from: ourcoloradonews.com
by: Cassie Monroe
Thursday, June 7, 2012
The Zoppé Italian Family Circus presents more than just breathtaking acts in its tent, it also tells its viewers a love story.
And the story begins 160 years ago with a young street performer, Napoleone Zoppé, who won the love of an equestrian ballerina, Ermengilda, despite her father’s disapproval and their dream to runaway and start their own circus.
The story will unfold for the first time at the Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival, with performances by the Zoppé Italian Family Circus taking place Aug. 17-26.
“People don’t see our show,” said lead clown Giovanni Zoppé. “They feel it.”
The legend of how the Zoppé Circus started begins in 1842, in Budapest, Hungary. Napoleone was wandering about a plaza looking for work when he first laid eyes upon Ermengilda.
According to Giovanni, she was very beautiful and captured the audience’s hearts when she performed her dangerous tricks, gracefully, on horseback.
Although the two fell in love instantly, Ermengilda’s father disapproved of their relationship because Napoleone was just a clown and beneath his daughter’s station.
To be together, the two ran away to Venice, Italy. Ermengilda left behind her plush life to start a circus with Napoleone.
read more at:
http://www.ourcoloradonews.com/arvada/life/love-at-heart-of-circus/article_4134e84e-b0e2-11e1-aa9a-001a4bcf887a.html
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