“The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected ones.”
~ Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
~ Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
When Delta’s servers crashed in August of last year, my flight was among the hundreds caught in the chaos and aftermath. Thanks to the training of a travel-savvy mother, plus the help of a wonderful (if slightly frazzled) Delta support agent, I managed to find a spot on a flight later that same day instead of having to wait two full days. The catch was that it was a red-eye flight into Hartford, Connecticut instead of an afternoon flight to Albany, New York. That was very preferable to having my visit to friends cut by two days, so I agreed to the itinerary and got myself a one-way, car rental—to drive myself a hundred miles to pick up my original rental car. My original rental company gave me a prorated discount, which covered most of the one-way rental fee. I missed a night in my friends’ guest room and breakfast in the morning, but I made it in time for lunch. We had plenty of time to hang out and catch up and still enough time at the end of my stay for me to play circus tourist. Really, I was one of the least inconvenienced person traveling Delta that week. Things turned out alright.
At the time, of course, I had no idea that things wouldn't just work out ok, but that the mishap would gift me, more than a year later, a circus day that also had the tendency to turn out better than expected. That story, that sequel, is what I want to share over my next few posts.
For my pain and suffering (which, admittedly, hadn't been that great), Delta gave me a voucher to defray the cost of future travel. I filed it away, and actually almost forgot about it. You can imagine my dismay when I wandered into my travel email folder and realized that my voucher would expire in less than a month. Expiring before any of the trips I had tentatively planned and also before the ultra-busy season at work was done.
In spite of the bad timing (which was, admittedly, completely my own fault), letting that much free money go to waste was unacceptable. On a whim, I booked a last-minute, one-day weekend trip to Vegas—my first ever overnight airline trip.
It was a trip I'd been considering for a while, ever since watching the film Worlds Away and seeing clips of the Cirque du Soleil’s “O” which is located in Vegas. I had been checking the list of performers at Circus Circus off and on, hoping for a wire walker—slack or tight—to round out the trip, but with an airline voucher fast expiring, I decided that it was better to go when the price was right than to wait for a performance roster that was absolutely ideal. The voucher very nearly covered the airfare, and I had a hotel certificate as well, so my only expenses would be my ticket to “O” and a Vegas buffet.
A short, uneventful flight (nap), a shuttle to my hotel, and an Uber to the Strip landed me at the doors of Circus Circus, tired but happy to have a whole afternoon of traditional circus acts as appetizers before the evening performance.
By the time I had taken my selfies at the entrance, made my way through the casino and up the circular ramp up to the second floor circus level, a show was about to start. I was just in time to snag a standing spot to the side of the small open stage area that sits in the middle of the circus midway.
Iranian hand balancer, Hossein (Yosein-Chee) was the first act I saw, wowing with strength and precarious inversions (and the fabulous physique of an acrobat).
Even though hand balancing isn't one of the circus arts I've dabbled in (yet?) and I suspect even if (when?) I do, I will still prefer balancing on my feet, I loved the chance to see a professional acrobatics performance up close. Hossein was a consummate showman.
When the act ended and the crowd dispersed into the Midway's carnival attractions, I wasn't certain what came next or even when.
A stage hand set an A-frame on the stage.
Next Show 1:15. Slack Wire.
I squinted across the darkened stage, not quite believing my luck. For months I had looked and waited for a funambulist to come to Circus Circus. I had given up and come just because an airline voucher was expiring. I had glanced wishfully at the online roster of performers before leaving home—still no wire walker. A piece of paper taped to a music stand by the miniature orchestra pit confirmed the billboard: Big Bear Lan of the imperial Chinese acrobats would be performing on slack wire in fifteen minutes.
The tiered seats were empty, so I sat down in a front row seat, thinking that I would settle in and save myself a good spot. I got up again almost immediately—there was no way I was sitting still on a hard bench so very far away (twenty feet) when I could lean my elbows against the half wall right at the back of the small stage—no backstage pass necessary to watch the stage crew in between performances or the performers warming up. That suited me perfectly.
A stagehand saw my odd plop-down-spring-up routine and asked if everything was alright. It was better than alright, but I had a hard time explaining just how fascinating it was to watch her and the other stagehand put used props in a plastic laundry bin and lay out the slack wire rigging on the stage floor. I was similarly tongue tied a little while later when I was taking pictures of the rigging—poles, joints, lock pins, snap links, anchor bolts, and wires—and a security guard wandered over and very kindly informed me that it would be more impressive when it was set up. They quickly got used to me being a fixture in between acts, and I had fun seeing a little bit behind the scenes—and I have some good ideas for designing collapsible slack wire A-frames now should the need arise.
The security guard was right though, the rigging was far more impressive after Big Bear Lan came out and finished setting up. My slackrope is generally only rigged as high up on a tree as I can reach and tensioned so that the rope is only a few inches off the ground at the center. The height of the professional rig both at center and at the anchor points was impressive.
What surprised me most though was how much more intimidating the simple frame made it seem. There was a lot more nothingness to contend with than with a rope wrapped around a solid tree trunk.
