Continuing its 55-year legacy of dare-devil feats, breathtaking acrobatics, and hilarious clowning, Circus Vazquez, America’s largest family-owned big-top circus, is entertaining audiences of all ages again this holiday season with its appearance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and an exciting new 2024 production at Citi Field in Queens, featuring a spectacular company from around the world. Performed in its signature climate-controlled blue-and-white tent – the largest of its kind currently touring the US – the sensational one-ring show presents a mix of traditional and modern circus arts at an affordable price for the whole family.
The performance kicks off with award-winning Russian clown Boris Nikishkin in his American premiere, interacting with the audience, dancing around the ring, and getting everyone in the mood for the fun that follows. He reappears throughout the show, beatboxing, playing guitar, pulling up willing participants for an amusing sketch of music-making, battling a character from a video game, doing a comical acrobatic balancing skit, and generally adding to the overall merriment. We also meet the Vazquez Ringmaster and members of the Circus Vazquez Band, which provides backup music and a soundscape for each act, playing up close to the ringside seats and on a platform high above the stage, with video projections and lighting that enhance the festivities with lively images, flashes of light, and color.
This year’s cast of international talents includes the astonishing Bingo Troupe from Kiev, Ukraine, performing high-energy dances and amazing stunts on aerial silks and ropes, and a slack wire, while juggling and even sitting on a chair! They were followed by fourth generation Vazquez family members José Alberto Vazquez, a virtuoso juggler, and siblings Jan and Carolina Vazquez displaying both their skills of juggling and balancing on a rolla bolla, with her perched dangerously atop his shoulders and head, and passing between his legs.
Truly death-defying is Colombia’s Duo Vanegas, with brothers Ricardo and Alejandro also defying gravity on the Wheel of Wonder, a rotating device reaching over 30 feet in height, jumping rope, doing high-flying somersaults, and landing back on the revolving cages. And the Bone Breakers, contortionists from Guinea, Africa, present inconceivable body-bending flexibility, twisting themselves and each other into seemingly impossible jaw-dropping positions, laughingly accompanied by the synchronized sounds of cracking joints.
Rounding out the cast are the Liazeed Angels, led by former tightrope walker Zaida Liazeed and featuring Olympic gold-medalist Natalia Kapitonova, presenting gymnastics on high bars and landing with flips onto mats in their debut with Circus Vazquez. During intermission, you can get photos in the ring with performers costumed as cuddly over-sized bears (there are no live animals in the show), and after the show, you will have the opportunity to meet some of the circus stars. As always, there are family-friendly snacks, as well as souvenirs available for purchase, so you can take a piece of the enchanting Circus Vazquez home with you and keep the memories alive till next time.
Running Time: Approximately 95 minutes, including an intermission.
Circus Vazquez plays through Sunday, December 15, 2024, weekdays at 7 pm, Saturday-Sunday at 1, 4, and 7 pm, at Citi Field, 123-01 Roosevelt Avenue, Flushing, NYC. For tickets (priced at $30-85, plus fees; discounted senior/military/handicap rates are available), go online.