Get happy

The Big Apple Circus is big fun

by Johnette Rodriguez

BIG APPLE CIRCUS. At Ninigret Park, Charlestown, through July 11.

"You should never get too old to be excited about the circus," said one of the friends who accompanied us to the 14th year of the Big Apple Circus in Charlestown. Founded in 1977 by Paul Binder and Michael Christensen, the Big Apple Circus is headquartered in New York and goes out on tour with a different theme each year. For 1998-99, the Big Apple is presenting a tribute to the British music hall and other variety shows of that era and is therefore titled "Happy On," referring to the British expression, "If you're happy off stage, you'll be happy on."

Indeed, most of the performers seem very "happy on," especially the exuberant young men of the Liaoning Acrobatic Troupe (from China), Norman Barrett's trained budgies (from England) and the high-haired Swiss-American clown Bello Nock. Looking perennially plugged into a socket, Nock pats, strokes and tosses those golden locks that stand straight up eight inches or so (yes, it's his real hair!).

Donning the traditional baggy pants and silly shoes of a clown, the multi-talented Nock adds his own flair, with top coat and bowtie and a permanent surprise painted into his eyebrows. Whether he is miming an extended routine involving musical bells with audience members, bouncing from the roof of the tent in a daredevil bungee trapeze act, being stepped on by a two-ton elephant, taking typical clown pratfalls or balancing on his hands atop several chairs, Nock is "right on" as well as "happy on."

Another theme at this year's Big Apple is jumping through hoops. A miniature horse does it; basset hounds and dachshunds do it; budgies do it, including a bright yellow bird named Peter who sets up his own hoops; and the acrobats from the Liaoning Troupe do it, diving, backflipping and somersaulting through ever-higher hoops. Before they get to that signature piece in the second act, however, eight of the Liaoning do fast-paced pole-climbing stunts and an aerial number that took my breath away. The climactic feat of that number looked like a Ferris wheel, with four different acrobats circling above and below a trapeze bar on bungee loops and one rotating in place inside their giant arc. Truly a spectacle to behold.

Less flashy but absolutely mesmerizing -- I felt my jaw drop open toward the end of this performance -- were the Russian aerialists Vladimir and Olga Kurziamov. To the hypnotic strains of Ravel's "Bolero," and costumed in flowing orange Arabian-style pants and veil, this pair combined the undulating gracefulness of dance with the strength and control of weightlifting. Linked to two ropes with only his hands, Vladimir's feet became Olga's trapeze, holding her behind her neck and her knee in one sequence. Eventually his back, held horizontal in the air, became the platform for her handstand, 20 feet from the ground.

Barrett's trained budgies produced a different level of amazement, this one accompanied by loud shrieks of laughter, as Barrett put these birds through their paces. They were the favorite of the show for my 12-year-old animal-loving neighbor Eva: "How do they teach them to do those things?" These birds were so well trained that they often made Barrett the brunt of the joke, either by continuing to skitter up and zoom down the bird-sized slide after the trick was over or by jumping onto the trigger mechanism of a miniature cannon, splattering Barrett with a paint ball.

The other animals at the Big Apple were equally entertaining: Woodcock's elephants, the 53-year-old Anna May, 12-year-old Ned and 10-year-old Amy, balancing on hind feet and on each other, in a circular dance; Ella Levitskaya's canines, including the finale where one dog pulls another in a tiny cart; and Katja Schumann's beautiful white horses -- this year three pair of them waltz together. You have to see it to believe it.

That's certainly true for another performer from the People's Republic of China, He Yuan Yuan, who tosses bowls, cups and spoons onto her head, while riding a unicycle. In the second part of her act, she's riding that unicycle atop a large ball and still tossing bowls onto her head with one foot!

One thing I've always loved about the Big Apple Circus is that if a performer misses, be it bowl, hoop or tight rope, ringmaster Paul Binder gestures for audience patience and the performer tries again . . . and almost always accomplishes the feat on the second try. It's an excellent reminder of how difficult these performances really are and a subtle message that nobody's perfect.

Thus, skillful tight-wire dancer Molly Saudek's two slips from the rope were followed by poised remounts and by even more energetic and complicated steps and jumps. And the French clown Mimi had the last word in try, try again, as his repeated attempts at hanzdstands caused him to get creative with feet-to-air lift-off, to hilarious effect.

You leave the Big Apple more excited than when you went in, rejuvenated by memories of playground stunts, renewed by waves of child-like laughter, re-energized by the inspiration of the performers' dedication and hard work. Don't miss it!