I’m going to run away to the Circus!

My first trip to the Circus – Sunday 26th October, 2014

Shhh. Don’t tell mummy but I’ve decided to run away to the Circus. After seeing Jay Miller’s Circus up at Milestones in Basingstoke I’m awestruck. I want to fly like the glittery ladies do, on their rope swings high in the starry sky. My mummy won tickets to Jay Miller’s Circus after entering a competition online from MITKBasingstoke.

Little did she know she would win it. I think she was more excited than me.

She hasn’t been to the Circus since she was a little girl… back in the dark ages before they had T.V and digital gadgets. See, back in the olden days children played with wooden toys and were entertained by performers. So she’s getting back to her childhood roots and all that wonderment and awe comes flooding back when she see the Big Top.

Jay Miller’s Circus has been travelling up and down the country since 1987, entertaining families of all ages. For the price of taking your family to the cinema, you can be transported for 2 hours into the glitz and glam of the Circus. All the sights and smells of freshly cooked popcorn and sticky sweet candy floss, the anticipation of the death-defying acts and razzle dazzle. The funny clown scenes and the audience participation.

We arrive 30 minutes before the 2pm show starts. Mummy heads to the box office and queues for all of 2 seconds, the staff are very speedy…a good thing too, as there is a chill in the autumn air. Ticket in hand we head to the Big Top, it looks a bit ominous, bright colours tower over me against the grey skies, we can hear music and laughter coming from inside and families have already taken their places waiting for the show to start.

We are lucky enough to get ringside seats and would highly recommend them if you want to get drenched by the clown and get involved with the silliness. 🙂 The way the Big Top is laid out, everyone gets a good view of the action, so no cranking of necks. There is enough space that I can have a walkabout on the soft dry grass…it’s not muddy and the Big Top is heated too, so it’s snuggly and warm. We settle down with popcorn and a wiggly worm which Daddy buys me and the drum roll starts!

The female ring master appears with a spotlight on her, the audience is plunged into darkness and everyone goes “Oooooooooo”. My eyes are wide and my jaw drops, I have never seen someone sparkle as much. The costumes are fantastic and the lights so colourful and bright. The music is loud and there is so much action I am mesmerised. We don’t want to ruin the show by giving too much away, because much of the specialness is not knowing what appears next. So here’s the performers that caught our eye, in no particular order…

The fantastic American CATHALINA LIEBEL on the Roman Rings, she’s one talented lady and both Daddy and I sit there with our mouths wide open…maybe for different reasons 😉 he likes the leotards….

Ringmistress KATIE ROGERS who keeps the crowd entertained between acts, PEPPI the Clown who is very funny and likes the ladies (if you know what I mean) Miss ZSOFIA on the cloud swing and the MILLER SISTER’S who have a combined 25 years worth of experience performing with this circus. British Hula Hoop Diva Miss JODI who came out with some fantastic shapes and played with fire! Miss PAIGE who bent her body all over the place, it made my mummy squirm. We were very impressed with the youngest unicyclist in the UK called JJ. All I kept thinking throughout the show was I want to be like them.

A great afternoon out and everyone we saw, that left the show, had great big smiles on their faces. In this day and age the Circus gets forgotten and is something that people wouldn’t ordinarily visit, all we can say is we had a great time, all the kids and adults loved the show and we will definitely be back when they next visit Basingstoke. For one day…trade the TV for the a live show and give yourself a bit of razzle dazzle.

Love Bella x

Give ’em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle Dazzle ’em
Give ’em an act with lots of flash in it
And the reaction will be passionate
Give ’em the old hocus pocus
Bead and feather ’em
How can they see with sequins in their eyes