When I Say Bigtop...You Say Circus...

On Saturday, I took the kids to The Universoul Circus.

It has been a few years since, I attended the SOULLLLLLLLLLLLLLL CIRCUSSSSSSSSSSS, and I am kicking myself for missing the last four years. The show was awesome. I will never go see Barnum and Bailey again. Now if you are the type who enjoys the structure of B&B and you want a big stage, clowns, and lots death defying acts, don’t go to the Soul Circus. If you love music, laughing with your neighbors, and actually being involved in the event, go to the Soul Circus.

I really can’t put in to words, how much I enjoyed the show today. I was more excited than my kids. We’ve done the Barnum and Bailey thing and it had been four years since I took my son to see Universoul Circus. At the time my daughter was a baby and she didn’t get to go. So this was her first visit to the Soul Circus. I was worried, because when the first act came out she didn’t get too excited. When the lights first go down and it’s the ballerina/gymnast, how excited is a five year old really supposed to get. Right about this time the vendors start walking around. It doesn’t take long for the kids to pick up on the fact that if you raise your hand they’ll come right to you. So I bought a $3 soda, $7 cotton candy, and a light up toy that cost the price of sodas. I love the fact that although this circus caters mostly to those who identify with the African - American culture, you see representatives of every ethnic group employed at the circus. They’re training animals, working as part of the acts, or a member of the crew. It gave me a little hope. If they get it, if they know we can come together despite culture, background, or ethnicity to be successful then eventually we’ve got to get it in the real world. That’s a different blog and I digress.

I enjoyed it all. The Rough Riders - a group of men and women who do tricks while riding horses. Ladies, let me say, that some of the men will cause you to completely ignore the horse. How I love a man with long dreads, let me count the ways. One of the women did a trick where she goes all the way around the horse. She’s the only woman in the US who does this. My mouth was hanging wide open. There’s another group, from Beijing, that just went Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on some poles. Amazing. There were just flying back and forth between the poles. The ringmaster Tony Tone and Z were a wonderful duo. Everyone was waiting for the Soul Train line and it delivered many laughs. There was even an Apollo style kids dance competition. Most of the kids stopped dancing mid way through the competition until Crank Dat by Soulja Boy came on. I thought the tent was going to fly away, the majority of the audience, grandparents, parents, and kids stood up to Crank Dat. I’m not going to lie at one point, Whodini came on and I got real excited. The kids looked at me, like I had lost my mind.

My two favorite acts of the show were the Sheer Romance Aerial Act who performed to Alicia Keys, “Like You’ll Never See Me Again,” and the elephants. The aerial act performed on sheers and it was absolutely beautiful. The ringmaster warned people not to try it at home. He didn’t want anyone’s neighbors calling 911, because everyone was twisted up in their good drapes. The elephants, were precious. If its possible for a two ton elephant to be precious. They really were, the performed part of their act to J. Holliday’s, “Bed,” and all three elephants laid down on one another. Cute beyond words.

This is the fifteenth year of The Universoul Circus. This year’s theme is Jabulani, which is Zulu for, joy, laughter, and happiness. If this circus rolls into your town, get tickets immediately. You will feel an overwhelming amount of each of those emotions.

http://www.universoulcircus.com/index.php