Austin Shrine Circus

Austin Shrine Circus is returning to the Cedar Park Center January 18-21, 2013. Tickets just went on sale to the public but I haven't bought mine yet.  Why?  The good seats appear to be blocked off.  No matter what day or time I try, I cannot get a seat in the center section.  I've gone to the Shrine Circus for several years and I've always been able to find decent seats.  I doubt they are all sold out already (I was having this problem during the presale yesterday).  With money being extra tight now I'm not going to pay for bad seats so at this point it looks like I'll be skipping it this time.  That's too bad because it's one of my favorite photo opportunities.

If anyone knows why the seats are blocked off or how I can get seats in the center section please drop me an email.  Thanks!

Ringling Brothers was fantastic....

Jumping from one wheel to the next (Explored)
Originally uploaded by DigiNik13
I really enjoyed Ringling Brothers' show "Fully Charged" last weekend in Austin, TX. We went on two different days and I took lots of photos each day. The show had some good acrobatics and aerial acts. It ended with a "tumble track" act that really was a rod floor instead of a trampoline. The tumbling in the act was very good but not spectacular. I think the most impressive skill I saw was a quad full but I was so busy taking pictures that I'm not 100% sure it was 4 twists instead of 3 :-) My bad!

As always, the Wheel of Death was a crowd favorite and a very energetic act. I also enjoyed the handbalancing, the aerial act and the guy who was shot out of a giant crossbow while on fire (yikes!).

The Ringmaster, Brian Crawford Scott, was fantastic.  He was very charismatic and had an amazing voice.  He also had several cool costumes so I took quite a few photos of him.

There was lots of juggling in this show and the jugglers were very entertaining! The high wire performers were also great to watch and one of them even did a side flip off the high wire onto the platform (I haven't seen that before!).

Overall I definitely recommend this show and I'm always grateful to Ringling Brothers for allowing cameras so I can take pictures. I have to say that Ringling Brothers has become my favorite photo op in Austin :-) I look forward to it every year.....

I'll post a link to the final set of photos once I am done editing them.

Fun Week for Circus events

It's that time of year again..... Ringling Brother's is coming to Austin this week at the Frank Erwin Center with a new show "Fully Charged".  From the website it appears to be a fun acrobatic show with a 80 foot tumble trak act - that should make me really jealous :-)  I'm planning to take photos and post them on my Flickr page.

Also, I just found out today that Cirque Du Soleil is returning to the Cedar Park Center this December.  This breaks their usual pattern of coming to Cedar Park every February.  They will be performing the final US performances of Saltimbanco December 12-16th.  Presale tickets are already available for Cirque Club members (it's free to join through Cirque Du Soleil's website).  Tickets will go on sale to the general public on August 24th.

I'm excited to see Saltimbanco because I've only seen it on TV and I'm really looking forward to seeing it live.  It was a new tent show around 1993 but I missed it at that time.  The DVD is great although I imagine some of the acts have changed since then.  I still think it will be a great show and I'm already looking forward to it.

Ringling Brothers is coming back to Austin

I'm quite behind on my blogging but this is a quick post to say that Ringling Brothers Circus is coming back to Austin on August 22-26, 2012 at the Frank Erwin Center.  It's a new show called "Fully Charged" and based on the previews on the website I think we're going to get a power tumbling act :-)  Yay!

As always, I absolutely love taking photos at Ringling Brothers so I cannot wait for this show! 

Austin Shrine Circus 2012

We had a good time at the Shrine Circus this year - I think I am getting more acquainted with how they run the show and that makes it easier. For example, this time we did not buy floor seats because the setup never matches the seating chart and that always frustrated us. This time we bought seats in the first row of the arena and they were good seats. It was nice to be a little higher than the floor seats because it was easier to see over equipment and people walking around during the show. So I never had a problem with my view being blocked while they setup for the elephant rides (which happened last year).

Another advantage of the non-floor seats is not getting trampled while the elephant rides are happening. I mean trampled by people pushing to get into line - not trampled by elephants :-)

Some of the acts are the same every year - like one of the clown acts but it's a great act so I don't mind seeing it again. My favorite acts had to be the Wheel of Death and the juggling. The female juggler in the center ring was very good and engaging to watch. I enjoyed seeing the Wheel of Death up close for the first time. Other acts included trampoline, horse riding, motorcycles, dogs and a human cannon ball. My best suggestion for this circus would be to include less animal acts and more aerial acts - like Ringling Brothers has been doing over the years.

