Ringling Bros. brings 'Legends' back to Tampa

If you saw the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Tampa in 2014, you saw Hans Klose and his dog act. It was one of the first times he had incorporated trained pigs into the act.

You'll get another chance to enjoy that act beginning on Wednesday. But it will look significantly different.

"For one thing, when I worked in Tampa the first time, the pigs weighed about 80 or 90 pounds," Klose said. "Now they're upwards of 500 pounds."

Klose, who grew up in Sarasota and lives there when he's not on the road with the circus, is part of "Legends," the Ringling circus that's been touring the country since early last year. It returns to Amalie Arena in Tampa beginning Jan. 6.

For many years, most Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus tours have started in Tampa in January, and then set out on two-year tour around the country. So Bradenton-area audiences have been the first in the country to see each new circus.

Feld Entertainment, which owns Ringling Bros., is changing at least for this year. It's launching a new tour in the summer in California. The circus will still stop in Tampa every January. But for just this one time, while the schedule is being adjusted, it will be a return of the "Legends" circus from two years ago. It yet to be determined whether future circuses will start in Tampa, but Tampa will still get a different version of the Ringling Bros. circus every year.

"'Legends' is back by popular demand," said Steve Payne, the vice president of corporate communications for Feld Entertainment. "It's been one of our most popular circuses ever, so we've extended the run. We're taking the opportunity to look at our rehearsal schedules at the Feld International Headquarters in Palmetto and make sure we optimize them."

It's essentially the same show, Klose said.

"Of course, we're always tweaking it, making adjustments," he said. "There are some new people that weren't with us the first time."

The shows features all the kinds of acts you expect to see. The clowns, the daredevils and the acrobats are have always been a part of "The Greatest Show on Earth."

But besides lions and tigers and dogs and pigs, "Legends" also features creatures that most of us associate with mythology, not with the circus. There's a unicorn, a Pegasus and a woolly mammoth.

It's all about letting children have a magical experience, and letting grown-ups rediscover the magic of the circus, said Nicole Feld, executive vice president of Feld Entertainment.

Legends also features such modern elements as the Ball of Steel, a 16-foot sphere in which six motorcyclists perform stunts. Klose has seen that act hundreds of times and he never tires of it.

"I watch that every night," he said. "It just amazes me that these six people can ride motorcycles around that sphere and they never run into each other."

As for Klose, he grew up in a circus family, and traveled with the circus when he was a kid. His father, whose name was also Hans Klose, had a Risley act with the Ringling circus. (A Risley act consists of people juggling other people with their feet.) His mother was a former Radio City Rockette who rode elephants in the circus.

He never planned to make the circus his career. He tried office work but found it too stifling. The circus life kept beckoning.

He had learned the basics of performing a dog act from his father, who had learned it from another circus performer. Now Klose and his wife, Mariya, perform with 13 dogs and four pigs. They own another eight dogs that no longer perform. All of the dogs are either rescued or adopted from owners who can no longer care for them, he said.

Before every show are free events for tickets-holders. One is called the Animal Open House. It allows families to get a close-up experience with the circus animals.

The other is an All-Access Pre-Show that allows the audience a chance to talk to performers, learn some circus tricks and juggle with clowns.

Details: Jan. 6-10, Amalie Arena, 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa. Show times: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $16-$75. Information: 813-301-2500, amaliearena.com.

Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Follow twitter.com/martinclear.

This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Ringling Bros. brings 'Legends' back to Tampa ."