ST. LEON'S CIRCUS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17663, 27 December 1920, Page 7

ST. LEON'S CIRCUS.

The evolution of the modern world of entertainment, whatever changes it may have brought about, has taken nothing from the old-time glamour of the circus tent. The fascination of the sawdust ring—the skill of expert horseback riders, the tricks of highly-trained animals, the daring feats of intrepid trapezists, and the nonsense of the indispensable clown and " dummy"— still retains its popularity with young and old.. Thus it was that St. Leon's Circus, . which opened its Auckland season on the former Auckland Dock site on Xmas Eve, was greeted with a full tent. The' programme, which was marked by unusual variety as well as all-round excellence, contained something to Buit all tastes. The performances of the trained horses gave rise 1 to many expressions of admiration. xVn , entertaining comedy riding turn vaa followed by an exhibition of the kicking of a huge football by the pony Rueben. The , war-horse Eomulus gained much applauss for the manner in which ho carried out his taaic in a "battle scene" depicting a fight beiweeu lao British soldiers and a. band of savages. Some fine feats of high jumping by the pony Gus were equally meritorious. Performing dog 3 of various breeds did a > number of entertaining tricks, while an interesting quartette in the form of four trained sheep, afforded a novel turn. A seesaw act by three of the sheep, one standing on either end of the beam and the third balancing in the centre, merits special mention. The sheep were accompanied into s the ring by three young pigs, whose princit pal duty appeared to be to persist in getting , into danger under the end of the soe-saw j plank and to narrowly escape injury. A • number of performing poodles also contri--2 buted to the success of the programme. 3 Among other prominent items were some remarkable acrobatic feats by members of . the St. Leon family, an exhibition of leap- ' ing by the Bezantine troupe, a clever turn ' by Coco and Annette, equilibrists and head t balancers, an exciting series of aerial evolnt tions on a ladder plane by two clowns, contortionist acts by Franco, the " human frog," an acrobatic specialty by the Hyman trio of " leg maniacs." and excellent posing .. studies of ancient and modern statuary by , the Benfrew troupe. In an aerial dental act '. the Odessa sisters showed grgat skill in i. hanging by their teeth. A specially-pleasing turn was an exhibition of wire rope walking and running by Mdlle. Golda, unassisted by :, the usual parasol. She also gave a clever rnonowheel performance on the witc : Numerous interludes by the clowns and i, dummies kept the audience in a, Tipple of i, merriment. The performances will be re•j per.ted to-night and following nights. A u matinee will be given this afternoon. The ! rider of the winner of the Auckland Cup ,' will be presented by the management 'this evening with a gold-mounted whip. Th«i rider of the yinner of thn Summer Cup will ' receive a similar gift on "Wednesday evening.