I took quite a few photos and I'm slowly editing them and posting them on Flickr. I'm always grateful for the shows that allow cameras because I love taking photos of circus, gymnastics, acrobatics etc!

The next circus event at the Cedar Park Center is Quidam by Cirque du Soleil in March - can't wait!

Why I'm disappointed about the new USA Gymnastics photography policy

In light of USA Gymnastics' new photography policy (only point and shoot cameras allowed for people without credentials), I'd like to explain why I take pictures and why I don't want to go to meets where I can't take pictures.

I've done gymnastics since I was very young. When I lived in Southern California, I continued doing gymnastics as an adult because there were several gyms that offered adult classes in gymnastics/tumbling/trampoline. When I first moved to Austin, I excitedly started looking for somewhere to workout - hoping to stay involved with the sport I love only to find out that most gyms here don't offer adult classes. Sometimes an adult class will appear in South Austin but that's 40 miles from my house and not an easy drive during rush hour. I found myself with no way to stay involved with gymnastics and totally unmotivated to watch any gym meets (I find it too depressing to just sit and watch a meet when I wish I could still be involved).

Then I upgraded my DSLR camera and began taking gymnastics pictures (I've done photography since high school). All of a sudden, I was excited about gymnastics again. I found a way to stay involved and I was motivated to drive to Dallas to go to the competitions. Those of you that have met me know that I have chronic injuries and I cannot spend long hours on my feet. Thus, I never intended to be a professional photographer who has to stand all day at the meets - you guys have my utmost respect for standing there all day long! I've always obeyed the "no commercial photography" rules and I've never once sold any of my photos.

USA Gymnastics used to have a photography policy that stated "no lenses greater than 6 inches". I thought this was a very reasonable and fair rule (no monopods or tripods either - which is also reasonable). This rule allowed people in the stands to take decent photos while the pros on floor could get the best angle and sharper photos since they were close enough to use a 1.8 lens (allowing for faster shutter speed). For awhile I found a very exciting way to stay involved in the sport and I was eager to travel to Dallas to attend the meets.

Now USA Gymnastics has changed their rule to allow only point and shoot cameras from the stands and no lenses greater than 35mm. I think this is very unfair. If I can't take pictures, then why should I spend hundreds of dollars to drive to Dallas (or travel further for the other meets) just to watch? I can WATCH gymnastics on TV! I'm trying to stay involved not just WATCH. It seems that USA Gymnastics doesn't want to encourage fans to take pictures? But why not? If it encourages fans to attend and it publicizes the sport then it's a positive thing.

I'm not sure why this new policy was put into place. I doubt it has anything to do with flash photography (which is dangerous and distracting) because, from my experience, it's the point and shoot cameras that are more likely to have the flash go off accidentally. Is this new policy a way to force the parents to buy photos from the pros instead of taking their own photos? I don't have kids but I think it's wrong to tell the parents of the gymnasts that they can't take photos of their own kids competing. Do other sports tell the parents that they can't take pictures of their kids with a real camera? I doubt it.

I feel like gymnastics is becoming a very exclusive sport. I hear that attendance at the meets is low and I'm not surprised. It's hard to stay excited about a sport that won't let you participate after the age of 18 and won't let you come to the meets and take pictures. What is left for an ex-gymnast to do? I would really like to see gymnastics become a sport that everyone can participate in and where the fans are made to feel welcome and encouraged to publicize the sport. It seems that gymnastics is just pushing me out the door.....

Please USA Gymnastics.... let's return to the "no lenses greater than 6 inches rule" and I'll start coming to the meets again.

Flying Trapeze in North Austin

Yay! Trapeze Austin has opened a North Austin location. The rig will be located outdoors near the 35 freeway. Here's a link to their website with the map. The class schedule is also on the website. I'm so happy to see circus arts starting to show up in North Austin!

Speaking of the Circus, don't forget that Dralion will be at the Cedar Park Event Center March 10-20th.

***Update as of June 23, 2011. I never heard any more details about this outdoor rig in North Austin and I notice it's not listed on their website anymore. I assume this means it doesn't exist anymore? If so, that's too bad because I never got a chance to check it out.

Cirque Du Soleil is coming back to town!

Cirque du Soleil will be back at the Cedar Park Center March 10-20th, 2011. This year the show is Dralion which is a blend of traditional Chinese circus arts with typical Cirque du Soleil flair. I saw the tent show in 1999 and it incorporated many entertaining acts: juggling, teeterboard and hoop diving with fantastic Cirque du Soleil music. I have not yet seen the arena version but I've heard that the show has been updated and now includes a trampoline wall act - Yay!

