Pictured: The Alexis Brothers will astound audiences with their feats of strength, balance and beauty. Photo by Cliff Roles.

“Here at The Ringling, we have a performing arts series with contemporary, multidisciplinary events from August till April, excluding the summer months so that we can reserve the theater for the circus, allowing this to be the main focus of our performance programming this summer,” says Elizabeth Doud. “We try not to have more than this event happening in the summer because one, it’s a really important time off for families, students and other camp groups and two, it provides the circus to perform indoors when it’s too hot to perform outdoors in the tent."

Doud, The Ringling’s Connie-Kuhlman curator of performance, is talking about the Summer Circus Spectacular, a long-standing collaboration between the Circus Arts Conservatory and The Ringling. The one-hour show runs twice a day from June 9 through August 12 at The Ringling’s Historic Asolo Theater. The show will feature performances from some of the world’s most entertaining acts, including the master of ceremonies, Heidi Harriot, a third-generation circus performer and The Alexis Brothers, a hand-balancing duo who have performed together for more than 40 years. Other acts include Garret Allen, on the aerial rope, Tersit Asefa Dersu, a bounce juggler from Ethiopia and the clowning act, Dick Monday & Slappy.

“We have a lot of different kinds of tourism passing through the museum, which is great because we can offer a live circus experience right inside the museum,” says Doud. “This show is the product of an ongoing relationship that we’ve had with the Circus Arts Conservatory for years and we’re really excited to be able to have it again this summer.”

Summer Circus Spectacular, Tuesday to Friday at 11am and 2pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 5pm, The Ringling Museum of Art, 5401 Bay Shore Rd., Sarasota.

Pictured: The Alexis Brothers will astound audiences with their feats of strength, balance and beauty. Photo by Cliff Roles.

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