In 1949, LIFE magazine sent famed photographer Nina Leen to document the daily life of a sassy troupe of young women who had run off and joined the famous Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, Fla. What developed was a portrait of a sisterhood formed over acrobatics that mixed high-flying wire acts with fashionable high-waisted shorts. Sarasota was once considered “the home of the American circus”. Here: an aerialist smoking while rehearsing for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, FL in 1949. (Photo By Nina Leen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Visitors review their cell phone photos of an installation called “Plexus A1” by artist Gabriel Dawe, one of nine large-scale art installations displayed at the “Wonders” exhibit at the Renwick Art Gallery in Washington, DC, Wednesday, January 13, 2016. Built in the 1860s, the Renwick was the first American building to be designed specifically as an art museum; it recently reopened after a two year renovation. (Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA)

As the sun sets on the Malecon in Havana on Friday January 23, 2015, Surenis Angulo de la Paz, 24, center, dances as group of locals play music around her. Behind her is Fidel Lopez, 55. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

On October 31st, 2025, when the weather was in full autumn, citizens visiting the Taehwagang National Garden Chrysanthemum Garden in Nam-gu, Ulsan, are making memories among the chrysanthemums turning yellow. (Photo by Kim Dong-hwan)

Members of the SubCielo company perform during the fifth annual Puerto Rico Circo Fest in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, March 10, 2018. The festival is held simultaneously in several spots on the streets of the Old San Juan city on March 10–11. (Photo by Ricardo Arduengo/AFP Photo)

This photo taken on March 10, 2022 shows a woman taking photos as people look at cherry blossoms in Nanjing in China's eastern Jiangsu province. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

A tourist takes a selfie with pelicans on the bench in St. James's Park in Westminster, central London on June 19, 2024. (Photo by Marcin Nowak/London News Pictures)

Pottery heads by artist Johan Thunell are displayed at The Affordable Art Fair on March 15, 2012 in London, England. 120 galleries are displaying works costing from £40 – £4000. Photography, paintings, prints and sculptures are on sale from 15–18th March 2012. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)