Ramos Bros. Circus to entertain Lodi crowds
On Thursday, trapeze artists will swing into town — along with the rest of the circus.
The Ramos Bros. Circus will bring a showstopping collection of acrobats, clowns, contortionists, jugglers and even dancing poodles to perform tricks and acts they hope will dazzle.
“We have a really fun, classy show,” said Alejandro Ramos, the family circus’ vice president.
He doesn’t just handle the business side of the show. He also rides a motorcycle in death-defying stunts in a cage, along with another rider, and performs as one of the Ramos clowns. When they’re on the road, he drives one of the trucks.
“I used to do trapeze, I used to do contortions, now I do the clown. When you’re circus people, you have to learn all kinds of stuff,” he said.
He was quick to list the talents of several other circus members, too. The performers come from seven different countries.
One performer from Mongolia is a contortionist. He can fold himself in half — backwards, Ramos said.
A juggler has a second talent: “She makes music,” he said. During her juggling routine, she strategically bounces balls onto a floor piano to play a song.
A trapeze artist flies on a ring under the big top, and the clowns perform routines with children from the audience to get them involved in the show.
While the circus retired almost all of its animals, one act remains.
“We have a guy who has performing, dancing poodles,”
Ramos said.
The Ramos family has been performing in circuses for five generations — more than 100 years now, Ramos said.
According to family legend, the act was founded by Albino Ramos, who used his highwire skills to escape a Mexican prison where he’d been wrongfully locked up.
He and his family changed their name to Rodogel and put together an acrobatic repertoire, performing in their own circus venture — the Circus of Death — until 1970, then putting together acts for Circus Circus Casino, Carson and Barnes, Circus Mundial and other famous big top shows.
In 2005, they reopened their own circus, this time as Ramos Bros. Circus.
“This is a circus tradition,” Ramos said.