Circus in Cape provides spectacle, a last hurrah

Hundreds packed the Show Me Center on Saturday to see the dizzying spectacles of the Garden Bros. Circus -- including exotic animals in what will one of their final performances.

Gymnasts started the show, flipping and tumbling on bungee cords strung from a trapeze bar as viewers settled in.

When they finished, a single trick cyclist entered the arena astride a bright red motorbike and began zooming around inside a giant metal orb. He started by riding around and around on the walls before gunning the bike and going in loops upside down.

When another motorcyclist joined him in the cage, they circled each other in complimentary loops before coming to a stop as the crowd cheered, thinking they were done. But a third rider joined, then the finale: a single woman entered, standing in the cage as the three bikes buzzed around her, weaving close enough to brush her fingertips.

The next performers displayed equal skill, but with simpler props: umbrellas.

Lying on her back, one of the dancers had one umbrella spinning like a top on the ball of one foot, while she balanced another umbrella right-side-up on the other with a third perched upside down on top of that.

A musical clown named Henry and his meddlesome, Michael Jackson-impersonating understudy Orlando broke the tension with their slapstick shenanigans.

A pair of silk dancers spun in unison up and down linens hung from the ceiling, the spotlights casting giant graceful shadows on the walls of the arena.

A quintet of camels came parading out next, heads bobbing and lips flopping to the tune of "Jai Ho" from the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" and a host of hoop-jumping acrobats performed their tumbling routine to enthusiastic applause. They leaped and tossed each other headfirst, feet-first and backwards for an even bigger cheer.

After the clowns returned to trick a group of volunteers into whipping and nay-nay-ing, acrobats rolled out one of the highest-flying stunts: the standing swing.

Five performers crowded onto the platform to swing, then there were four as one went sailing off the lip, 35 feet in the air at least and into the catch net.

Not to be outdone, the next two somersaulted off the swing, one through a hoop strung from the rafters.

But the most memorable performance came from the elephants.

As the massive animals lumbered around the ring and posed on platforms, the show marked one of their last in showbiz.

Circuses have begun phasing out elephant shows out of concern for the creatures' well-being. Elephants' intelligence has been well-documented for years, which is partly why they were used in circuses to begin with. But they also have been shown to possess a rich emotional capacity -- so much so that many circuses have reconsidered the ethics of using the animals in live shows.

For spectators such as Jeff Harris, the elephants' imminent retirement made the show bittersweet.

"Well, it'll be sort of sad that other people won't get to see them, but I understand, too," he said. "I am glad that we got to see them, though. It's not every day you get to see an elephant like that."

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

Pertinent address:

Show Me Center, Cape Girardeau, Mo.