For more information on the show visit Cirque Du Soleil's website here.

The Cedar Park Center sent me this link for discounted seats - use the promotional code STARS (all caps).

I'm always happy to see Cirque du Soleil come to town, even if they don't allow photography during the show :-)

WOGA Classic

Mackenzie Brannan
Originally uploaded by DigiNik13

We headed up to Frisco TX for the WOGA Classic on Saturday, February 19. We got there just in time to watch the second session of the Elite Qualifier. We went back later for the International Elite Session in the evening.

Austin gymnast, Mackenzie Brannan, did a great job - placing 4th in the junior session.

The WOGA Classic is an awesome meet to watch and they allow cameras so I'm always grateful to be able to take photos. This year though they wouldn't allow the audience to sit at the end of the arena - only on the sides. Thus I couldn't get a decent angle of beam without a distracting background. I'm not sure why they had this rule (we sat at the end of the arena for the afternoon session) but many people (us included) were very annoyed by it. I hope they change this for next year.

I have a lot of photos to edit now. I'll be working on them slowly over the next couple of weeks.

Don't forget Cirque Du Soleil's Dralion is coming to the Cedar Park Center in March......

UT Gymnastics Home Meet

UT Gymnastics is having their first meet of the seasons this Saturday, February 12th, at Crenshaw's Gymnastics. Warm-ups start at 6:00pm and the competition begins at 6:30pm. Last year it was very dark in the gym for photos, this year I'll bring a 1.8 lens and see if I have better luck.

Check out the photos I got last year. If you'd like more information visit the UT Gymnastics website.

**** Update... I never made it to the UT Meet that day. Austin allergies had me out of commission by afternoon :-(

Shrine Circus Pictures

Despite my annoyance with the mislabeled seats and getting trampled for the elephant rides, I'm happy with the pictures I got at the Shrine Circus. Here's a link to the set on Flickr.

2011 Austin Shrine Circus

Handbalancing on canes act
Originally uploaded by DigiNik13

The Austin Shrine Circus, at the Cedar Park Event Center, was once again a mix of good and bad experiences. First I'll start with the good:

The performers all did a great job. There were aerialists (silks, hoops, trapeze and swinging rings) and handbalancers, jugglers, clowns and other standard circus acts. There was a performer shot from a cannon all the way across the arena to a landing area. This was especially scary in the low ceiling of our small arena - he had to go over the lighting rigging but not hit the ceiling. The BMX bike performer was energetic and talented as was the motorcycle performer. All the aerialists and circus performers did a great job. I got some photos that I'm slowly editing for my flickr stream.

But this is the second time I've been to the Shrine Circus at the Cedar Park Center and the second time I leave feeling a little annoyed a few things:

1. The seating! This is the Cedar Park Center's mistake. We had a huge annoyance last year when the Box Office sold us seats that were no where near where the employee pointed to on the seating chart. This year, I decided to buy my tickets online through Ticketmaster so I could read the seating chart myself and pick out my seats. Well, this year the seating chart did not match how the Cedar Park Center set up their floor seats. So our "front row center" seats were actually off to the right side (but still front row). How hard can it be to set up the floor seats so that they match the seating chart?

2. The lighting. I love that the Shrine Circus encourages photography - I thank them for this! Now, could we just light the performers consistently? There were some performers performing in the dark with the spotlight next to them - like the spotlight had missed it's mark. Other performers had no light at all. I think everyone (performers and audience) would appreciate more even and consistent lighting so we can see these artists better.

3. The elephant rides. I was annoyed by this last year (see last year's post) and it was equally annoying again. The way they do these rides, they create a massive mob during the pre-show, intermission and after show. This mob is literally trampling the people in the floor seats and making it impossible to get up from your seat. Also, it's very frustrating for families to wait in a long line only to get turned away because the intermission is over. But the most appalling aspect to me was the assembly of plank they used to get people on and off the elephant. Picture a platform about 5 feet high and a few feet wide. Before the show started they tore the legs off the platform and placed it in a pile in front of us - that was okay. But since the elephant rides start again for the intermission, the technicians came out two acts before the intermission and assembled this huge platform a couple of feet in front of us. Yes, our view was blocked by the poles of a five foot high platform (and the plank and the technicians assembling it) during the end of the BMX bike and the trapeze act before the intermission. Can't they be a little more friendly to their audience members and wait until the intermission to assemble it? Of course they can't because they have kids and parents already standing in the aisles waiting to trample everyone to be first in line for the elephant rides during the short intermission (some of these people got turned away from the elephant rides before the show started so I can understand their impatience also). The elephant/pony rides are just a frustrating, crowded experience for anyone unfortunate enough to be close to them. It's a shame that something like this (and the seating problem) leaves a bad taste in my mouth and overshadows the fantastic performances by the artists but since they encourage photography, I'll give it another chance next year.

