NEW YORK, NY November 15, 2008 —The Big Apple Circus is back in town for its holiday production.

REPORTER: This year's show at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park is called "Play On!" It features a live band and acrobats from 12 countries. And of course, there are animals -- including eight dogs who were rescued from shelters and trained to perform.

The company got started in 1977, when a young juggler named Paul Binder took a look at a city in crisis and decided that what it really needed was a one-ring circus like the kind he'd seen while performing in Europe. Now, he says, the Big Apple Circus has become a fixture in New York.

BINDER: One of the great satisfactions I have is, I'll walk around in my rongmaster's costume before the show. And people stop me, and they'll say, "I first came to the Big Apple Circus when I was a kid, with my parents, and I want you to meet my kids."

REPORTER: Now Binder is stepping aside to make way for a new generation. This is the last season he'll serve as artistic director and ringmaster. He does plan to stay on to help with fundraising and look for new talent, as the Big Apple Circus faces challenges from newer holiday shows from Disney, Cirque du Soleil and others.

BINDER: The marketplace is filled with competition. But we believe so long as we stay with our core values and speak to the families in the places we go to and reach them in some core place, you know, what we say is in their soul, then we will be assured our place in their cultural lives.

REPORTER: One of those core values is service to the community. Besides rescuing pound dogs, the Big Apple Circus sends clowns to perform for children in hospitals and raises more than 3 million dollars a year for other charitable organizations.

Paul Binder will be succeeded by Guillaume Dufresnoy, who's been with the troupe for 21 years and is currently its general manager. He says his challenge will be to help the circus continue to be itself, but also change:

DUFRESNOY: To Look for unusual acts that we may not have had before, and always keep a very close eye on keeping the audience very connected to what goes on through both great production values and a very clear choice for simplicity.

REPORTER: The Big Apple Circus continues its holiday production until January 18th.