131st Edition of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus

The cast for the 131st Edition Of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus back when it still had circus rings. You can see Pam and I at the very front on the lower left of the photo.


The last time Pam and I toured with the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus was in 2001. We arrived at winter quarters in December of 2000 to begin rehearsal for the new show. Bello Nock, who is an amazing performer and great clown, was the featured star on the show and let me tell you, this guy does not disappoint. Currently, Bello is the featured clown on the Big Apple Circus directed, if I'm not mistaken, by the irrepressible Steve Smith, who was director of RBBB Clown College for about decade including my year in 1993.

The show also had a large number of multi- talented Brazilian performers, many of whom had never left their native Brazil before. They were so young. I can remember when I was their age I was such a kid with a long way to go before i could begin anything remotely resembling a career. Here were these kids ,though, trained in a variety of performing arts and more than capable of doing them well. Individually they could put on their own show. they were simply amazing and so full of life.

One them was a clown by the name of Francesco Villares, a gifted clown if there ever was one. Pammy and I loved his company and we admired his great love for performing. Some performers become jaded over time and forget how lucky they are to be doing something they love but not Francesco. The same can be said of Bello. Both were great inspirations to us and we are lucky to count them as friends.

Francesco was a fit acrobatic fellow standing about five foot five. He was always ready to do whatever he was called upon to do in the show and always eager to teach you a new skill or help polish an old one.

One of the most amazing thing he did on the show was a head balance on a beam resembling a gymnast's balance beam. Yes, it's impressive to see him do a head balance on a narrow beam but it gets better. He would balance on one end of the beam and then proceed to move across the beam by hopping, a tiny bit at a time, on his head. It took about eight or nine hops to make it to the other end to the great applause. He had a very thick neck from years of performing this feat. I think if he wanted to he could've opened a beer bottle using his neck. He showed us footage where the beam was made to be a small set of stairs on which he did the same thing. Truly amazing!

I'll post more pictures of other performers from that tour in the near future. Right now, I hear the siren call of a bean and cheese taco luring me to my high- caloric doom . Adios !!