Sure, it’s a show. But Circus Vargas is also a family.
More than two dozen performers and crew members have brought their eclectic traveling show to Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, and this isn’t your grandfather’s circus.
The animals are long gone, and in their place are acrobats, trapeze artists, twirlers, jugglers, dancers and clowns, executing maneuvers with perfect athleticism. The ringmaster, a former opera singer, emcees the show with his big voice and booming charisma.
At the head of it all is Katya Arata Quiroga, owner, CEO and executive artistic director. Circus Vargas got its start in 1969, and Quiroga and her husband purchased the company 20 years ago.
“We have transformed Circus Vargas into more of a European-style circus with no animals, still really traditional, family entertainment for all ages,” said Quiroga, who is from the Netherlands. “If you are two years old, or 20, or 99 years old you are going to love Circus Vargas.”
Her father, Vittorio Arata, a former tightrope walker, is credited as the only tightrope walker to balance another man’s head on his own. Her daughters are also in the show, as dancers and ballet performers.
(Photo by Joshua Molina/Santa Barbara News-Press)
Arata has a storied history in the circus.
“I started when I was very young,” Arata said. “Like a game. Instead of going on a bicycle, my dad made me walk on a tightrope.”
He learned to balance his brother on his head.
“No balancing pole,” he said. “My dad didn’t want me to buy a balancing pole to be different.”
He would train several hours every day and eventually mastered the ability to maintain physical and mental control of his body.
“It takes a lot of time to walk on a tightrope without falling,” he said.
He grew up in the circus, and he said he always wanted to bring that same joy to others.
“The circus is a family,” he said. “Everyone is together. You stay together in the circus.”
The show opened June 12 and runs through Monday under the tent. The show moves to San Luis Obispo from June 26 to July 20.
The first person you’ll see at the event is Johnathan Lee Iverson, the ringmaster, who got his start at 22, and is a classically trained opera singer. He was in the boys choir in Harlem, has performed for four U.S. presidents, and has shared the stage with Ray Charles and Luciano Pavarotti.
“I had a really charmed childhood, and I really believed that is what I wanted to do,” Iverson said.
He saw Spanish opera singer, Placido Domingo, in Japan and was inspired to be like him. He attended the Hart School of Music and the University of Hartford. His plan was to go to Europe and pursue opera, but an opportunity came along to become the ringmaster for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was the first Black ringmaster in the circus’ history.
Circus Vargas, he said, offers “whatever you want in entertainment.”
“We take people away,” Iverson said. “As P.T. Barnum said ‘the highest art of all is making other people happy.”
Vlasti Faltynkova is also in the show, and is an aerial artist, and part of a juggling act with her daughter. She travels throughout the year in the U.S., Germany and France, and speaks five languages. She is a sixth-generation performer, and her children are seventh generation.
“It’s a really interesting life,” she said. “You visit so many different cities, so many different countries. You travel and you work. It’s our profession and our hobby. It’s so nice.”
