Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/100060
Sarasota News Leader December 21, 2012 Page 72 Men in black-and-white striped tights ��� zebras; men in white tights ��� more effeminate than acrobatic; children as mini clowns scuttling around the stage; a lion tamer with a group of exotically clad girls posing; more posing before a giant head of an elephant with a suggestive trunk borrowed from burlesque; and a leaden performance of a classical pas de deux by Ricardo Graziano and a grinning Kate Honea greeted Sardelli (Clara) on her visit to the circus. But there is that beautiful, haunting Tchaikovsky waltz in the score, and without a backward glance at the circus, the second act was saved from its descent into camp by a competently danced Waltz Of The Roses variation honoring Mable Ringling and featuring David Tlaiye and Victoria Hulland reprising their duet from the first act. Clara woke from her dream, the ballet came to a close, the audience rose to its feet ��� and I wondered why. Next month, the Sarasota Ballet will again visit the dreams and visions of English choreographers, this time with ballets by Sir Frederick Ashton, Will Tuckett and Sarasota Ballet���s own Jamie Carter. % Peter Docherty designed this circus costume for the character Sugar. Contributed photo