Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Sun City native extends circus family tradition


Ivan Vargas, who trained and performed as an acrobat for 12 years, now works with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown Alley. The 22-year-old from Sun City? is back home for this weekend’s shows at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
By Elizabeth Behrman, Times Staff Writer
from: tampabay.com
Friday, January 4, 2013
BRANDON
Ivan Vargas has always known he wanted to go into the family business.
When he was 7 years old, his parents asked him if he would rather do something else or go to a different school, he told them no.
The past six generations of the Vargas family — five on his mother's side — have been circus performers, and he wanted to be one, too.
For the past four years, Vargas, 22, has been performing as a Nike-wearing, hip-hop dancing clown with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown Alley. Before that, he trained and performed as an acrobat for 12 years.
"I always want to entertain people," Vargas said. "I love making people laugh, and I love making people gasp at an amazing trick that I've just done. For as long as I can be, I want to be an entertainer."
Vargas took his first steps in the corridors of the moving circus train. He attended the circus school with the children of other performers before he was allowed to practice any of his acts as a kid. Four years ago, he met his wife, a fellow circus performer, while on a show tour.
"What isn't there to like?" he said about the circus.
 
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Ivan Vargas sits atop an elephant that had just been weighed. According to Vargas: “Clowning is not so easy as people think it is.”
The Ringling Bros. circus continues its 2013 debut this weekend at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. For Vargas, who is from Sun City, it's a trip back home.
Each circus tour lasts for two years, he said. And the group, which is made up of more than 350 performers and crew members, gets a break every December.
But for the majority of the year, members spend their days traveling the continental United States. Sometimes, their contracts take them out of the country. Vargas speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian.
"I just learned it from people around the circus," he said.
read more:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/sun-city-native-extends-circus-family-tradition/1268661

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