Arts & Entertainment
Tuesday, August 23, 1994 Page 12
Wild animal acts, children
showcase famous circus
By Joel Strauch
Senior Reporter
The Ringling Bros, and Barnum & Bailey
Circus is celebrating 200 ycarsof the circus in
America with an all-new “Greatest Show on
Earth” this week at the Omaha Civic Audito
rium.
Joan Baillon, public events marketing
coordinator for the Civic, said, “The circus is
always a very popular event. We’ve had lines
of people at the ticket windows.
“We look forward to Ringling Bros, and
Barnum & Bailey every year because it’ssuch
a quality show.”
In addition to the traditional acts, this
special celebration edition of the “greatest
show” will feature several new acts involving
youth from around the world.
“We’ve got children performers from Rus
sia, Mongolia’and the Chicago area involved
inevery aspectof the circus,” Jake Rothenbcrg,
the show’s promoter, said.
Baillon added, “It is an interesting medley
of international cultures.”
“There are 53 kids who travel with the
circus,” she said. “They attend classes for
three hours every day in the travel ing school
house and get to experience being with people
from so many other countries.”
The children display amazing talents in
animal training and acrobatics, including hand
balancing and new artistic heights in rope
jumping.
“It’s a dazzling, nonstop production,”
Baillon said. “They showcase talents from all
over the world.”
There will also be the animal acts that have
helped make the circus famous.
“The animals are always favorites of
circusgocrs, sne said. I nis year one ol the
acts will feature a buffalo and mountain li
ons.”
The Bogers of Arkansas, including 7-ycar
old Katie, have trained the two species to
ignore combative instincts and perform to
gether, Rothenberg said.
When it comes to circus fame, few can
equal thatoflcgendary animal trainer Gunther
Gcbcl-W ill iams. That tradition continues with
the performance of Mark 01 ivcrGebel, Gcbcl
Williams’ son.
Mark Oliver Gebcl will be performing
with, his rare combination of elephants and
zebras, two animals that don’t get along in the
wild, Baillon said.
Baillon talked about the dedication that
c ircus performers must have to be successful,
calling it a lifelong commitment.
“1 love the kind of commitment that circus
people make,” she said. “If you have a pet at
home, you can leave and have someone
watch it, but what do you do if you have
elephants or chimpanzees?”
Rothenberg said another of the show’s
highl ights would be the clown David Lariblc.
After spending almost three decades with
circuses in Italy, Switzerland, England, Ger
many, France and Mexico, Lariblc is now the
first clown ever to appear as a featured per
former in the Ringling Bros, and Barnum &
Bailey Circus.
“He’s been real popular this season. He’s
bringing some fun stuff to the show,”
Rothenberg said.
He also described another crowd-plcascr
Courtesy of Ringling Bros, and Bamum & Bailey Circus
Audiences will get an earful from Eric Michael Gillett, the singing ringmaster
at the Ringling Bros, and Bamum & Bailey Circus. The circus is at the
Omaha Civic Auditorium today and Wednesday.
— the infamous Globe of Death.
“It’s a gigantic steel sphere with motorcy
cles encircling the inside of the globe,” he
said. “At one point, a woman stands in the
m iddle with three motorcycl ists riding around
her at about 40 miles an hour.”
The Ringling Bros, and Barnum & Bailey
Circus will be at the Omaha Civic Auditori
um today and Wednesday. There will be two
performances daily, at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Tickets arc available through Tickctmaslcr.
Quik Facts
Show: The Ringling Bros, and Bamum
& Bailey Circus
At: Civic Auditorium, Omaha
Times: Today and Wednesday at 4 p.m.
and 8 p.m.
Tickets: Available from Ticketmaster
Henri didn’t show his Nebraska roots in life or art
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
Although work by artist Robert
Henri is on display at the Sheldon
Memorial Art Gallery under the
auspice “Nebraska’s Favorite Son,”
Henri never revealed his Nebraska
roots.
Daphne Deeds, Sheldon Gallery
curator, said Henri’s past was hid
den until his death in the 1950s.
In the late 19th century, Robert
Henri and his family, whose real
last name is Cozad, fled from Ne
braska to Colorado.
Henri’s father was a real estate
speculator who visited, and later
moved to, an areaof land in Nebras
ka presently known as Cozad.
“Things went fairly well for the
family in the beginning,” Deeds
said. “However, there was some
ongoing tension between the cattle
ranchers concerning water rights.”
Deeds said an altercation arose
between Henri’s father and a cattle
rancher. The rancher pulled out a
knife, prompting Co/ad to pull out
his gun. The fight came to blows,
and Cozad shot the rancher.
“The father left town to escape
the law, and his family came with
him,” he said. “Everybody in the
family had a different name.”
Henri’s brother, Frank, changed
his name to Southm and eventually
became a prominent physician.
The family moved again to At
lantic City, N.J. Henri then moved
to Philadelphia, where he enrolled
in the Pennsylvania Academy of
Fine Arts in 1891. He moved again
to New York City and eventually to
Ireland.
The Henri Museum, a museum
in Cozad devoted to Henri’s work,
sits on a boarding house run by
Henri’s parents, Deeds said.
Even though Cozad and Ncbras
ka arc proud lo claim Henri as one
of their own, Deeds said, Henri “pul
out that whole chapter of his life.”
The majority of Henri’s work
focuses on scenes from M ainc. New
York, Ireland, Paris and areas in the
southwest United States, she said.
Henri married twice, had no chil
dren and never returned to Nebras
ka.
Deeds said Nebraska’s pride laid
in the accomplishments and the
notorictyof Henri’s work and leach
ing.
“The essence of his teaching is
that each person must find real in
spiration for their work instead of
emulating the masters as was the
trend in the 19th century,” she said.
Henri inspired a whole gcncra
tionof artists tolook for self-inspec
tion and personal reflection and to
make their oWn statements in their
work.
Strict teaching methods of the
-a
The essence of his teaching Is that each
person must find real inspiration for their
work.
— Deeds,
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery curator
lime were stifling loartists in Henri’s
view, and he wanted his students lo
rely on their inner spirit instead.
The exhibit, which runs from
Aug. 23 through Nov. 13, features
42 paintings, drawings and letters
drawn from public and private col
lections in Nebraska.
Two special events are planned
in coordination with the exhibit.
Deeds will give a lecture and slide
presentation on Henri’s early work
W w
and impact on American art history
on Sept. 21 at 7p.m. in the Sheldon
Memorial Art Gallery.
On Oct. 15, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.,
“Nebraska’s Favorite Son and
Daughter: Henri and Sandoz” will
be presented to examine the influ
ence of these two artists. Artist Mari
Sandoz wrote a book about Henri’s
life in Nebraska called “Son of a
Gambling Man.’’