The Big Apple Circus was a bit of a disappointment this year, though not to my eight-year-old daughter, who loved it, though she seemed to be one of the older children there this time and it may be a different story next year. There were no horses (though they were mentioned on the Big Apple Circus website and in the New York Times review of this year's show) or trained pigs (see my post about last year's show); instead we were treated to the Savitsky cats, one of whom climbed a pole and another one who walked on hind legs -- the rest of the time the Savitsky family was herding them. There were several repetitive aerial acts, with twirling on ropes and riding bicycles high in the air, and Jason Dominguez on a giant spinning hamster wheel. And there was The Explosive Duo, who hung horizontally on a pole -- I'm pretty sure I saw them a couple of months ago on the IRT.
The one performer I was impressed with was the juggler Kyle Driggs, whose imaginative act included juggling open umbrellas. There was, of course, an unfunny clown --Amy Gordon dressed as a pigeon -- that almost made one wish for the return of Grandma (Barry Lubin), who retired after accusations of sexual harassment. This year there was no band, only recorded music. In moving from a non-profit to a hedge-fund owner The Big Apple Circus has moved away from its origins in performance art and needs new and different kinds of performers.
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