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Three-ring stars
[Photo by Heinz Kluetmeier]
Mei Ling, left, Sara Houck, center, and Sylvia Zerbini headline the circus this year: Ling, 22, performs stunts on a roaring motorcycle, Houck, 24, tames four kinds of tigers, and Zerbini, 34, works magic on the trapeze. |
By MARY EVERTZ, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 3, 2002
This trio of daredevils rises to the challenge of making a circus audience gasp.
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TAMPA -- A fearless tiger trainer, a daredevil acrobat and a daring trapezist are the headliners of the 132nd edition of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. What's unique is that these three spirited performers are women.
While women have been featured performers, this is the first time in the long history of the circus that three are sharing star billing.
Sara Houck works her magic with the tigers; Mei Ling thrills the audience by balancing on one hand on a moving motorcycle and Sylvia Zerbini does amazing trapeze stunts, and then moves to the center ring where she leads her horses through their routine with voice commands.
The three women are excited about working together, seeing it as a great opportunity to show their abilities. "We are all strong women," says Houck.
For the past two years, with her pet cocker spaniel as a companion, Houck has driven her trailer across the country. At 24, she is the veteran of the Ringling Bros. group, having just finished a two-year run with the circus' blue unit. Her ability to communicate with her tigers -- standard, white with stripes, snow white and golden tabbies -- has made her the subject of countless articles, including features in The New York Times and People magazine. She has made several appearances on the Today show, and Biography magazine named her one of the "50 Favorites of the Year 2000."
[Publicity photo]
Tiger trainer Sara Houck, 24, is one of three women headlining this year’s Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
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In addition to the nine tigers she has worked with over the past two years, Houck will be introducing her two new tiger cubs, Barnum and Bailey, to circus-goers. She was present at the cubs' birth.
Zerbini, 34, is a ninth-generation circus performer who has a horse-breeding farm in Ocala, where she lives with her 9-year-old daughter Ambra. While Zerbini has not appeared with the traveling unit of the Ringling Bros. circus, she was one of the headliners of Barnum's Kaleidoscape.
Hovering high above the stage without a net, Zerbini hangs on the trapeze by her legs. She balances herself, lying across the trapeze. Then she descends to the center ring and does an equestrian act with six white horses galloping in a circle to her voice commands.
Ling, 22, though a circus veteran, is making her debut with Ringling. She'll give the audience thrills and chills as she balances on one hand on a motorcycle as it roars around the ring.
Houck and Zerbini, who work with animals, are very aware of the objections of animal rights' groups to the circus. Both women followed the recent trial of Ringling Bros. animal trainer Mark Oliver Gebel, who was recently acquitted on charges of elephant mistreatment in California. The case amplified animal rights' groups objections to using animals to perform stunts.
The circus is so sensitive to the issue of animal cruelity that Kenneth Feld, CEO of Feld Entertainment and producer of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, addressed the issue during a dress rehearsal performance in Tampa on Dec. 28.
PREVIEW:
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus: 7:30 p.m. today and Friday; 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday, Ice Palace, 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa, (813) 301-2500. Also, Jan. 9 through 13 at Times Arena at Bayfront Center, St. Petersburg; (727) 892-5767. Tickets: $11.75-$28; kids under 12 save $3 on tickets for shows on Friday and Saturday.
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