Big Apple's Clowning Achievement

There's nothing new under the sun -- or under the big top for that matter.

That's not a knock on the Big Apple Circus, which has set up its tent in the parking lot at Dulles Town Center. Its mix of clowns, jugglers, trapeze artists and animal acts manages to dazzle the senses with new routines while providing the comforting familiarity of a simpler, long-ago time.

The theme of this year's spectacular is "Play On!" -- with heavy emphasis on the play. That's apparent from the show's opening moments, when Big Apple favorite Grandma the clown (played by Barry Lubin, yes Grandma is really Grandpa) teams up with clown Mark Gindick for a version of a Viennese waltz that features bicycle horns and whoopee cushions. There's nothing cerebral about the humor here.

This year's juggling duties are handled by identical twin brothers Marty and Jake LaSalle, who ran away to join the circus only after earning degrees last year from Columbia University. Their eight-minute routine features acrobatics that land Marty on Jake's shoulders (or was it Jake on Marty's shoulders?), 10 clubs twirling simultaneously and the all-American look of boys who first discovered that they could juggle in an apple orchard.

A running gag through the first part of the show has Big Apple regular Valdis Yanovskis carrying a mannequin across the ring, knocking into other circus performers. The mannequin turns out to be Belgian mime Olivier Taquin, and when the two take their turn center circle, they enthrall with a captivating twist on the age-old ventriloquist-and-his dummy turn. Part of Big Apple's charm is the way it shamelessly uses audience humiliation -- er, participation -- as part of the show. The good-natured mom who tangoed with Taquin at Sunday's show deserves a cut of the box office.

The first half of the show concludes with a number called "Urning a Living," in which Guiming Meng spins a 35-pound vase on his head. There aren't words to describe this act, but it does exemplify how Big Apple has perfected turning simple concepts into entertainment that works for all members of its audience.

The youngest attendees (and 2-year-olds are regulars) just stare gape-mouthed at what's being done.

Older kids try to figure out how it's being done.

Parents -- looking at performers often their age or older -- wonder why it's being done.

Even the animal acts -- and there are no lions or elephants here, just horses and dogs -- demonstrate such joy that it's hard to imagine even the most ardent animal-rights supporter finding fault. The horses gallop at full speed around the ring while riders do the tricks. The dog act, titled "Luciano Anastasini and His Pound Puppies," features dogs that look a lot like the mutt you may have at home. The chaotic act seems as if it could just as easily be taking place at a neighborhood dog park as in the center ring.

One of the most gasp-inducing acts is pulled off by a trio of acrobats who make Nastia Liukin's Olympic heroics seem almost pedestrian. Anna Gosudareva does a spinning, flipping routine on a four-inch wide bar, four feet off the ground, but her beam isn't stable -- instead it's held by fellow acrobats Valery Rodion and Alexander Mykhaylov.

The best theatrical performances transport the audience. The Big Apple Circus does just that -- taking us back, if only for two hours, to a far simpler time.

There's nothing wrong with that.

Play On!, by Big Apple Circus, about two hours with one intermission. Through Oct. 13 at Dulles Town Center, Route 7 and 28. 703-828-9014 or http://www.bigapplecircus.org.