zoppe

2 troupes twist definition of 'circus'
Contortionists, humor take the center ring at Fox, Reid Park tent


Nino the Clown is from the humor-based Zoppe Family Circus, which will be at Reid Park Friday through Sunday. Also this weekend, find Cirque D'Or's contortionists at Fox Tucson Theatre.
from:  azstarnet.com
Cathalena E. Burch Arizona Daily Star
Jan. 10. 2012
Tucson isn't exactly a magnet for circus troupes, but this weekend two are setting up stakes and high wires to deliver their versions of the greatest shows on earth.
Neither is an elephants-and-tigers-under-the-big-top type of operation.
Cirque D'Or
Contortionists, high-wire acts and all manner of movement is what you'll find at Cirque D'Or, which is performing at Fox Tucson Theatre. It will remind you of Cirque du Soleil as artists in glamorous costumes perform shockingly physical feats.
"It really is impossible to describe.The contortionists contort their bodies into shapes that you would never think would be conceivable," says Cirque D'Or promoter Joe Zappia.
"There's one woman who will wind her torso around a chandelier then ... balance with five chandeliers and eventually get on her stomach and ... look like one giant chandelier."
In another act, a high-wire artist balances on a tight wire while cast members toss her hoola hoops. By the time she is finished, she is twirling 25 hoola hoops while balancing on the wire on one foot.
Zappia said Cirque D'Or is a show built for smaller theaters like the Fox, where it will play three shows Friday through Sunday.

 

UApresents is bringing the Zoppé Family Circus to Reid Park for six shows. Its emphasis is comedy and feats of daring.
Zoppé Family Circus
The Zoppé Family Circus is built for an even smaller space - a big top tent that holds no more than 500.
UApresents is bringing Zoppé back to Reid Park for six shows Friday through Sunday. The Italian family circus, which got its start in Italy in 1842, had a nearly soldout run in Tucson last January.
This is Italian Old-World circus at its finest, with an emphasis on commedia dell'arte - slapstick, family-friendly comedy interspersed with equestrian showmanship, dancing dogs and trapeze artists in all sorts of feats of daring.
But at the center, as has been the Zoppé tradition for generations, is Nino the Clown, the hero who represents the audience and wrestles control of the circus from White the Clown, who thinks he's the boss, says Giovanni Zoppé, the sixth-generation circus performer who plays Nino.
"We try to hit every emotion in every show," said Zoppé, who has performed with his family's circus since he was a child and whose 3-year-old son performs alongside him.
"It's the greatest gift that God gave me, my talent to make other people happy," he said last week while the show was in Phoenix. "For me there's no better life."
Every one of the 36 performers touring with Zoppé is part of the family, from grandkids and spouses to great-nieces and a grandmother.
"It's a true family show. We have seven generations on the show - eight if you count my great nieces and nephews still performing in the circus," Zoppé said.
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