Ringling Bros. Circus Is Back without Animals

Ringling Bros. Circus Is Back without Animals

A famous American circus has been reimagined and reborn without the use of animals in the show. The family event now centers on humans performing tricks, including walking on a wire and flying through the air on a trapeze high above the ground.

Feld Entertainment owns the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus. The company talked to the Associated Press about what people can expect to see at the traveling show in 2023. It opens in September.

A group of 75 performers from 18 countries will carry out the acts, which combine artistry, skill and strength. Some will perform jumps, runs and other tricks on a wire high above the ground. The wire is stretched into a triangular¹ path more than seven and a half meters up in the air.

Flying trapeze artists will also cut through the air way up high, flipping³ as they move. Others perform acts on self-turning wheels, bicycles, unicycles and skateboards.

The "Greatest Show on Earth" as the company calls it, opens its 2023 season in Bossier City, Louisiana. It will hold shows in nine other states through the end of the year, including Ohio, Missouri, Maryland and Oklahoma.

It restarts in 2024 in Florida, home to Feld Entertainment.

Feld Entertainment says it aimed to create a completely new kind of circus.

"We knew we were going to come back. We didn't know exactly how," says Kenneth Feld, chair and chief of Feld Entertainment. "It took us a long time to really delve⁴ in and take a look at Ringling in different ways. It became a re-imagination, a rethinking of how we were going to do it."

The circus closed in 2017 after years of decreasing sales and protests over the use of animals in the circus. People for the Ethical⁵ Treatment of Animals praised the "animal-free" reform.

The new production design includes moveable stairs and two main stages. Crowds watching will have a 360-degree view with live camera feeds and virtual reality.

Juliette Feld Grossman is chief operating officer of Feld Entertainment. She said, "We have so much activity and action so we want to make sure that we never miss the big moments in the show."

The reimagined show extends the circus's long history. The Ringling circus was around before automobiles⁶, airplanes or movies. It first opened in 1871.

The Feld family bought the circus in 1967. Kenneth Feld said that there is something about the circus that people hold dear.

"When you're on a high wire and you're doing a backward somersault on the wire or you're doing something really extraordinary, I don't care where you are. You appreciate that. You understand the danger of it, the thrill of it."

Words in This Story

circus - n. a show that usually travels from place to place and that has a variety of exhibitions including acrobatic feats⁷, wild animal displays, and performances by clowns

trapeze - n. a gymnastic or acrobatic device consisting of a short horizontal bar hung from two parallel ropes

flip² - v. to turn in a circle fast through the air

unicycle - n. a vehicle having a single wheel and usually moved forward by pedals

delve - v. to examine a subject in detail

virtual reality - n. an artificial environment which is experienced through sights and sounds provided by a computer and in which one's actions partly decide what happens in the environment

somersault - n. a roll in which a person turns heels over head

thrill - n. a feeling of great excitement or happiness

1 triangular   

adj.三角（形）的，三者间的

参考例句：

• It's more or less triangular plot of land.这块地略成三角形。
• One particular triangular relationship became the model of Simone's first novel.一段特殊的三角关系成了西蒙娜第一本小说的原型。

2 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

3 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

4 delve   

v.深入探究，钻研

参考例句：

• We should not delve too deeply into this painful matter.我们不应该过分深究这件痛苦的事。
• We need to delve more deeply into these questions.这些是我们想进一步了解的。

5 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

6 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 feats   

功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
• His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。