossbows. The hitting of the plate would trigger the next shot, until the last one, which was situated to hit a balloon situated above his assistant’s head.

The last portion of the show was the elephants. They rode around the center ring with acrobats on their backs. The elephants eagerly did as their trainer commanded as the acrobats seemed to hold on for life. The acrobats then jumped off and the elephants got the chance to do their solo portion of their routine. One laid down as the other crawled over top of him.  After regaining their footing, the acrobats mounted the elephants again. They closed their act by having the elephants stand on their hind legs, doing a handstand supported by its trunk, and both rolling over on their side as a lullaby played over the loudspeaker. The elephants pretended to go to sleep.

The Shriners did not disappoint. They put on a really good show. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. I forgot to mention, my girls did get to ride the ponies after all. They made time in the middle of the show to let the kids have another opportunity to ride and see the animals up close. They loved it. Well done, Shriners. You at least made two girls really happy today. The performers really did a great job. The fact that they were able to allow the kids to get up close and ride the show animals was awesome. They are doing amazing things. Of the show as a whole, Luigi really impressed me. His portion of the show was just crazy. He pushes the limits and that seems to draw the attention of many fans. He was a fan favorite.