Career in the Circus Took Her to the Top

Little did Bambi Burnes know that dancing would raise her to dazzling heights.

But instead of stardom on the dance floor, she found notoriety by biting on a mouthpiece and dangling 70 feet above Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey circus crowds.

“The act gave me a strong jaw and teeth,” said Burnes, 52, who smiled and flashed a full set of perfect white teeth. “These are all my own.” Her dentist devised the mouthpiece.

From the late 1960s through 1979, Burnes thrilled spectators with her “iron jaw” act, looking like a graceful butterfly in her colorful silk-winged costume as she floated over the circus arena.

Her act was performed without a net.

“I had confidence in myself,” she said. At times she would juggle balls while swinging by her teeth.

Before she developed her aerial act, dancing was uppermost in her mind.

“I actually took up dancing to help get an arch in my feet, which were absolutely flat,” said Burnes, who performed in the circus under the name of Aurora. She won’t reveal her real name but said after she was born her father would ask, “how is Bambi?” And the nickname stuck.

Before her aerial act, Burnes was part of a circus “Disney on Parade” production number which gave performances in the far points of the world.

“I did character and folk dancing and some acrobatic work with the circus,” she said, pointing out that she was a competitive gymnast in high school.

She studied ballet for four summers at the American School of Ballet in New York City.

Getting the high-flying circus act was a matter of luck.

“When I auditioned for a dance number in the circus, they had an opening for an aerial act, and one thing led to another and there I was dangling by my teeth for years.”

During that time she also fell in love with circus clown Chuck Burnes. “Would you believe we lived just 12 miles apart where we grew up in Massachusetts,” she said. They now live in Anaheim.

Time and two children changed the Burneses into entrepreneurs.

“Actually, I got a little pudgy,” she said, citing it as one of the reasons she left the act.

Together they opened Periwinkle Productions in Anaheim, a business that provides “good, clean wholesome entertainment” for various types of parties.

“We like this kind of business because it keeps us around some of the same kind of people who performed with us in the circus,” she said.

Bambi said the circus was like having a second family.

“I loved it,” she said. “It was wonderful, and there wasn’t anyone else that did a similar act at the time.”

She said each performances gave her an exhilarating feeling.

“I got that feeling because I knew I was doing something that was fun and people were enjoying it,” Bambi said.

Although the Burneses were constantly traveling, “the circus gave us good memories, especially since circus people did everything as a family unit. We had respect for each other.”

Sister Louise Romero thought it would be a good learning experience if her fifth-grade students at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Santa Ana didn’t watch television for a week.

Seven members of the 12-student class--Laura Aldana, Rosalyn Bui, Vanessa Estrada, Sarah Smith, Lisa Tolone, Erwin Valencia and Martha Villanueva--completed the challenge.

As a reward, the seven were given a pizza party.

Every Sunday for the past four years, pianist Olivia Scalzo has tinkled the ivories for the brunch crowd at the Harbor Grill Restaurant in Dana Point.

The fans and management really dig Scalzo so they threw the diminutive pianist a party Sunday for her 95th birthday.

“Olivia is quite a lady,” said restaurant owner John Hicks. “She plays four hours without a break every Sunday.”

A chauffeured Rolls-Royce picked up the Laguna Niguel resident for the party where she went right to the old upright piano and played such oldies as “I’ll Be Seeing You,” “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” and “La Vie en Rose.”

“At night during the week we have youngsters playing the piano here,” Hicks said. “They’re 35 to 50 years old.”