Elephants Aren't Enough

We took the kids to the circus in Houston yesterday (and had a great time). But while we were there, I noticed something that I found odd. Check out this short video:



Notice that there are several elephants performing in the center of the frame. Awesome. Now notice the ladies dancing on the sides of the arena. Why? Why would Ringling Brothers want to distract from the elephants? Why clutter up an already busy arena (notice all the support guys walking around) with even more visual noise? People actually come to the circus just to see the elephants, after all.

Shouldn't the fact that there are performing elephants be enough, for crying out loud? Perhaps little stuff like this is why a trip to the circus is like paying for two hours of sensory overload.