Sick of midterms and considering running away to join the circus? Now is the time, while the Big Apple Circus is still in town.
Even if you're not planning to actually join the circus, just spending a couple hours under the big top tent of the Big Apple Circus will allow you to be spirited away to another world, far from exams.
This year, the Big Apple Circus introduced the strange,magical, imaginary, abstract creatures of Mummenschanz, a Swiss movement theatre group, to its own act.
Mummenschanz, the mask of chance worn in the medieval world, has created a range of creatures that are indescribable in our world of concrete definitions. As one German writer described them, "they walk on their teeth and they grind on their feet?"
The creatures are a wonderful foil to the fast-paced, exhilarating world of the circus.
The Big Apple Circus is everything you remember a circus being. It delivers, as it promises in its program, "a flight of fantasy, a barrage of surreal surprises, and a tent full of happiness."
College students may feel strange at first among a tent-full of laughing, cheering, small children.
But once the lights go down, you can hardly help but cheer along.
Needless to say, some of the most popular circus acts are the aerial and trapeze acts. With each swing higher towards the top of the tent, stomachs in the stands were sent plummeting.
But, perhaps surprisingly, the act that elicited the biggest cheers from the audience was a juggling act by award winning juggler Arturo Alegria, a recent addition to the performing line-up.
A native of Mexico, Alegria thrilled the audience juggling ping pong balls and soft hats.
The Big Apple Circus also features a number of animal acts in its routines.
Elephants, horses, geese and even pigs are featured in the performance.
According to its program, the circus works very hard to provide its animals with a stress-free existence.
The Big Apple Circus, a nonprofit organization, performs in front of more than 500,000 people each year. It was founded and is run by Paul Binder, a member of the Dartmouth class of 1963.
But that's not where Dartmouth's connection with the Big Apple Circus ends.
Chairman of the Dartmouth Board of Trustees John Rosenwald, along with his wife, is a "Ringmaster," having donated more than $50,000 to the circus.
The Big Apple Circus will run until Sunday with performances each day at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Ticket prices range from $8.50 to $23 for Dartmouth students and are available at the Hopkins Center box office.