Shrine Circus Starts Tomorrow

Austin Shrine Circus starts tomorrow at the Cedar Park Center. There will be an Elephant Brunch at noon on Friday and the circus shows start Friday evening and go through Monday. I'm looking forward to taking lots of photos when I see the show on Saturday.

A couple of February events to note:

Capital Gymnastics in Cedar Park is hosting their "Heart of Texas Invitational" this weekend. There are more details on their website www.capgym.com

Cirque Du Soleil is coming to Cedar Park on February 17th-21st! This is the first time Cirque du Soleil has been in the Austin area since 2005.

The Artistic Director of Blue Lapis Light is featured in a new book: "Site Dance: Choreographers and the Lure of Alternative Spaces". There will be a book signing at Book People on February 27 at 5pm. Sally Jacques (Artistic Director of Blue Lapis Light) will join Carolyn Pavlik (Co-editor) for a book signing and Q&A.

Trapeze Classes in South Austin

Since September 1st Trapeze Experience has been running trapeze classes at the Soccer Zone in South Austin. It's a nice facility for trapeze because it's indoors, although I do wish it was closer for us North Austin folks. For people who are interested in trying circus arts, flying trapeze is a fun and safe way to start. Beginners always wear a safety line and start with a very basic position called "knee hang". Once the "knee hang" is mastered, the individual has a chance to be caught by the catcher from the knee hang position.

It appears that the company is changing ownership after January 1st. Before January 1st, the website for information is http://www.trapeze-experience.com/. After January 1st, the website will be http://www.trapezeaustin.com/

I definitely want to stop by and try trapeze again. I had a blast doing flying trapeze in Jamaica many years ago. Here are a couple of photos. Sorry about the poor quality but these were taken quite a few years ago with a film point and shoot and then scanned (before digital was very available). If I remember correctly, I was doing a split catch in both photos.

Reminder - Cirque Du Soleil tickets on Sale today!

Tickets for Cirque Du Soleil's Alegria go on sale to the general public today, Dec 4th, at 10:00am. Alegria will be at the Cedar Park Event Center from February 17-20, 2010. Yay! It's great to have Cirque back in the Austin area.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or at the Cedar Park Event Center box office.

Blue Lapis Light

Blue Lapis Light is a site specific aerial dance group with a studio in South Austin. I have the bad luck of continually missing their performances but I often check their website to see what's coming up. They teach ongoing classes at their studio (unfortunately, I live too far away to attend a class) and they also teach private lessons. It's always been a dream of mine to try aerial silks so one of these days, I definitely want to go to their studio for a private so I can give it a try and take some photos.

I just noticed on their website that they are offering aerial dance workshops for most Sundays in December. If you are interested here's the link:
http://www.bluelapislight.org/classes.html

Level 6 State at Capital Gymnastics

Level 6 State Championships were held at Capital Gymnastics on November 21-22. I enjoyed watching and taking pictures for awhile. The new facility is awesome! Too bad they don't have adult classes - well maybe it's a good thing (I don't really need to know if I can still do a full-in on the trampoline or not). Everyone we talked to was very nice and I'll definitely go to future meets at the gym.

Cirque Du Soleil is coming to Cedar Park!

This is an update to my previous post about Cirque Du Soleil's Alegria coming to Austin. I received an email this morning and the venue is actually the new Cedar Park Center. I'm thrilled because it's closer to where I live. Yay! Tickets are on presale now for Cirque Club Members (it's free to join - just sign up at http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/). The dates for the show are February 17-21, 2010.

Assuming that the arena show is similar to the tent show I saw in 1995, I think this is a fantastic show - especially for people into gymnastics! Alegria has a tumble trak act (called power track), Russian bars, aerial high bar and other great acts (like trapeze). I already got my seats and I'm considering going twice to just support Cirque coming to Austin.

Here is a small version of the Alegria wallpaper image available from Cirque Du Soleil's website. Check out the Alegria page for more information about the show:
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/alegria/default.aspx

Update on Cirque Shanghai

Paramount theater has released some seats in the orchestra section. I'm so happy that I get to see this show after all. I'm not sure if they allow photos (I've sent an email asking) but at least I will enjoy the show and I will write a short review after.