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The June 12th Lincoln Public
Library children's summer program was provided by The Amazing
Martika of Kansas City, Missouri.
The Amazing Martika travels coast
to coast across the USA and around the world doing one woman circus
shows using various circus props. At the beginning of her
performance most of the lighting in the annex was turned off to help
show her performance is better.
As Martika did each performance she explained where the acts came
from, how they were originally used and how they are used today in
the library. The circus acts were from all over the world. She told
the audience to make some noise by clapping their hands even though
they were in the library.
Video - The Amazing
Martika performs the dancing firefly
The first act was dedicated to the
fireflies we see in the summer. To look like a firefly, Martika
danced and flitted around while wearing lighted fabric “wings.”
Since the dance makes Martika dizzy, she moved in a different
direction a couple of times.
Next, Martika used a prop from
France to do a circus trick called the dancing cane. Many magicians
originally used the prop. Once she was done with the trick, Martika
asked the kids how she did it.
Most had figured out there was a string attached to the prop.
Martika then explained she used a thin black string to make it look
like the cane was floating.
The prop can be made with a 14 or 16 inch wooden dowel measured out.
A hole is then drilled in the middle where a string could be tied.
Martika said the back and forth momentum makes it look like the prop
is levitating. She asked the audience not to tell the magicians she
shared one of their secrets.
Video - The Amazing
Martika performs with hula hoops
Martika used a hula hoop for the
next part of this show. She said hula hoops have been around for
centuries. In the United Kingdom were originally made of wood or
metal. It was the USA that revolutionized hula hoops by making them
out of plastic. As Martika used the lighted hula hoops she did
tricks like home base, ballerina, twister and around the world. She
next tossed the hula hoop into the air then moved it around one leg.
Then Martika brought out some
fabric she uses to look like a rain cloud or waterfall. There is
also the “poi” from New Zealand with orange and yellow fabric that
looks like fire. After moving around with the fabric, Martika did a
circus game.
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The circus game was called
America's top circus performers, so Martika chose five kids to
perform using a circus prop.
Video - Martika performs with
some of the audience
The children Martika selected from
the audience chose either the Chinese silk fan attached to fabric or
the orange and yellow poi for their performance. Each one performed
for around 30 seconds. The audience was asked to judge each
performance on showmanship, creativity and personality.
People in the audience clapped to show their choice of the best
performer. Martika then announced that all of the children were
chosen as top performers for their courage and performing in front
of others using props they had never used. She said they were all
winners for conquering any fears they might have had of performing.
For the final performance, Martika
used a stack of five hula hoops moving them around and then over her
head. As she removed some of the hula hoops, she put four around her
arms to look like a firefly, used three to look like the Olympic
symbol and held two on top of one to look like Mickey Mouse.
Something else Martika did with the
hoops was spin them with no hands and then spin the hoops around her
arms while doing the splits. Martika finished by taking several hula
hoops, putting them around her hips and dancing.
Once the program had ended, Martika
had a dance party with the kids. Many kids lined up at two stations
and were allowed to choose props to dance around with. That way
everyone who wanted could have a turn trying out the props. She said
most of the props could be made at home.
Thursday June 19th at 10 AM, Nitro Joe returns to perform in the
annex of the library.
Donna Cunningham, Director of the children's library section,
reminded everyone of the various summer programs. She also told the
kids to make sure to turn in their summer reading logs. At the end
of June, raffle tickets will be drawn for prize baskets and for a
one year family membership at the Logan County Genealogical and
Historical Society.
[Angela Reiners]
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