"Circus and Symphonies," written with help from Michael Christensen of The Big Apple Circus, was first performed with the Nassau County, N. Y., orchestra. Great success there led to jobs with orchestras in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit, Dayton, and Houston.

 

"We use the circus as a draw to get kids to come hear classical music," Daraio said. He claimed a 60 percent increase in attendance at concerts which include the No Elephant Circus.

 

The juggling in the show includes Shaw's three ball comedy routine, and a two-person spoof of takeaways and slapstick. Grimaldi juggles, and also spins plates on poles as high as 20 feet. Shaw does a club juggling routine on a six-foot unicycle, and the troupe passes torches. A very special skit recruits 20 children from the audience and to hold up a length of rope, on which a cast member stands, walks, and juggles.

 

"The juggling is a special part of the show, because it's all about rhythm and so is music," Daraio said.

 

A project to enhance the correlation between the two is just underway. Daraio is trying to create a juggling "song" by placing different material inside clubs to cause them to make specific noises when they hit the jugglers hands. He explained, "The Flying Karamazov Brothers have created beautiful music by striking clubs against things, but I'm trying to have the club itself become the instrument."

 

Besides the "Circus and Symphonies" show, the troupe performs a general circus show titled "Klowns," and a socially relevant scripted show about three out of work circus clowns called "From Soup to Nuts. " That show, written by the famous unicyclist John Paul Jenack, sold out a week at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and led to a feature article in "The New York Times."