Last Saturday, a group of us went to Redwood City to see the Zoppé Italian Family Circus. The Zoppé Circus is a traditional one-ring circus that has been around since 1842! Many of our current and past teaching artists have performed in this circus including our Director, David Hunt. Some are even in the cast this year including Suzanne Santos and the Gentile Family!

We were amazed by many of the acts. The handbalancer really inspired us! And the Gaucho/Boleodora act performed by the Sanchez family and friends was one of our favorites. It’s an act that uses bolos, traditionally used for hunting, to make rhythms while dancing. Our students readily made the connection between this act and our own work with Hambone and especially South African Gumboot dance – where people used tools (bolos, boots) designed for one thing to be used as an artistic cultural expression.

After the show, Tosca Zoppe and her husband Jay Wather brought out the horses for us to meet and for some great photo ops!

The circus had three shows that day! The owner, Giovanni, invited us to perform as part of their pre-show. We didn’t expect this but were able to quickly put some tricks together and share some Oakland love with Redwood City. See the pre show here:

Thank you to our friends and family with the Zoppé Family circus and we will see you next year! You can still see them this weekend! www.zoppe.net

Ciao!