Every youngster dreams of joining the circus to soar through the air on a trapeze, dress up like a clown, or gallop around the ring on a fiery steed. The Big Apple Circus brings eye-popping stunts and the special magic found only under the big top. The international acts include the Shandong Acrobats from China, magician Scott Nelson from the United States and his assistant Muriel Brugman from Holland, juggler Dmitry Chernov from Russia, aerialist Anna Volodko from Russia, American Jenny Vidbel’s Arabian horses and dogs; the Flying Cortes from Colombia, hand balancer Melanie Chy from Switzerland and ringmaster Jenna Robinson.
Audiences this season are fortunate that International Clown Hall of Fame inductee Barry Lubin will be on hand for his final season as Grandma. After five years with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Lubin joined the Big Apple Circus. Grandma, the face of the company, will retire this season after 36 years of traveling the world and delighting families everywhere.
| Onstage |
| Big Apple Circus |
| Where: Dulles Town Center (Intersection of Routes 7 & 28) |
| When: To Oct. 10 |
| Info: From $15 at 888-541-3750 or bigapplecircus.org, 800-922-3772 |
Chy has loved circus life since becoming part of her parents’ act at age 6 and has been a star from that first solo part that allowed her parents moment to breathe.
“I was so young when I began watching my parents and developing my skills that I don’t remember when or how I started,” she said. “My father began training me at about five. It was like a game to me, not like being forced to practice. I finally went on my own at 14.”
That was six years after she won the silver medal in Paris at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain. She impressed Russian acrobat Nikolai Polonik so greatly at that time that he helped her develop her unique hand balancing act.
“One of my goals was to come to this country, and when Ringling Brothers hired me at 20, that opened the door,” she said. “I’d been training hard for 14 years and wanted to perform in New York, so joining the Big Apple Circus was a dream come true.”
If she could star in any other circus act, Chy would be an aerialist, but never had an opportunity to try because of the risk factor. Although she loves traveling all over the world while working, she heads home for vacation.
“There will be some surprises for the Big Apple Circus audiences in this show,” she said. “The director has an opera background, so there will be a different twist from what is usually expected. And for the first time, the ringmaster is a woman who sings and acts. It’s a wonderful show no family should miss.”
