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Circus comes to the capital

The circus flipped, spun and raced its way through Yellowknife this week as The Great Benjamin's Circus performed at the multiplex on Saturday.

Jesus, left and Elias Marida perform a juggling act together. Dylan Short/NNSL photo

"We have an acrobat show with jugglers, acrobats, clowns, aerialists, and funny clowns. We've got motorcycles and a giant steel ball, we've got the wheel of destiny, someone walking out of a giant apparatus and we've got the swing,” said John Davenport, the general manager of the show. “It's kind of hard to describe it but you just have to see it.”

The show, based out of Texas, had been travelling across Alaska and Western Canada before they performed in the Ed Jeske Arena on Saturday. It was a one-day, three-show stop in the capital before the show packed up and headed back south.

“I guess the boss just threw a pinpoint on a map and said we're going there, it's been a great trip so far,” said Davenport before the first show of the day.

This was the show’s first time coming to Yellowknife in the eight years that they have been travelling north of the border. Davenport describes the circus as a “family of third generation Circus performers originating out of Mexico and the United States” but he notes that this particular troupe has been travelling together since 2010.

"We live in Texas but we come to Canada every summer, during the rest of the time I’m in the US working but this is a First time for us, coming to Yellowknife,” said Davenport.

In addition to a show, circus-goers were offered festival-favourite snacks such as cotton candy, popcorn and soda as well as souvenirs including light-up swords and for the children in the crowd there was a number of face painting stations.

However, what wasn’t in attendance inside the area was the use of any animals to wow the crowd.

“More modern shows have gone to shows with no animals, because there’s a lot of stuff going on, people are activists and stuff like that,” said Davenport. “But this show has always been non-animals mainly it’s an acrobat show and that’s what we consider it.”

For that acrobat show there were line-ups around the side of the arena half an hour before the show started on a weekend that saw the circus come to town during Folk on the Rocks, the biggest annual event in Yellowknife. Despite competing for the public’s attention, Davenport said that he was happy to help direct people across town once the show was over.

“We'll help them announce the music festival on the mic I guess just help them out and give back to the community, just help each other,” said Davenport. “We like to feel welcome and we appreciate that you guys welcomed us up here.”