The Flying Wallendas are American circus royalty. https://wallenda.com/ They appear at Circus Flora every year, and every year they amaze. I edited a bunch of pictures of them yesterday and had to decide on one for today, so there may be more to come.The pater familias, Tino, must be in his 70s, and he was up there. Eight year old Mateo is learning high wire balancing skills, which he demonstrated a meter off the ground. Stay tuned.
The circus has to have a dog act every year, or at least ours does. We've never had a dog, being satisfied with a geriatric cat our granddaughter adores, so I don't know anything about training. I did notice that the handlers did not give the pups a treat when they performed a stunt, something we have seen with other species.
Next up at Circus Flora. This group of teens and children appear every year. Known as the St. Louis Archers (heh, get it?) they know no fear. How do they train, and for how long, to learn this? Their trust in one another is complete.
High level baton twirling is hard. It requires exceptional hand and finger dexterity, a degree of coordination I can't imagine. Then take three batons, twirl them and juggle them. The first act at Circus Flora had the crowd gasping.
There are a lot of good things about this town, and one of them is that we have our own resident circus company. Circus Flora opened its 40th season yesterday and we took the granddaughter. Mistress of ceremonies Cecil MacKinnon has been with the company since the beginning and her son, Jack March, is the executive and artistic director. More to come.
