Video: A Morning Inside Summer Circus

FOX 13 Tampa Bay Video:
Reporter Charley Belcher visits with Summer Circus 2015 juggling sensation Sebastian St. Jules in the Historic Asolo Theater on the grounds of The Ringling.

A New Circus Chapter

A New Circus Chapter:
The Ringling is known for its images of world-class art, gardens and architecture. But in the lobby this Friday afternoon, living circus performers greet overjoyed children and parents. The smiling faces of children light up the lobby while getting their pictures taken with the cast of the Circus Arts Conservatory’s Summer Circus Spectacular.

Two of those performers are Bailey Sloan and Dolly Jacobs… Read More

Review: Circus Sarasota delights all ages

Circus Sarasota Delights All Ages
Bradenton Herald Review June 29, 2015:
The Summer Circus Spectacular blends silliness and sophistication. Circus Sarasota’s Summer Circus Spectacular offers a different kind of circus experience. It’s fast-paced and funny enough to delight kids, and elegant and amazing enough to edify adults. The hour-long show, set on the proscenium stage of the Historic Asolo Theater, includes lots of familiar circus elements: a clown, a ringmistress, jugglers and an aerial act.

NEA Honors Circus Sarasota Star Dolly Jacobs

By Marty Clear – BRADENTON HERALD
Awards and honors are nothing new for Sarasota native Dolly Jacobs. She’s been inducted into the Circus Ring of Fame and the Gallery of Acrobatic Legends. She received a Florida Folk Heritage Award three years ago from the Florida Department of State.

In 1988, in Monaco, she received the Silver Clown Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the circus world… But the award she received most recently was something special. Earlier this month, the National Endowment for the Arts named Jacobs a National Heritage Fellow. MORE

Review: Summer Circus Spectacular

Sarasota Magazine Review: Summer Circus Spectacular 2015
What a simple and yet brilliant idea it is for the Circus Arts Conservatory (Circus Sarasota) and The Ringling to collaborate on presenting short summer shows in the Historic Asolo Theater, as they have been doing for nine years now. Families and other museum visitors get the chance to take a break, sit down and be entertained in a cozy space; locals can just while away part of a summer afternoon, away from the heat and sun. Read More

The 2015 Summer Circus Spectacular Comes Alive on Florida’s Gulf Coast

Sarasota, FL – The Summer Circus Spectacular is back and ready to impress with its ninth consecutive year of crowd pleasing performances! Once again, two legendary greats – The Circus Arts Conservatory’s Circus Sarasota and The Ringling – are teaming up to bring the most exciting and affordable family entertainment to Sarasota’s Historic Asolo Theater from Tuesday, June 16 to Saturday, August 1, 2015. This one-of-a-kind production has become a celebrated summertime event on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Back by popular demand as this summer’s ringmistress is the highly-regarded and locally recognized, 17 year-old, recent Sailor Circus Academy alumna, Bailey Yelding-Sloan. This leading lady is a 2015 Sarasota High School graduate and a 10th generation circus performer, with eight years of circus arts experience – including trapeze, high wire, cradle, Spanish web and ringmistress – under her belt. Her quick wit and natural charisma in the spotlight are guaranteed to keep you engaged!

Adding additional excitement to the performance line-up is the totally amazing juggling of 13-year-old, circus sensation, Sebastian St. Jules and the fun doesn’t stop there. Nationally acclaimed circus-arts superstar, Martin Alvarez, along with his flipping and flying family, will have audiences awestruck with astonishing teeterboard thrills. The entertaining style and encouraged audience participation of circus funny-man Kirk Marsh will keep the crowds in stitches. Other performance greats like the Anastasini Brothers, with their incredible Icarian human foot-juggling act, will keep the cheers coming too! And, no Circus Sarasota show is complete without world-famous aerialist and “Queen of the Air”, Dolly Jacobs soaring overhead with her unprecedented grace and poise. Daughter to the world-renowned clown, Lou Jacobs, Dolly followed his famed footsteps and rose to the top with Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. There she earned the solo spot above the center ring of The Greatest Show on Earth. In 1997 Jacobs and her husband, Pedro Reis, founded The Circus Arts Conservatory, an organization dedicated to continuing Sarasota’s rich circus heritage through teaching the circus arts and providing high-quality circus performances.

“The Summer Circus Spectacular is a very affordable way for the entire family to enjoy an exciting, world-class circus performance and the air-conditioned comfort of the intimate Historic Asolo Theater provides the perfect arena too,” said Pedro Reis, Founder and CEO of Circus Sarasota. “The opportunity to enjoy an authentic circus performance on the grounds of the historic Ringling estate is something quite special and unique to Sarasota!”

Summer Circus Spectacular shows will be held Tuesday through Friday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Saturday at 2 and 5 p.m. from June 16 to August 1, 2015. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for children 12 and under. For more information or to purchase tickets call the Historic Asolo Theater Box Office at 941-360-7399 or visit www.ringling.org

Surprise Honor for ‘Queen of the Air’ Dolly Jacobs

Herald Tribune Article by Carrie Seidman

SARASOTA – About two weeks ago, Pedro Reis, CEO of the Circus Arts Conservatory, received a message that someone from the National Endowment for the Arts had called… MORE