By families for families: Venardos Circus returns to Horizon West

Venardos Circus, a Broadway-style, animal-free circus, will bring a revamped and reimagined showcase celebrating its 10th-anniversary show to Horizon West.

“This is a special season for us as we celebrate the many dreams realized by The Little Circus That Could,” Ringmaster and Producer Kevin Venardos said. “For those that have supported us from the beginning or others who will see us for the first time, our goal is always to show you what’s possible when you live your dreams, and we promise you a Grand Ol’ Time.”

The “Decade of Dreams” tour makes its stop in Hamlin from Wednesday, Nov. 27 to Sunday, Dec. 1, next to Walmart on Hamlin Groves Trail. 

“We’re a traditional circus with a bit of a Broadway flair, so you get the best of both worlds,” Venardos Circus performer Angel Ramos said. “You get the singing and dancing in the scenery that you would get in a Broadway musical, paired with the extreme passion, the acts, the danger and the excitement that you would get from a top circus. … We’re like a little family here traveling down the road and putting on a great show every place we go.”

The awe-inspiring showcase promises to provide family-friendly fun for both parents and children alike because, well, families are at the core of the traveling show. 

From one generation to the next

Courtesy photo

Ramos, who performs a hand-balancing act that involves stacking canes up to 30 feet in the air, is a seventh-generation circus performer who grew up watching his parents perform in the circus and decided to join the family business.

“I am a seventh-generation circus performer, which means that my great-great-great-great-grandfather on my dad’s side started in the circus way back when,” Ramos said. “It’s safe to say the circus has basically been in our blood for multiple lifetimes now. … I was basically born into this life — and at a very young age, I fell in love with it and knew this is what I wanted to do when I grew up, so I’m living out my dream right now.”

Beyond the art of circus performance being passed down to Ramos by his family, what makes the Vernados Circus a family-driven showcase is that some performers are actually families. 

Chemistry the audience can feel

In the case of Ramos, he takes it one step further and performs an act with his mother, Derileisy Ramos. According to Ramos, being able to perform with family and the family-like bond the circus has created can really be felt by the audience. 

“My mother and I, along with a few other fellow performers, also do a troop act called the trampoleze; which is a trampoline and trapeze act mushed together,” Ramos said. “This act, because we have this personal relationship with the people we’re working with, we’ve been able to create a sort of chemistry between us that most definitely shows to the audience. They can feel it. … All of us interact with each other on a daily basis; we’re all friends, and in my case, we’re family, and that allows us to work so well together that it shows to the public. The chemistry expresses outward.”

Fellow performer Manuel Acosta agrees with Ramos and adds that beyond having tangible chemistry during his act with his wife, Ilenay Acosta, their years of performing together and understanding of each other allow them to perfect their performance in real time. 

“One of the best parts of performing together is that we have a lot of time to perfect each part of our act,” Mauel Acosta said. “Because we are a couple, when we perform together we have a better understanding of one another than other people would; we’ve learned how to fix things right there at the moment because of the trust we have in one another. I think that comes because of the confidence that we have in one another, which is a lot easier to develop when you’re a couple.”

A Grand Ol’ Time

The Ramos and Acosta families are just a pair of examples of the community of fantastic performers the Vernados Circus has created inside its red-and-white striped tent to put together its expansive showcase that’s perfect for the whole family.

“There’s something for everyone at the Vernados Circus,” Ramos said. “There’s dangerous acts, there’s comedy, aerialist, jugglers, clowns, hand balancers like myself. There’s something that everyone will enjoy from ages 1 to 100. And although the tent might look small from the outside, you would be absolutely amazed at what can happen in this space. Some of the incredible feats that happen inside our little red and white tent, you wouldn’t be able to imagine.”