Review of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Show "Dragons"

This week the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus is in Philly and we had the pleasure of attending on opening night at the Comcast Center.  Dragons is based around the virtues of Courage, Strength, Wisdom, and Heart and when those are found a giant gold Dragon appears to the audience, encased in smoke.   For those of you who have been to the circus years ago, this show is one you do not want to miss!  It may change the way you view the traditional three ring show.

"Dragons" is full of fun and excitement, and has many more artistic elements than the more traditional circus that I remember from my childhood.  While there are still the favorite acts such as the elephants and tigers, I found there was more of an emphasis this time on the artistic and visual elements.  Giant screens encased the top of the stadium, showing visuals including tiger eyes, floating bubbles, and fire.  The music was enchanting, and had an Asian influence at times.  

One of my favorite acts in Dragons was the Shaolin Troupe who used their advanced martial arts skills to break metal and wooden poles on their bodies.  The troupe actually bent the poles on their chest and around their necks.  My son thought they were super cool and called them "ninjas" and loved watching them kick and flip.  As for me, my palms were were sweating watching them perform, especially when they had two men bend a metal pole between themselves using only their bare chests.

The final performance before the grand finale of Dragons is the Torres Family, an act with more than fifteen years experience behind it.  A giant metal ball, called the "Globe of Steel", is brought out into the stadium and the Torres Family orbits it on their motorcycles at speeds of 65 mph.  Their numbers increase until there are eight (yes, eight!) cyclists in the globe.  With flames shooting off the sides of the stage and music pumping, you do not want to leave early and miss this one!

For more information on obtaining tickets for this show, click here to read my previous post.  If you had the pleasure of attending this show, I'd love to hear your feedback as well!

Disclosure:  While I was not compensated monetarily for this post, admission tickets were provided for review purposes.  All opinions expressed are entirely my own.