SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Greatest Little Show on Earth started to celebrate its 75th anniversary in the Sarasota community on Thursday.
The Sailor Circus has been known as one of the top circus training programs in the country.
It started back in 1949 as a gymnastics class but has developed into an afterschool program for students to learn multiple skills.
“I love all my friends that I’ve made here,” Sailor Circus Academy Student Ellie Kinglek, 17, said. “I love that my coaches put a lot of support into us and I just love the environment. I love doing what I can do with no pressure.”
Acts include the high wire, trapeze, balancing and aerial silks, to name a few.
“It’s so rewarding to watch them learn the things that they can do, then put on their costume and feel even more special about it,” Sailor Circus Academy Manager and Alum Rikki Hettig-Rolfe Meaux said. “Then go present those things to people that they are proud to show them to.”
Several academy alumni will be in attendance, as well.