International circus returns to city
"When you grow up in the circus you're pretty much performing from when you're little." Kiarnna Weber
After a nine-year absence, the big top has returned to town.
The Weber Bros Circus will be performing its new show ‘‘Adrenaline’’ in town for 10 days, fresh off a tour from South Africa and South Korea, at the Gala St reserve in Invercargill.
Promoter Annie Todd said this was a real circus that had been touring worldwide.
It was a hard job working in the circus, Todd said
But there were a lot of fantastic rewards when they saw the looks on the faces of audience members, she said.
The performers were from all over the world, with about eight nationalities represented when counted.
The circus has toured the North Island for about three months, and the South Island tour starts in Invercargill before heading north.
Aerial silk dancer Kiarnna Weber is a seventh-generation circus performer.
Born in Australia to a Kiwi mum, she is also a German citizen, Weber said.
Her father was a hand balance performer.
‘‘When you grow up in the circus you’re pretty much performing from when you’re little.’’
She had been all over the world and enjoyed experiencing the different cultures where she trav- elled, Weber said. It was incredible to tour the world doing what she loved, she said.
There was a lot of history to her family that had originated from Germany and were one of the first circus families, Weber said.
In the show, she performs an aerial silk routine and dances throughout the show, but she also has many other talents.
‘‘When you’re in the circus you learn so many different skills like right now I do the silks in the show but behind the scenes, I practice as much as I can doing different apparatuses.’’
In the circus you never learn just one act, she said.