Great British Circus

		OUR STAR PERFORMERS WILL BE PLEASED TO WELCOME YOU TO THE GREAT BRITISH CIRCUS. SOPHIE COLES is our Ringmistress. Sophie was born into the circus and has been working in the Big Top all her life. She first appeared in the circus ring at the age of eleven and performed her first aerial act at the age of just thirteen before going on to perform sword and dagger balancing and rolling globes. At the age of twenty-one, Sophie became a Ringmistress for the first time, taking responsibility for the smooth running of the entire show. Sophie loves working with animals in the ring and she adores her own pet ferrets which travel with her everywhere she goes.
		MARTIN LACEY is LION and TIGER TRAINER. Martin has been working with wild animals for over 40 years and loves his job. “A day without animals is a day without sunshine,” says Martin, who breeds his own lions, tigers, camels, zebra and reindeer. Many of his animals have appeared in TV adverts and films, the latest being Shaka, the Lion, who starred in the feature film, ‘Fly Boys’. Martin and his family have made the name ‘Lacey’ famous throughout the circus world, and his sons, Alex and Martin Jnr. both have big cage acts in European circuses. Martin says Lions and Tigers have different personalities. “You tell a lion to do something, like you would with a best mate, but you always ask a tiger very nicely!”
		MISHA & MONKEY The Great British Circus is pleased to welcome back these multi-talented Clowns from Russia. Having scored a hit with all the family last year, the crazy duo are making their second appearance with our show, helping us celebrate our tenth anniversary. Since the Mingazovs started their clowning career in 1980, they have worked all around the World, including Russia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Africa, Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan, France, Denmark and Japan.
		DAVE THOMPSON was born in Stockton-On-Tees in 1974. He began working with horses after leaving school, gaining his horse-care and stable management qualifications. He has always had interest in circus from a young age and was especially attracted to animal acts. In 2001 he successfully applied for a position with Circus Roncalli in Germany, working with Yasmine Smart. They met up again at the Great British Circus where Yasmine became his mentor.
		DUO STEFANELI The Duo Stafaneli are from Bulgaria and return to the Great British Circus with a new routine for our tenth anniversary tour. Stefan is an international gymnast who has gold and bronze medals to his credit, and is joined by his wife Neli, who used to be a nurse. Neli suddenly found herself in the roof of the Big Top being trained by her husband and so began an entirely new way of life. Their daughter, Natalia, who is only eleven years old, is already an accomplished performer, and like Mum was trained by Stefan. This time these talented performers thrill and amaze with a display of strength with a Pirate theme.
		KARINA is the latest member of the Mingazov Russian Clown Family to join the Great British Circus. Karina is a very talented performer and will amaze you with her hoop routine - you could say she runs rings around the other performers! Karina is enjoying learning to speak English (which she now does very well) and admits she has three weaknesses - dining out, shoes, and . . . we are still trying to find out the third weakness. This will take a little more investigation!
		YASMINE SMART is the Granddaughter of the legendary showman, Billy Smart. Yasmine has been acting as Equestrian Director with the Great British Circus. Yasmine was the first British artiste to win the coveted Silver Clown at the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival in 1985.