How to go
What: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey presents Dragons
When: Sept. 26-29
Where: Wright State University Nutter Center, 3640 Col. Glenn Highway, Fairborn
Shows: Sept. 26-27, 7 p.m.; Sept. 28, 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m.; Sept. 29, 1 p.m., 5 p.m.
Tickets: $16-$80 at the Nutter Center box office, Ticketmaster locations or at www.ticketmaster.com
More: All-access pre-show free for all ticket holders one hour before the show
Clowns tumble, horses and their acrobatic riders race around the ring and fearless trapeze artists soar through the air and, all the while, the band plays on.
“We never stop playing,” Cincinnati native Shawn Elsbernd said. “And if you know circus, you know what a big part the band plays; it really sets the pace for the whole show.”
When a clown takes a tumble, a tiger demonstrates its amazing agility or a motorcycle navigates across a high wire, the band accompanies every humorous or death-defying moment. From a gasp-inducing stunt to a simple hand gesture, the band is in on the act.
“There isn’t a time during the show when there is silence,” Elsbernd said.
Elsbernd will be on the drums with the blue unit’s nine-piece band when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus presents Dragons performs at the Wright State University Nutter Center on Sept. 26-29. The Dragons tour is wrapping up its two-year run this fall.
“The playing is definitely challenging, a good outlet for my creativity,” Elsbernd said. “If an animal doesn’t want to do a trick or something doesn’t go as planned, you have to improvise.”
The Dragons show brings together performers from around the globe like the Shaolin Warriors from China whose perilous act includes jumping through a metal ring of fire with 16 rotating steel blades — blindfolded.
The Riders of the Wind Cossack riders will build a five-man high pyramid while their horses gallop at full speed. And the Torres family will put eight motorcycle riders into a 16-foot steel globe and race around — just inches apart — at 65 miles per hour.
Making his first appearance in the United States, Great Britain’s Alexander Lacey will command the big cats while the Flying Caceres will amaze on their double-decker high trapeze.
There is never a dull moment at The Greatest Show on Earth.
“I didn’t know much about the circus before I got this job,” Elsbernd said. “But it is just an amazing group of talented performers.”
And if Elsbernd wasn’t a musician, is there a circus job he would want to try?
“I couldn’t be a clown, they work so hard and are so incredibly talented,” he said. “I think I could be a lion tamer.”
Did you know? Circus facts
• PT Barnum put his show on rails in 1872. Ringling Bros. first traveled by train in 1890. The tradition continues today as Ringling Bros. owns two of the largest privately-owned trains in the country — each more than 50 cars long.
• In 1877, a female performer named Zabel became famous for being one of the first to perform the human cannonball.
• The Ringling brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1907 but toured separately until 1919.
• Cotton candy was introduced in 1900 and was originally known as fairy floss. By 1990, cotton candy was the single best selling confection of the circus.
• Comedian Bud Abbot (Abbot & Costello) was born in a Barnum & Bailey tent. His father was an advance man and his mother was a bareback rider.
• In 1955, Marilyn Monroe made an appearance riding atop a pink elephant at opening night at Madison Square Garden.
• On July 16, 1956, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey performed its last show under a tent in Pittsburgh.
• Elephants have appeared in the three rings since the first one appeared in America in 1796.
Circus talk: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey lingo
Bandmaster – person who conducts the band, makes necessary changes in the music and usually plays the trumpet.
Clown Stop – a brief appearance of clowns while the props are being changed or rigging is being set.
Finish Trick – the last “trick” of a specific presentation.
Jump – the distance between engagements in different towns.
Kicking Sawdust – following Ringling Bros., or being part of it.
Master Clown – the highest honor to which a clown can aspire.
Portal – main entrance and exit curtain located by Ring 3.
Ring Gag – clown skit that takes place in one of the rings.
Rosin Back – a horse act with bareback rider.
Teeterboard – act in which acrobats are vaulted into the air from seesaw-like teeterboards to the shoulders of other troupe members or the backs of animals.
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