Big Top Science Comes to Town at Discovery Place with New Exhibition – Circus!

Guests clown around with science in more than 20 interactive exhibits beginning Saturday, Dec. 13

December 02, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Ladies and gentlemen! Step right up and discover the secrets of science under the big top as Discovery Place introduces the Museum’s newest exhibition, Circus!, opening Saturday, Dec. 13.

Featuring more than 20 multi-station, interactive exhibits that amaze, thrill, perplex and entertain, Circus! offers visitors a behind-the-big-top view of the science needed to make circus magic come to life.

“When the circus comes to town, it’s definitely an occasion for a family outing,” said John Mackay, president and CEO of Discovery Place. “But when you think about the circus, you don’t always realize how integral science is in presenting the greatest show on earth. Physics, mathematics, biology and even psychology are essential in staging a spectacular show. At Circus!, guests will become the stars as hire wire performers, clowns, jugglers and even acrobats while uncovering the science that lies beneath the big top.”

Spectators become performers at Circus! and experience how the body responds to the sensation of height, balance and gravity. Aspiring daredevils can take a walk on The High Wire, an authentic, steel cable suspended nine feet in the air. The Balance Bar also allows for a unique experience to learn more about balance and the center of gravity. At this exhibit, guests can experiment with different balancing tools that demonstrate the secrets of rotational mechanics.

Families can go ballistic with the Human Cannonball and take aim at targets; shoot projectiles; and have fun learning about pneumatics, trajectories, physics and mathematics.

Visitors can feel as though they’ve truly run away to join the circus in the Creative Costume and Play Area. Younger children, along with family and friends, can try on a variety of costumes and role-play as a ringmaster, lion and bear. Performers-in-training can take to the center ring in Juggling and learn how to juggle and spin plates. Families can continue to clown around in Clown Alley which tickles the imagination with facts on the science of giggling and laughter.

Parents and their ‘mini gymnasts’ can strap on the Elastic Acrobatics harness and spring up into the air discovering what makes elastics stretch and how human bodies respond to thrills, chills and physical exertion.

The exhibition also explores the sights, smells and sounds of the circus. In Circus Smells, guests can take a whiff of distinctive circus aromas to learn the physiological reasons why scents trigger nostalgic memories.

During a visit to Circus! guests can learn about circus communication styles. Animals communicate with each other through sound and motion. After listening to a variety of animal sounds, museum-goers discover what researchers think animals are saying to each other in Animal Communication. Those looking to become fluent in circus chat can learn about the novel words and expressions used by generations of circus performers in Circus Lingo.

The circus is not all beauty and wonder, especially after the parade has passed by onlookers. In Parade Remnants, kids learn the scoop on poop, matching artificial poop to the correct circus animal that left it behind including a large mound of elephant dung.

In Circus Music, visitors can create a soundtrack to accompany vignettes of circus performances, matching music to scenes of performing poodles, flying-trapeze aerialists and silly antics of a clown. Guests also can see the detailed work of a miniature Circus Model.

Those venturing into Sideshow can see a Ballyhoo Silhouette, a projected silhouette of a circus “talker”, for some scientific truth mixed with a great deal of hyperbole. Strongmen, women and children can try to bend an iron bar attached to a dynamometer that measures brute force in Feats of Strength. Little ones can watch the littlest circus performers in Flea Circus. Finally, Sideshow explores the history, mystery, illusion and reality of sideshow performers and their remarkable talents including how a person can swallow a 22-inch sword in Sword Swallower; how performers contort their body to fit into a small box in Contortionist; and how cyclist, Daredevil Diavolo (circa 1903), defied gravity and death in his sensational loop-the-loop stunt.

Circus! opens Saturday, Dec. 13 and is on exhibition through Friday, July 3, 2009. Circus! is free with Museum admission. For more information on pricing or programming, call 704-372-6261, ext. 300 or visit discoveryplace.org.

Circus! was produced by the Ontario Science Centre. The Charlotte Observer is a sponsor of the local presentation of Circus!

About Discovery Place
Discovery Place is located in uptown Charlotte at 301 N. Tryon Street. Convenient parking is available in the Museum’s parking garage – the Carol Grotnes Belk Complex – at the corner of Sixth and Church streets. For more information about Discovery Place, guests can call 704-372-6261 or visit discoveryplace.org.

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