Sailor Circus opens show built around classic fairy tales

For its 68^th annual spring performance, Sarasota’s Sailor Circus is offering a circus centered around fairy tales and other timeless timeless stories.

The show is called “Once Upon a Circus” and it opens Tuesday at the Sailor Circus Arena, and runs for six performances through April 15. The show will feature some new acts, plus others that have not been performed for several years, including the “aerial cradle,” the “shoot thru ladder” and “low casting.” If you’re a circus aficionado, maybe you’ll know what those are.

Sailor Circus features young circus artists between the ages of 8 and 18. The older ones have years of experience behind them already, and even the little ones have been practicing their routines for months gearing up for “Once Upon a Circus.” The production uses more than 800 costumes, and it includes music from many animated classics, including “Cinderella,” “Fantasia” and “Beauty and the Beast.”

Sailor Circus bills itself as “The Greatest ‘Little’ Show on Earth” and says it is the longest-running youth circus in the country. More than 100 students from more than 30 schools in Sarasota and Manatee counties study circus skills at the Sailor Circus Academy.

Details: April 11-15, Sailor Circus Arena, 2075 Bahia Vista Street, Sarasota. 7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday. $20 adults, $15 children 12 and under. 941-355-9805, circusarts.org.

This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Sailor Circus opens show built around classic fairy tales."