A new face has joined the family of the Folsom Pro Rodeo this week, a very colorful one. His name is Dalton Morris, better known as Disco Dalton, an acclaimed rodeo entertainer that that has performed in arena and on stages abroad. This week marked the first time Dalton experienced the fans and the energy of the Folsom Pro Rodeo which didn’t disappoint the performer, who also didn’t disappoint local rodeo fans as he clowned around, engaged with fans and performed a number of blazing rope tricks, literally.
According to Morris, he was born to entertain. The dream he had at three years old is the same one today, and he has made it into a lifestyle. He dressed up, put the makeup on, and walked into his first arena and has yet to look back. Through it all, Morris has been keeping fans wide-eyed and laughing across the country.
“My dad was a trick rider and bull rider, so he always wanted me to be a rodeo cowboy. My sister, Clara, ran barrels. They convinced me to get in the button busting when I was 3 years old, even though I was really scared,” Morris can recall. So like most youngsters interested in rodeo, Morris tried his hand at mutton busting, something he has admitted in many interviews, didn’t go so well.
“When they opened the gate on that runaway, I landed on my head in the dirt. Right then, I knew I was not set out to be rodeo rider. I was even more scared, but I sure did like the clowns and the fun they seemed to be having. I guess my future was set then and there.”
Morris befriended the rodeo clown shortly after his not so amazing rodeo debut and it wasn’t long after that he was decorated in face paint, a crazy straw hat, suspended oversized pants filling the role as a “sheep fighter,” helping little cowboys and cowgirls find their way off the ground safely after their attempts at mutton busting.
“I started fightin’ sheep at the next rodeo,” he explained in his early interview. “Really, I’d just run across the arena after the sheep, or they’d run after me. Then, I’d help the clowns with their acts.”
Since his humble beginning, Morris has performed at several rodeo finals, including the PRCA Wilderness Circuit Finals. He has performed in the U.S., Canada, and Saudi Arabia. In 2018, he was awarded Champion Barrelman as well as Champion Specialty Act with his trick roping act. Dalton’s entertainment doesn’t stop in the rodeo world. Not only is he a PRCA and PBR entertainer, but he is also a professional trick roper and a hype man. Dalton has traveled the country for several years entertaining Pro Rodeo, Pro Bull Riding, and horse fair fans.
You can find Professional Rodeo Entertainer Dalton Morris making crowds of all ages laugh with his humorous antics, trick roping, fencing balancing acts and just jumping into the stands to engage with the fans. But that’s not all, one his strong suits is his ability to perform a series of amazing “rope tricks, living up to his motto that you just never know what he may have up his sleeve to keep you entertained at any given rodeo.
“I love to go into the audience and visit with people. That’s the best part really,” says Morris. “You meet all kinds.”
Just prior to the final competition each night, the bull riding, at Folsom’s Dan Russell arena this week, Morris gave local rodeo fans a display like they have never seen before. Hoping atop a portable stage in the center of the arena, Morris unveiled his arsenal of ropes and ran through his countless “tricks,” as they call them in the world of rodeo. Small loops, big loops, fast loops, slow sloops and more, Morris had fans wide eyed as he operated his ropes, danced around them and in them and continued to speak to the crowd. The dazzling display culminated with a ring of fire in which Morris strutted his skills with a rope completely ablaze in flames.
Keeping an audience involved, entertained, and their attention struck are the main goals of a hype man. Dalton has expanded his value from not only a rodeo entertainer or trick roper but also as a hype man, according to his entertainment biography. “As the world changes, so does the performance of an entertainer,” he cites. Besides rodeo, Dalton has also performed at corporate events, horse fairs, and expos. Dalton uses comedy and crowd interaction to keep the show lively.
Dalton was a senior in high school when he was asked to learn a new skill for a class project. He had always admired the art of trick roping; therefore, he decided to practice the skill. Since that time, he has performed at several rodeo finals, corporate events, and special events, including the PRCA Wilderness Circuit Finals. In 2018, he won the International Finals Rodeo Showcase (IFR) in both the barrelman competition and the specialty act competition. Dalton has traveled the country for the past several years entertaining rodeos, horse shows, and bull-riding fans. He has also performed in several Las Vegas hotels, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as well as Dolly Parton’s “Stampede” in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
The Folsom Pro Rodeo rode into town July 3 and continues until July 5. Tickets are limited but still available at www.folsomprorodeo.com. One day following the Folsom Pro Rodeo will be the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Rodeo, a new addition to Folsom this year as previously announced in a Folsom Times news article.
Folsom Times photos by Bill Sullivan. See more memories of the Folsom Pro Rodeo captured by Folsom Times below.
