By Karen Wolitzer
"It's the real thing," says founder and artistic director Paul Binder. Of course, I'm talking about The Big Apple Circus which will be planting their tent at Tilles Center from May 30 to June 8.The theme this year is
Dreams of A City. It's a critically acclaimed all new show set in New York City at the turn of the 20th Century. "It's a fantastic show this year," Paul says proudly. "We love performing at C.W. Post, we've been going there for 15 years...the Long Island audience is great. "We have fantastic acts...as usual. We have this flying trapeze act from Russia called the Aniskins, which is extraordinary. It's a double catcher act with a triple somersault and more. They also perform extraordinary acrobatic feats on the trampoline. "We've got a juggler from Switzerland named Claudius Specht who juggles seven juggling clubs amongst other things. He's considered one of the great jugglers of the world. Certainly the best I've ever seen. And it goes on and on and on. There's old time acrobats, comedy horses...it's really a great show."Born and raised in Brooklyn, Paul wasn't always a great fan of the circus. "I went when I was a kid. There were some things about the circus that I found attractive, but other things put me off...when I was a kid they had a sideshow in the basement of Madison Square Garden and that felt strange to me. "It wasn't until I was involved in the San Francisco Mime Troupe (a street theater company which is still around today) and trained in circus skills that I got interested enough to find out that the circus wasn't what I saw when I was a kid at Madison Square Garden but this art form that was being practiced in places other than the U.S. Paul met Michael Christensen while he was with the San Francisco Mime Troupe and together they traveled through Europe and earned their living by juggling on street corners. Their act landed them on the legendary stage of the Casino de Paris, on French television and, eventually, in the ring of Annie Fratellini's Nouveau Cirque de Paris.Paul returned to New York with a dream-to create an American circus with the same dedication to theatrical excellence and artistic intimacy that he and Michael had experienced in Europe. He found the people who would share his dream and implement his vision and, in 1977, the Big Apple Circus was born.Today, they're celebrating their 25th Anniversary "and we're as good if not better than ever," says Paul. The scenery is superb and the costumes are colorful.There's an exciting line-up of international circus stars that will help recreate the excitement, optimism, and wonderful energy of the people who came from around the world with their own "Dreams of a City."Grandma (Barry Lubin) the clown and Dinny McGuire will have you doubled over with laughter. Ooh and aah along as Cong Tian walks a slack wire and laugh at the hilarious, charming antics of musical clown Francesco, from Armenia. And for the first time in the United States, see the inimitable bouncy balancer on free-ladder, Uzir.From Russia, the Big Apple Circus is proud to present the rambunctious and delightful dogs and house cats of Irnina Markova. And from Sweden they have returning the delightful ballerina on horseback Susanna Svenson and the equestrian antics of Carlos. From Denmark they have Katja Schumann's magnificent horsesAnd they have the multi-talented Big Apple Circus Company, featuring Regina Dobrovitskaya (Russia), Valdis Yanovskis (Russia), Virgile Peyramaure (France), and Andrey Mantchev (Bulgaria), in astonishing displays of floor and equestrian acrobatics. Bring the kids for a day of excitement and fun and show them what "the other circus" is like.
