A group of acrobatically talented students line up in bridge poses to create a tunnel that they’ll crawl through one by one during their performance at the annual fourth-grade Blue Bird Circus at Ridge Street Elementary School on Friday, Dec. 14.
During the traditional welcoming walk to introduce all the performers, Trevor Feist flashes a big smile and waves to the crowd filling the downstairs gymnasium.
For the first time, this year a parent participated in the circus—as a surprise obstacle. Lyla Cotte feigns nervousness and pretends to need her mother Stella on stage for moral support, only to walk over her on a pair of stilts.
What’s a circus without the clowns? During a silly between act routine, fourth-grade clowns Madison Hamlet (left) and Sara Levine (right) start to carry Ella Rackenberg off a large orange yoga ball.
Playing a stubborn clown, Daniela Dluzhevskiy refuses the ringmaster’s order to jump off the ball. Ringmaster Doug Young is with Circus Kids Productions, the organization that’s been teaching fourth-graders stunts and tricks during their physical education classes.
A dozen fourth-graders turned gymnastic experts create a pyramid together as a final pose to their act.
With puckered lips and pristine posture, Josh Kent keeps perfect control over his green diablo as he spins it fast on a string.
A Circus Kids Production affiliate makes sure Oliver Caspi’s feet are secure so he can safely roll across the gymnasium in the German Wheel, a new act introduced to the Blue Bird Circus this year.
Juggling master Maya Hazan successfully manages to keep three balls in motion.
With extreme focus on the obstacle, Joshua Simkin shows off his newfound elevated talent by walking around a red cone on stilts.
Jackson Scala makes the devil sticks look so easy as he smoothly tosses a baton back and forth between two rods.
After a group of fourth-grader run on stage with colorful tutus, they rip the sheer fabric off, throw them in their air and laugh as they attempt to juggle bunches of the color swarms.
As Hannah Levine raises to the top of the German Wheel, weighed down by her partner in a seesaw-esque stunt, she dazzles the crowd with a bright smile and wave.