Once Lan mounted the wire, my attention and emotions were divided—between a simple spectator's awe and enjoyment, and a technician's desire to understand how to do it myself. Which of the two thought processes predominated depended primarily on whether Lan was on his feet or upside down. While he was on his feet, my thoughts were, "hey, I can kind of do that!" or "ooh, I want to learn how to do that!"
His act had a lot of hand-balancing though, and for as long as he was upside down, I had no point of reference in my own training, so all I could think was, "wow." His inversion tricks definitely deserved a wow.
While the ladder was probably my favorite, the other most impressive section of his act was when he went from headstand (which I hadn't ever considered possible) to a handstand...and then a one arm handstand! Apologies in advance for the camera shake—I was watching the performance more than video equipment—but even my very bad videography skills can't negate how impressive that flow of tricks was:
After the slack wire performance, there were clowning, aerial straps, and trapeze acts. I enjoyed them all, and I loved the chance to see professional performances up close. I was always careful to stake out a seat or standing spot absolutely closest to the action. I stuck around long enough to see all of the acts twice (especially my special gift slack wire performance), and then it was time to move on to my next circus destination: the Bellagio hotel and casino. "O" had more pleasant surprises for me, but that's a story for another day.
At the time, of course, I had no idea that things wouldn't just work out ok, but that the mishap would gift me, more than a year later, a circus day that also had the tendency to turn out better than expected. That story, that sequel, is what I want to share over my next few posts.
For my pain and suffering (which, admittedly, hadn't been that great), Delta gave me a voucher to defray the cost of future travel. I filed it away, and actually almost forgot about it. You can imagine my dismay when I wandered into my travel email folder and realized that my voucher would expire in less than a month. Expiring before any of the trips I had tentatively planned and also before the ultra-busy season at work was done.
In spite of the bad timing (which was, admittedly, completely my own fault), letting that much free money go to waste was unacceptable. On a whim, I booked a last-minute, one-day weekend trip to Vegas—my first ever overnight airline trip.
It was a trip I'd been considering for a while, ever since watching the film Worlds Away and seeing clips of the Cirque du Soleil’s “O” which is located in Vegas. I had been checking the list of performers at Circus Circus off and on, hoping for a wire walker—slack or tight—to round out the trip, but with an airline voucher fast expiring, I decided that it was better to go when the price was right than to wait for a performance roster that was absolutely ideal. The voucher very nearly covered the airfare, and I had a hotel certificate as well, so my only expenses would be my ticket to “O” and a Vegas buffet.
A short, uneventful flight (nap), a shuttle to my hotel, and an Uber to the Strip landed me at the doors of Circus Circus, tired but happy to have a whole afternoon of traditional circus acts as appetizers before the evening performance.
By the time I had taken my selfies at the entrance, made my way through the casino and up the circular ramp up to the second floor circus level, a show was about to start. I was just in time to snag a standing spot to the side of the small open stage area that sits in the middle of the circus midway.
Iranian hand balancer, Hossein (Yosein-Chee) was the first act I saw, wowing with strength and precarious inversions (and the fabulous physique of an acrobat).
Even though hand balancing isn't one of the circus arts I've dabbled in (yet?) and I suspect even if (when?) I do, I will still prefer balancing on my feet, I loved the chance to see a professional acrobatics performance up close. Hossein was a consummate showman.
When the act ended and the crowd dispersed into the Midway's carnival attractions, I wasn't certain what came next or even when.
A stage hand set an A-frame on the stage.
Next Show 1:15. Slack Wire.
I squinted across the darkened stage, not quite believing my luck. For months I had looked and waited for a funambulist to come to Circus Circus. I had given up and come just because an airline voucher was expiring. I had glanced wishfully at the online roster of performers before leaving home—still no wire walker. A piece of paper taped to a music stand by the miniature orchestra pit confirmed the billboard: Big Bear Lan of the imperial Chinese acrobats would be performing on slack wire in fifteen minutes.
The tiered seats were empty, so I sat down in a front row seat, thinking that I would settle in and save myself a good spot. I got up again almost immediately—there was no way I was sitting still on a hard bench so very far away (twenty feet) when I could lean my elbows against the half wall right at the back of the small stage—no backstage pass necessary to watch the stage crew in between performances or the performers warming up. That suited me perfectly.
What surprised me most though was how much more intimidating the simple frame made it seem. There was a lot more nothingness to contend with than with a rope wrapped around a solid tree trunk.
His act had a lot of hand-balancing though, and for as long as he was upside down, I had no point of reference in my own training, so all I could think was, "wow." His inversion tricks definitely deserved a wow.
While the ladder was probably my favorite, the other most impressive section of his act was when he went from headstand (which I hadn't ever considered possible) to a handstand...and then a one arm handstand! Apologies in advance for the camera shake—I was watching the performance more than video equipment—but even my very bad videography skills can't negate how impressive that flow of tricks was:
After the slack wire performance, there were clowning, aerial straps, and trapeze acts. I enjoyed them all, and I loved the chance to see professional performances up close. I was always careful to stake out a seat or standing spot absolutely closest to the action. I stuck around long enough to see all of the acts twice (especially my special gift slack wire performance), and then it was time to move on to my next circus destination: the Bellagio hotel and casino. "O" had more pleasant surprises for me, but that's a story for another day.
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