THE BALLOON MAN

Traditional circus entertains Lima

Edwin Quina flips his motorcycle on an axis during Saturday's 2 p.m. Carson and Barnes circus. Maritza Indiana hung below the motorcycle during the trick. The circus will have 2 and 5 p.m. performances Sunday at the Allen County Fairgrounds. Lindsay Brown/The Lima News
by SARAH STEMEN
from:  limaohio.com
July 21, 2012
LIMA — Some say circus talent is passed down generation to generation. That certainly holds true with July Coronel.

At 18, she already performs as a Carson and Barnes circus hula hoop artist performer and displayed her unique skills for the four shows this weekend at the Allen County Fairgrounds

“My family has a circus in Peru. I'm normally from Peru,” Coronel said. “And I guess I was born in the circus as you can see.”

Coronel, like most of the other performers, can't really pinpoint an age when she started her craft exactly, because she was just born into the life of a circus performer.

Kristin Parra and her husband, Gustavo Parra, are fourth-generation blood in the Carson and Barnes circus. Kristin Parra is the circus office manager and Gustavo Parra is the superintendent. Their 8-month-old son, Blake, is already learning the life and ways of the circus.

“My great-grandparents started this in the 1930s and my grandfather took it to its heights when circuses were really a big deal in the '80s and '90s,” Kristin Parra said. “Then my mom and my father have been in charge of it and my sister and I work here with our husbands and our kids are in it and learning it and go to school here.”

Viola, the elephant, poses during Saturday's 2 p.m. Carson and Barnes circus. The circus will have 2 and 5 p.m. performances Sunday at the Allen County Fairgrounds. Lindsay Brown/The Lima News
Coronel, whose act includes performing with 45 hula hoops at once, said she learned how to hula hoop from her aunt.
“Growing up, I always had a hula hoop around my waist,” she said, smiling. “I guess it's just my thing. It's pretty cool.”
Carson and Barnes has a total of four shows this weekend, at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday and today. Tickets ran for $8 for children, between the ages of 2 and 11, and $16 for adults. Presale tickets were available for $4 cheaper for adults and children under the age of 2 were free.
The Lima Host Lions Club brought the circus to town, as a portion of the ticket proceeds benefits its cause of helping the sight-impaired. Larry Swords, a Lima Lion, said the group wanted a way to raise money and give Lima an unforgettable experience.
“There's something magical about the circus,” Swords said. “I'd like kids to see it especially because I remember when I was a kid what the circus meant to me and the memories I took away from it.”
                                                                                                                          

July Coronel hula hoops during Saturday's 2 p.m. Carson and Barnes circus. The circus will have 2 and 5 p.m. performances Sunday at the Allen County Fairgrounds. Lindsay Brown/The Lima News
The main show, which crews were setting up for Saturday morning, runs about two hours, Kristin Parra said.
“We've got a traditional circus with flying trapeze, Alex the clown, elephants, dogs and ponies,” she said. “We've got lots of cool stuff.”
The circus has two elephants, Kelly and Viola, a hippopotamus named Katie, two camels named Cowboy and Charlie, and a zebronkey, a cross between a zebra and a donkey, named Cupid because he was born on St. Valentine's Day.
And Coronel, who's been with Carson and Barnes six years, said she genuinely enjoys the circus life.

 

Jennifer walker dances with a poodle during her performance at Saturday's 2 p.m. Carson and Barnes circus. The circus will have 2 and 5 p.m. performances Sunday at the Allen County Fairgrounds.
“These people are my family. The people are pretty much the same people that were here when I came,” Coronel said. “It feels like family, because a lot of people, different countries. You get to spend so much time with them. It's our own town here.”
Kristin Parra agreed with Coronel.
“We're together through good times with weddings and baby showers and all of that great stuff, but we're together in bad times too,” Parra said. “That's really a neat aspect of the circus.”
Because the circus is a traditional circus, it travels. The crew will be in Lewisburg, Reynoldsburg, Wilmington and Circleville this week and will hit the Columbus and Hilliard region next weekend.