Run Away to the Circus in Sarasota

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But, on a recent trip with the kids to Circus Sarasota, I realized that you aren’t a true circus-loving family until you have been introduced to the performers in Sarasota. The circus culture is so ingrained in this vibrant coastal city that circus events have become a serious “don’t miss” part of any family’s visit to town.

In 1927, John Ringling moved the winter quarters of the famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Sarasota and forever made Sarasota synonymous with the circus. From Sarasota to Venice, the circus culture is as alive today as it was all those years ago.

Ringling’s Sarasota winter quarters opened its doors to visitors on Christmas Day, 1927. Ringling was counting on the warm Florida sunshine to draw tourists and potential real estate buyers to the slow-growing area. 

His wishes came true. Hundreds of thousands of people visited the winter home, and it became the number-one tourist attraction in the state. Circus performers – Cristianis, Concellos, Merle Evans, Lou Jacobs, Emmett Kelly, LaNorma, Unus, Wallendas, and Zacchinis – made their homes in Sarasota and brought a special diversity to the area.

To keep the circus legacy alive, each February the non-profit Circus Sarasota stakes down its circus tents and puts on a fantastic show.

We attended the performance with our children on a breezy Sunday afternoon. The moment my kids stepped into the red and white tents, they instantly got the feeling that this circus experience with a European flair would be different from any other they had seen.

The tent had a snack bar, face painters, souvenir kiosks and caricature artists. Since my children, like most today, have become accustomed to high-tech performances with motorcycles whizzing above their heads and theme park special effects, they immediately noticed the quiet simplicity of this family tradition.

“This circus is like going in a time machine!” exclaimed my youngest son, Brandon, aged seven. “It’s like going to a circus in the olden days when you guys were kids.”

Those “olden days” for us weren’t that long ago. But indeed, the smells and sounds of Circus Sarasota brought me back to my own childhood when my dad would hold my hand tightly as he took me backstage to meet the clowns after the "Greatest Show on Earth."   

Things had come full circle now. It was my turn to grab some traditional circus snacks for the family – cotton candy, pretzels, and sodas – and watch the juggling, clowns and real circus families that made ours look tame in comparison.

"Each season brings new surprises and thrills for our audiences, many of whom return season after season to see some of the greatest circus acts currently performing throughout the world," says Pedro Reis, Founder and CEO of Circus Sarasota. "More than half of the acts this year have never before been seen in the United States."

From a classic Italian clown, Jimmy Folco, who tosses fake pizzas high in the air, to the Poemas, a foot-juggling family, and the Smirnov Russian quick-change artists, the acts amused and entertained us all.

Daniel Hochsteiner, an incredible juggler, had five tennis racquets circling in the air at one time.

“Please don’t try that at home,” I kept whispering to the boys, as I envisioned the racquets flying through the windows of my house.

With gleams in their eyes, the boys were silenced by awe, especially when they saw the Poema family working together as a team while dad Adrian Poema, a fifth-generation performer from Buenos Aires, Argentina, juggled his three children (ages 6-11) on his feet while he lay on his back. 

Meanwhile, my son dropped half a bucket of popcorn at our feet. We decided we were okay leaving the balancing acts to the professionals.

Other popular acts in the show included elegant horse trainer Ian Garden and Circus Sarasota's own “Queen of the Air,” Dolly Jacobs-Reis.

When Pedro and Dolly Reis started Circus Sarasota, they wanted to make sure their dream was “more than a circus.” Determined to enrich the community throughout the year, they decided to keep giving by creating charities and community services. Eighty percent of Circus Sarasota’s revenues are generated through the box office. These funds help support and continue the circus’ outreach programs.

Circus Sarasota's Laughter Unlimited program uses clown-induced laughter to treat people with Alzheimer's disease, dementia and other ailments. And its Big Top Education program goes into schools to demonstrate physics, math and English through the circus arts.

Reis, who recently took the show on the road to Estero, Florida, looks forward to entertaining residents and visitors to many cities throughout Southwest Florida in the coming years.

Get a full taste of the circus by watching VISIT FLORIDA’s Circus Sarasota video.

To answer the frequently asked question, “How did they do that?” Sarasota offers families a chance to see what it is really like to run away and join a circus. Parents can actually send their kids – or participate with the whole family – at another Sarasota circus staple, Circus Camp at the Flying Trapeze Academy.
 
Visitors looking for a thrill can test their own circus skills at Tito Goana's Flying Trapeze Academy. The Academy is located in the old Ringling Winter Quarters in Venice, where circus stars performed and Guenther Gebel-Williams trained circus animals for 30 years. A second location is now in Sarasota at the fairgrounds on Fruitville Road.

Both group and private lessons are available, and instruction is offered for the flying trapeze,
multiple trapezes, wire walking and trampolines. For more information, call 941-412-9305 or visit www.titogoana.com. 

For less hands-on action and more of a historic look at the circus culture of Sarasota, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art offers a full curriculum.

Located on a 66-acre estate on Sarasota Bay, The Ringling estate is comprised of several attractions. There’s The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, which was established in 1927 as a fitting tribute to John Ringling and his wife, Mable. Recognized as the official State Art Museum of Florida, the museum offers 21 galleries of European paintings as well as Cypriot antiquities, Asian Art, American paintings and contemporary art, and plays host to a variety of traveling exhibitions throughout the year.

Also on the estate grounds is the spectacular Cà d'Zan ("House of John"), a waterfront mansion that was restored in 2002.

Mable Ringling’s Rose Garden, completed in 1913, and meticulously landscaped grounds overlook the Sarasota Bay. You can catch a theater performance as the 18^th-century Historic Asolo Theater, then dine at Treviso Restaurant.

Check out the museum’s numerous cultural and educational programs, including courtyard concerts, "Third Thursday" socials on Cà d’Zan's terrace, lectures, workshops, children’s programs, teacher training sessions and public tours. The museum also houses an art conservation laboratory, a 65,000-volume art library and archives.

If your kids want to take a pass on the Baroque art, head over to view the miniature circus models at the Circus Museum Tibbals Learning Center instead. Here you’ll marvel at the (oxymoronic) world's largest miniature circus, a stunningly intricate, 3/4-inch-to-the-foot replica of a Ringling Bros. circus. Costumes, wagons, performance equipment and other artifacts chronicling the history of the circus complete the collection.

Check out VISIT FLORIDA’s video about The John and Mable Ringling Museum. Then visit www.ringling.org for more information.