THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 28, 1995 TAG: 9502280279
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
The Greatest Show on Earth, now at Hampton Coliseum, is the circus as I'd never seen it.
It preened in the 1930s; sagged in the 1950s under TV's impact; revived in the 1960s in arenas; flourished the next two decades; and now reaches the peanutilmate.
On its 125th birthday, it's as much Broadway musical as circus.
The dark arena is bathed in lurid purple light while dozens of green-clad acrobats swim and dive, the rigging unseen, some floating slow-motion from tip-top almost to floor, tied to hidden bungee cords, exotic fish swirling in an aquarium.
Among the dancers in Ringling's Red Unit is Norfolk's Danile Giesy, joined Monday by her sister Susan, who is on a brief visit home from touring with the Blue Unit.
Both are in their early 20s - lissome blond Danile and lanky russet-haired Susan, veteran dancers with the Virginia Ballet and former teachers with the Magnet School for the Arts, where they were Monday.
Danile had dropped by for a lesson, which she often does during stops at cities. She also limbers up at the bar before circus shows. Her skill at ballet won her a solo number with clown David Larible, he in raffish street clothes, she in gold and white tutu, a touching vignette.
On stage in the theater, the sisters feel the audience beyond the footlights but seldom make eye contact. In the ring, up close, they often hear ``an ooh or a sigh'' from the girls at the sight of costumes or a turn in the dance, said Danile. Now and then they catch an eye.
When that happens, she said, it's almost always possible to work a wink or a wave into the choreography, and the child ``responds with a smile as if she has just been given the greatest present in the whole wide world.''
It works the other way, too, as it did after a particularly long day for Susan when she heard a little girl say, ``Mom, she's pretty!''
``It made my day!'' said Susan.
In the traditional circus, the dancers' role was to show off costumes, but these days, with choreographer Danny Herman's Broadway experience, there's much more dancing, which the sisters relish.
At each of 45 cities, they do from nine to 13 shows. It's tiring, but it makes time move. They enjoy the traveling, the companionship and performing before huge audiences.
They began dancing in early childhood and made their professional debuts in ``Carousel'' at Norfolk's now-gone Tidewater Dinner Theater.
Both danced with Virginia Ballet Theater and with Virginia Young Audiences Inc. Danile spent a year with Richmond Ballet. Their brother Darrin works with the Nashville Ballet.
Susan started with Ringling in 1991, with a break during which she spent four months in Japan with the Greg Thompson Productions. She arranged an audition for Danile, who joined last June.
So they'll be back next year?
``That's a long way off,'' they chorused. by CNB