COME ONE! COME ALL!
Circus Vargas returns to town
Visitors to the Westfield Oakridge Mall may notice the giant blue circus tent in the back lot — that’s right, Circus Vargas is back in town.
The last time Circus Vargas came to San Jose was in 2009.
“We are a newer, younger circus folk so we wanted to modernize the circus, to keep up with the times,” Circus Vargas co-owner Katya Quiroga said. “But we also want to preserve the tradition of the circus, so we have the new and old coming together and coexisting in this one show.”
Since the last time the circus was in San Jose, Circus Vargas has gone animal-free, instead focusing on acrobatics and elements of fantasy. Of course, there also will be magicians, motorcycle stunts, musical Italian clowns, a Finnish archery act and traditional aspects of trapeze, contortion and trampolines.
This year, the show’s theme is SteamCirque. It’s a two hours long show and combines the old traditions of the Italian Circus with “steampunk,” a genre of historical science fiction that features steam-powered technology. A half-hour before the show, families are invited to bring their children to try circus acts like juggling and tightrope and to meet the performers up close.
“Since we are the last American traveling circus that comes to the Bay Area, we want to make sure that we bring the whole circus to everyone who wants to come out,” Katya said. “We want everyone in the family to have a chance to see what being part of the circus is like.”
Katya and her husband Nelson Quiroga have co-owned Circus Vargas for almost 12 years. Katya and Nelson met while performing trapeze in Circus Vargas in 1989, so they’re somewhat about the circus.
But the family circus tradition goes even further back — Katya is the seventh-generation
“We are a newer, younger circus folk so we wanted to modernize the circus, to keep up with the times, but we also want to preserve the tradition of the circus.” — Katya Quiroga, Circus Vargas co-owner
of circus folk in her family. Katya’s father, Vittorio Atara, came to the United States with his brother after walking the tightrope all over the world. Atara started with the circus in Italy at four years old, performing a clown act with his uncle.
“You are a tourist while working,” Atara said. “I speak six languages now that I’ve worked all over Europe and the states.”
Atara started with Circus Vargas in 1980 and has since become the circus’ superintendent and tentmaster. At age 75, he still sets up and designs the tent layout. The performers set up the big top at every location on their own — the entire feat takes about two days to set up.
Keeping with family tradition, Katya and Nelson’s two oldest daughters perform in the show. Their 19 year-old performs trapeze and their fourteen year-old daughter, Daniella, does hand-balancing and contortion. Daniella has been training for contortion since she was five and has been performing in the show for nearly two years.
“I think my favorite part is traveling — seeing all of these new places and entertaining all of these different crowds,” Daniella said after dismounting the handstilts that she balances on. “It’s a rush entertaining people, you can’t get that anywhere else.”
Daniella trains for threehours per day to prepare for a show, on top of four hours of school. As the show opens in San Jose, she is starting her first day of tenthgrade at the circus’ traveling school.
“We are like our own traveling town without a zipcode,” Katya said. “We have a school, homes and everything with us.”
Part of Circus Vargas’ mission is to help local charities. In San Jose, Circus Vargas is working with Teen Challenge — a residential program that helps substance abuse recovery and prevention — by providing them with tickets to their opening show on Wednesday.
The show runs through Sept. 18 at four different locations. Opening night in San Jose is Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.. Circus Vargas will run shows at Westfield Oakridge Mall on Blossom Hill Road through Monday before traveling to Milpitas, Hayward and Petaluma. Ticket prices range from $17 to $72. For tickets and more information, go to www.circusvargas.com.