Circus Coming To City

Sep 05, 2007 - 15:07:09 CDT.

Tigers, elephants and performers will join together tonight for the 2007 Ben Hur Shrine Circus beginning at 7 p.m. at the Gillespie County Fair Grounds.

Tickets are available in advance for $12 for children 12 years old and younger and $14 for adults. They will also be available at the fair grounds box office one hour before show time.

The show consists of the Domiguez Extreme Riders, aerialists, a “cavorting” clown, elephants, jugglers, tigers and more.

The circus is owned and produced by George Carden, whose family has been in show business for five generations.

His circus travels over 40,000 miles each year in the United States and Canada over a 42-week period.

Giorgio and Luisa Marinof -- a couple from Bucharest, Romania -- will be featured in this year’s aerial cradle performing arobatic maneuvers while suspended above the circus ring. The two created their own routines and feats, including back planges and layputs (which are performed only using their teeth or toes).

The Dominguez Extreme Riders, a group of six motorcycle riders from South America, will perform maneuvers on their motorcycles in a giant steel globe at speeds up to 60 miles per hour. Performers within the globe will crisscross each other’s paths with split-second timing and perform loops.

Alberto Valencia, a sixth generation circus performer who has served as the show’s ringmaster for the past six years has been with the George Carden Circus for 10 years.

Along with these performers, 8,000 pound Asian elephants will perform tricks and tasks for the audience. All of the elephants were born in the wild and been trained since the age of three. Their average age is 40 years old.