Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages… it’s time! On February 10, 2024, in Sarasota, Florida, the Circus Ring of Fame Foundation will commence its annual awards show to honor the achievements of iconic circus figures—and the CircusTalk community is joining in on all the fun! We take you behind the scenes for an exclusive sneak peek into getting ready for the big day.

Another year has passed. It’s time for yet another major milestone in the Sarasota circus: the Circus Ring of Fame Induction ceremony. This annual awards show takes place in Circus Sarasota arena to honor just a few of the amazing figures who have dedicated their work, art, and lives to the circus: artists, coaches, families, and circus allies who spend decades honing their craft, who set the trajectory of the art form and help propel the whole industry forward. Inductees are nominated by the public and carefully selected yearly by a vote of former inductees, historians, scholars, and members of the global circus community, and presented with a special namesake plaque at the awards show. These plaques, adorned with the iconic circus wheel and description of their outstanding achievements in the performing arts, make up circus’ own Hollywood Walk of Fame, found at Sarasota’s St. Armands Circle Central Park. Now, boasting over 150 inductees from around the world, the “Ring” is the one-and-only globally recognized lifetime achievement award for the circus arts, an exclusive honor for world-famous circus performers, and the rich circus heritage of the Sarasota area.

The 2024 inductees include…

This year, we invite you to be a part of the fun and join us at the Circus Sarasota tent or watch the ceremony on your favorite device from the comfort of your home at a later date. Either way, you’re bound to enjoy yourself at the awards show. Plenty of well-known and familiar faces will be making appearances alongside acts by powerful performers and touching speeches from award recipients. All guests should anticipate a thrilling afternoon of entertainment and a true send-up to the splendor of circus arts.

With special honoree receiving the Willie Edelston Coach of the Year Award…

Before the show begins, we had the chance to catch up with Bill Powell, the chair and CEO of the Circus Ring of Fame Foundation, about the preparation process and all that needs to be done to get things ready for February 10. Bill is an essential part of what makes the Circus Ring of Fame Foundation tick, with a long history in the arts and a deep commitment to bringing people together. Always the innovator, in 2022, Bill was a major player behind the scenes in producing the first-ever televised Ring of Fame Awards Ceremony, transforming the event from a strictly in-person affair to one available to the circus world at large through video. Don’t miss the release of the TV streaming launch right here on CircusTalk News! 

CircusTalk (CT):What kind of responses/feedback did you get about the 2023 Circus Ring of Fame Induction Ceremony?

Bill Powell (BP):Generally the feedback was very positive about the Circus Ring Of Fame Foundation 2023 Awards Show. We upped our game with the production, adding some comedy elements with Chris Alison, and introduced two great Generation NeXt honorees, Annaliese Nock and Danielle Arata, along with the first-ever CircusTalk Members Voice award. All received very positive responses.

CT:How have you gone about planning for the 2024 edition?

BP:Planning for 2024 started immediately after the 2023 awards show with the announcement of the application process for new 2024 candidates. We accept applications between February and mid-May then upload the prospective candidate biographies to our cloud-based storage for the nominating committee to begin deliberations. This is a six-week process as everyone is reviewing and scoring upwards of 40 or 50 applications. The committee is asked to do a blind rank-choice vote and the results are returned to them for further consideration. Sometime in late June or early July, they are asked to ratify or change their choices down to 10 actual “nominees.”  The slate of nominees then goes out to a wider global audience known as the Circus Advisory Council who then choose four inductees from the ten nominees. This takes place during August, and results are tabulated and then presented back to the nominating committee for review and final ratification based on established guidelines. We announce the upcoming year’s new class in late September and begin the planning and fundraising process for induction-related expenses. Once we know the inductees, we also become more focussed on the program of events surrounding their induction, which eventually leads to the new Awards Show.

CT:How will this year’s Induction Ceremony be different from the last?

BP:This year’s award show is an outgrowth of an informal process between a group consisting of myself; our video production team at Starfruit Productions; writer extraordinaire Dominique Leclezio; and board member John Zamoiski, who has New York ad agency experience. This year we are focusing on the relationship between art and circus. While there have always been co-existing similarities, the Circus Ring Of Fame Foundation feels is appropriate to change the dialogue and meld art and circus into one. We accomplish this through visual metaphor in our new video“Circus Is Art.” 

To borrow a line from the character Don Draper in the hit TV series Mad Men: “When you don’t like what is being said, then change the conversation.” Stated simply, in our opinion, this references incorrect assumptions and irreverent language such as “performers who do acts and tricks,” which are negative and need to change. Using phrasing such as “circus artists who present their routines” is more appropriate language. We will hopefully advance positive messaging by letting Circus Is Art start to change the conversation.

CT:What are you most excited to see at the 2024 ceremony? 

BP:Highlights for 2024 are numerous. We are honoring four great individuals into the Circus Ring of Fame for lifetime achievement with the choices of Her Serene Highness Princess Stephanie of the Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival; Producer Wayne McCary; equestrienne, vocalist, and all-around performer extraordinaire Catherine Hanneford-Carden; and world record holders for the longest and highest human cannonball shots, David Smith Sr. and Jr. In addition to these incredible inductees, we are honoring our first-ever Coach of the Year to the circus arts coach and Hollywood stuntman Bob Yerkes. We also have two great young talented individuals who will perform as Generation NeXt honorees, Brando Anastasini and Emma Grace Clarke. Our show will be anchored by the great ringmaster/host Joseph Domenick Bauer Jr. Last but certainly not least, we will add a contemporary element to the show with a surprise performance and co-host from the hit Las Vegas show Absinthe! Needless to say, we are very excited to see this all come together. 

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We’re excited too! Check out the trailer for this year’s ceremony and get your tickets now!

CircusTalk