1976- 40th Annual Hospitaler Circus Program
Manager Harold Voise
Rigging Superintendent: George Voise
Lilli-Ana-Kristensen and Her Leopards & Black Panther
(notes on the above act: taken from the State Journal 3/2/78 Lilli-Anna's spoiled babies eat about 35 pounds of beef hearts, neck bones and chicken a day. They swallow 3 heaping teaspoons of castor oil and actually beg for more. They go crazy over perfume and all tend to like women more than men-probably because a woman taught them their tricks. And like many other redblooded mammals, Lilli-Anna's six leopards and panther tend to have their little family squabbles. Hashish, a 200 pound 10 year old panther broke one of the leopard's backs. A doctor patched the back up but Hashish can still be a bit testy.
Oh, hes showy and oh yes he's really stuck up, says the panther's smiling blonde trainer. And he could take your arm off.
For 6 years Lilli-Anna has been bringing her big cats to circus arenas around the United States. Today through Sunday she'll be putting the cats through stunts at the Lansing Civic Center when the 42nd annual Hospitaler Circus presents its array of performers.
Lilli-Anna's is only one of two acts in the US in which a panther is loos in a circus arena. And she believes shes's the only woman performing with a panther in a US circus.
Hashish may look sweet and kind, she says, but watch out. "He knows me and so he thinks I'm fine. With anyone else he would take away their hand. Goodbye arms. He could get you from right where you stand. And all of these cats are so very fast that once i looked and saw one on one side of the room and the next thing i knew he was on the other side.
She said she hadn't even seen him make the trip. Lilli-Anna swabs Hashish's cage with pine-scented cleaning fluid mixed with water and the big animal rolls over on his back, then rolls onto his stomach and presses his velvety black nose into the floor. Oh they just love the smell, Lilli-Anna said with a laugh traces of a Danish accent still clear in her voice. they love perfume so much that when I spray a little into their trailer they roll over and just go crazy. Such big babies.
But Lilli-Anna cants let her guard down with the animals; she's had her share of close calls. During a practice session, the slim trainer was coaxing a leopard on a pedestal to jump over her head. Once he jumped he went right for my throat. But when they want to jump you they start to drool all over first. Strange as it may sound, Lilli-Anna was saved by the drool. When he started to jump he slipped on his own drool. He fellright into the saw dust and he got so embarrassed because he had failed that he just walked away. I was lucky. You dont live through a leopard. They go for the throat or the brain. She pointed to a leopard thrashing his tail and knocking his pan againts his cage. That fellow if he ever go ahold of somebody, he would never let go. Her husband Svend watches on the sidelines when she performs with the cats. People dont know it but he's there hollering at me about what i have to watch for. He has a long stick too. See, I cant watch behind me so he's there to help out and warn me.
Svend says he doesn't get jittery watching his wife put the cats through their paces in the circus ring. If I ever start getting nervous I'll quit, he says.
They dont believe in carry a gun during the act. So many peopletry to have the cats as pets. But it the people are attacked its their own fault. These are not pets; they are wild animals. You have to respect them. It is always the person's fault if he is hurt. I get it once and awhile from animals. Lilli-Anna began training felines about 6 years old, coaxing them to behave with meat and a whip. They can be nasty, she said But they have to learn to trust you. She spends hours talking to them, singing to them and cleaning their cages-a task that never seems finished. The cages require at least four or five full scale cleanings a day.
Some people think its cruel to keep the cats in cages like this, she said But the cats are very healthy and cats are really vey lazy animals. Even in the jungle they hunt awhile, then lay down and rest most of the day.
It takes at least 4 years to train the animals properly, she said. With these 2 babies (2 1/2 Barbary leopards) I never know what they'll do, they're so young. The African leopards are on the wildlife endangered list and among the few Barbary leopards now living in captivity. Teaching cats tricks isn't really the most difficult part of the act, Lilli-Anna continued, What's the hard is getting them accustomed to new faces, voices, bright lights, the applause at the circus.
Lilli-Anna was born in Denmark to a father who loved the Big Top and a mother who thought it was scandalous. She was a little old-fashioned and believed that when show business people came you had to go get the laundry and hide the chickens. An active child, she studied ballet and acrobatics. When the circus came to town she made friends with the performers. They asked her to join them. She fought with her parents over the suggestion, but eventually left to swing on the trapeze. Circus animals quickly became an interest. She learned to train horses and do some trick riding. Then a few years ago she met a Czechoslovakian woman who wanted to sell some big cats she couldn't afford to keep. I just knew i could do it and now I've gotten so attached to these cats. I just love them. there's sort of an understanding between us. I'd never sell them. I'd let them lay under a palm tree at my home during the winter time.
Lilli-Anna lives in Florida when she's not making 60 to 70 stops around the country with circuses.
If you're thinking of becoming another Lilli-Anna and training a few big cats to jump through hoops of fire, or leap over your head, she has some advice: You've gotta have a log of guts and 100,000 bucks. The money goes toward a semitruck, stainless steel cages and a 525 pound freezer for all that meat.
