Last week my family had the opportunity to experience Built to Amaze! The newest show by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I have a fond connection to the circus because I lived in Venice, FL from 1980-1991. Venice was the winter home to The Greatest Show on Earth from 1962-1992. It was always a big deal when the circus came to town and paraded from the train depot to the circus grounds.

Due to traffic and bad weather we didn’t arrive in Tampa in time to take part in the All-Access Pre-show this year We had great seats for the exciting show though. This was Summer’s first trip to see the circus and she told us she was petrified of clowns! We let her sit in the center of the row so that the clowns wandering the Tampa Bay Times Forum before the show started couldn’t get near her! Luckily for Summer, this show isn’t as clown-centric as some of the other shows I’ve seen so she was able to relax and enjoy the show.

My favorite animal act in the circus is the tiger act. I told Summer I wanted to climb in the ring with them and hug them, she said I was insane. There were four animal acts in this show: horses, poodles, tigers and elephants. Usually I don’t care for the dog act but this time the poodles were my 2nd favorite and the family agreed, best dog act ever!

Finally we have first-time ringmaster and circus veteran Andre McClain and the acrobatic acts. Duo Fusion was amazing with their feats of strength and balance. The Negrey Troupe powerfully tumbled across the stage. The Tower Tumblers trampoline act was an energetic way to open the second act. Top all of this off with The King Charles Troupe of unicycle riding basketball players and you have the makings of an exciting family night at the circus!

We had a great night at the circus and I’m sure you will too! Built to Amaze! is coming to the following cities this year:

Orlando, Florida
January 10, 2013 – January 13, 2013
Jacksonville, Florida
January 17, 2013 – January 21, 2013
Birmingham, Alabama
January 24, 2013 – January 27, 2013
Greenville, South Carolina
January 30, 2013 – February 03, 2013
Greensboro, North Carolina
February 06, 2013 – February 10, 2013
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 13, 2013 – February 17, 2013
Richmond, Virginia
February 20, 2013 – February 24, 2013
Newark, New Jersey
February 27, 2013 – March 03, 2013
East Rutherford, New Jersey
March 06, 2013 – March 10, 2013
Uniondale, New York
March 13, 2013 – March 17, 2013
Brooklyn, New York
March 20, 2013 – April 01, 2013
Youngstown, Ohio
April 05, 2013 – April 07, 2013
Norfolk, Virginia
April 11, 2013 – April 14, 2013
Hampton, Virginia
April 17, 2013 – April 21, 2013
Louisville, Kentucky
April 25, 2013 – April 28, 2013
Hershey, Pennsylvania
May 22, 2013 – May 27, 2013
Omaha, Nebraska
May 31, 2013 – June 02, 2013
Las Vegas, Nevada
June 13, 2013 – June 16, 2013
Cleveland, Ohio
October 23, 2013 – October 27, 2013
Toledo, Ohio
November 01, 2013 – November 03, 2013
Chicago, Illinois
November 20, 2013 – December 01, 2013

You can buy your circus tickets right on the Ringling.com site so head on over there right now.

Disclosure: We attended the circus as guests of Feld Entertainment for the purpose of this post. All opinions are 100% mine.

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