The ‘greatest show on earth,’ Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus returns to the Quad Cities from Thursday, Aug. 30th to Monday Sept. 1st with various changes to their traditional show and with Hispanic talent in key roles. One of those new roles belongs to Argentinean Gisela Riquelme. She comes from a family that has made a living in the circus for five generations.
“My great-great-grandfather started with horse acts,
he was in the military cavalry and that is how he started,” said Gisela through the telephone. “My family continued with the tradition.”
Since she was three she used to play in her family’s circus and began doing professional acts at the age of 11 performing on a trampoline.
Today she has the role of ‘Mom’ in the “Circus of Dreams” as the 136th edition of the circus is called. The “Circus of Dreams” is a new concept that according to the producers has been one of the most drastic changes to the history of the circus.
The produc
tion has gotten rid of the three-ring-circus and will now be one large area of entertainment. They have also added a storyline that includes a family picked from the audience that is invited to take part in the circus. The family is part of the show and Gisela along with Chuck Wagner as the ‘Dad’ that tries the circus ringmaster position and their two ‘children’, will be picked by songstress and ringmaster Jennifer Fuentes, who made herself know on the hit TV show American Idol. The show also added a large jumbo screen that will bring the audiences much closer to the action. They will also have the elephants, a segment with white tigers and the Torres family’s Motorcycle Mania.
For Gisela playing the role of ‘Mom’ will have her ‘becoming’ an aerialist.
“It is a number that consist of aerialist acts from high above,” said Gisela, who is also accompanied by her mom and dad even though they don’t take part in her act.
For her, the last two years with Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus have been very important and says that she likes seeing how the audiences, especially the children, get excited while seeing her acts. She says that she also loves to travel and meeting people of different cultures and when she has some extra time she like to get to know the cities she visits and dance.
The circus life is something that has been a part of her since she was a child and she says that she was never attracted to “the outside.” When asked what she didn’t like about her type of lifestyle, she says that she is already accustomed to traveling and that if it were any different “I would get bored.”
If you don’t want to be bored yourself you can get your tickets to the Quad City show visiting the i wireless Center box office in Moline or via internet at www.Ticketmaster.com.