(article written by Lee Upton and used with promotion )
(note#2 of this act above: another article appears in Long Island Journal 5/10/98)
Lilli-Ana-Kristensen and Her Leopards & Black Panther
(notes on the above act: taken from the State Journal 3/2/78 Lilli-Anna's spoiled babies eat about 35 pounds of beef hearts, neck bones and chicken a day. They swallow 3 heaping teaspoons of castor oil and actually beg for more. They go crazy over perfume and all tend to like women more than men-probably because a woman taught them their tricks. And like many other redblooded mammals, Lilli-Anna's six leopards and panther tend to have their little family squabbles. Hashish, a 200 pound 10 year old panther broke one of the leopard's backs. A doctor patched the back up but Hashish can still be a bit testy.
Oh, hes showy and oh yes he's really stuck up, says the panther's smiling blonde trainer. And he could take your arm off.
For 6 years Lilli-Anna has been bringing her big cats to circus arenas around the United States. Today through Sunday she'll be putting the cats through stunts at the Lansing Civic Center when the 42nd annual Hospitaler Circus presents its array of performers.
Lilli-Anna's is only one of two acts in the US in which a panther is loos in a circus arena. And she believes shes's the only woman performing with a panther in a US circus.
Hashish may look sweet and kind, she says, but watch out. "He knows me and so he thinks I'm fine. With anyone else he would take away their hand. Goodbye arms. He could get you from right where you stand. And all of these cats are so very fast that once i looked and saw one on one side of the room and the next thing i knew he was on the other side.
She said she hadn't even seen him make the trip. Lilli-Anna swabs Hashish's cage with pine-scented cleaning fluid mixed with water and the big animal rolls over on his back, then rolls onto his stomach and presses his velvety black nose into the floor. Oh they just love the smell, Lilli-Anna said with a laugh traces of a Danish accent still clear in her voice. they love perfume so much that when I spray a little into their trailer they roll over and just go crazy. Such big babies.
But Lilli-Anna cants let her guard down with the animals; she's had her share of close calls. During a practice session, the slim trainer was coaxing a leopard on a pedestal to jump over her head. Once he jumped he went right for my throat. But when they want to jump you they start to drool all over first. Strange as it may sound, Lilli-Anna was saved by the drool. When he started to jump he slipped on his own drool. He fellright into the saw dust and he got so embarrassed because he had failed that he just walked away. I was lucky. You dont live through a leopard. They go for the throat or the brain. She pointed to a leopard thrashing his tail and knocking his pan againts his cage. That fellow if he ever go ahold of somebody, he would never let go. Her husband Svend watches on the sidelines when she performs with the cats. People dont know it but he's there hollering at me about what i have to watch for. He has a long stick too. See, I cant watch behind me so he's there to help out and warn me.
Svend says he doesn't get jittery watching his wife put the cats through their paces in the circus ring. If I ever start getting nervous I'll quit, he says.
They dont believe in carry a gun during the act. So many peopletry to have the cats as pets. But it the people are attacked its their own fault. These are not pets; they are wild animals. You have to respect them. It is always the person's fault if he is hurt. I get it once and awhile from animals. Lilli-Anna began training felines about 6 years old, coaxing them to behave with meat and a whip. They can be nasty, she said But they have to learn to trust you. She spends hours talking to them, singing to them and cleaning their cages-a task that never seems finished. The cages require at least four or five full scale cleanings a day.
Some people think its cruel to keep the cats in cages like this, she said But the cats are very healthy and cats are really vey lazy animals. Even in the jungle they hunt awhile, then lay down and rest most of the day.
It takes at least 4 years to train the animals properly, she said. With these 2 babies (2 1/2 Barbary leopards) I never know what they'll do, they're so young. The African leopards are on the wildlife endangered list and among the few Barbary leopards now living in captivity. Teaching cats tricks isn't really the most difficult part of the act, Lilli-Anna continued, What's the hard is getting them accustomed to new faces, voices, bright lights, the applause at the circus.
Lilli-Anna was born in Denmark to a father who loved the Big Top and a mother who thought it was scandalous. She was a little old-fashioned and believed that when show business people came you had to go get the laundry and hide the chickens. An active child, she studied ballet and acrobatics. When the circus came to town she made friends with the performers. They asked her to join them. She fought with her parents over the suggestion, but eventually left to swing on the trapeze. Circus animals quickly became an interest. She learned to train horses and do some trick riding. Then a few years ago she met a Czechoslovakian woman who wanted to sell some big cats she couldn't afford to keep. I just knew i could do it and now I've gotten so attached to these cats. I just love them. there's sort of an understanding between us. I'd never sell them. I'd let them lay under a palm tree at my home during the winter time.
Lilli-Anna lives in Florida when she's not making 60 to 70 stops around the country with circuses.
If you're thinking of becoming another Lilli-Anna and training a few big cats to jump through hoops of fire, or leap over your head, she has some advice: You've gotta have a log of guts and 100,000 bucks. The money goes toward a semitruck, stainless steel cages and a 525 pound freezer for all that meat.
(article written by Lee Upton and used with promotion )
(note#2 of this act above: another article appears in Long Island Journal 5/10/98)
The Vickinas-Kids
Roger Zoppe's Arabian Riders (centerfold)
Zavattas Balancing Ladder Act
Chase and Park
The Flying Dells
No comments:
Post a Comment