Their trapezes were hanging from the ceiling of the Mitten Building, which accommodated the Community Circus Arts Corporation's inaugural fundraising dinner and silent auction.
Nearly 140 people paid upwards of $40 a plate to participate in the fundraiser for Redlands' Great Y Circus. The Community Circus Arts Corporation is a support organization for the nation's oldest-known, continuously running family circus.
Attendees dined on vegetable lasagna and lemon herb chicken, followed by desserts supplied by Olive Avenue Market.
Circus performers dressed up in formal black and white to act as servers for the event, and circus volunteer Brad Billings was master of ceremonies.
Above them, circus performers did stunts on circular-shaped trapezes and ribbons, and others did juggling and hand balancing acts.
"It went very well" for a first-ever event said Community Circus Arts Corporation president Lisa Godin. "People enjoyed connecting with others from circus who they hadn't seen in a while," including longtime past Y-Circus participants John Coble and Warren "Woody" Wood.
Godin, a trainer and circus performer, has two daughters who are also in circus: Chance, 13, does hand balancing and German wheel; and Riley, 9, performs multiple trapeze acts and rings.
"It was an event that gave other community members who have never seen our circus before an idea of what we do," Godin said.
While most of the attendees were familiar with the circus, there were a few who were not, she said. Fewer people realized that the Mitten Building is owned by a former Y Circus member, Jami Spencer.
"We had a great response," said circus trainer Kathi Cochran, who is vice president of the organization.
She hadn't tallied up how much the event raised toward the circus, which runs during the first three weekends of May, but said 139 tickets were sold at $45 a piece, with cheaper tickets for those who reserved group tickets for the event.
The night included a silent auction, which included artworks from the late artist Worden Bethell; gift baskets from Olive Avenue Market; a dog training session from Mannered Mutts of Yucaipa; a performance from circus alumna Mia Mercado's band Bluebird; and a contract agreement from Cochran's family company, Burgeson's Heating & Air Conditioning Inc.
"It was a grand debut to what will hopefully become an annual tradition," said YMCA youth program director Melanie Ramiro. "It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces - alumni from all different circus generations - and to get reacquainted with many people I hadn't seen in a few years."
Ramiro has spent many late nights planning for the upcoming circus.
"Words can't express how grateful I am for all the support that the members of CCAC give to the Great All-American Youth Circus program," she said. "Anything that benefits CCAC ultimately helps all of the kids at the Great Y Circus as well, so I was delighted to see so many people from the circus community as well as from the Redlands community come out to support such a great cause."
Tickets for the Great Y Circus will go on sale April 21. Tickets for adults are $15 and for children, $10. For more information, call the YMCA at (909) 798-9622.
E-mail Staff Writer David James Heiss at dheiss@redlandsdailyfacts.com