Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, For Lu Viera de Souza, the circus is a family affair. She married into the circus, performs with the animals and is raising two children that may have a future under the big top. But it’s not just her immediate family — she considers the whole circus her kinfolk.
“We are traveling the whole year with our whole family,” she said. “That’s what Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey is. It’s a big family.”
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is bringing its new show, “Built to Amaze,” to Pittsburgh this week. The circus is usually advertised as an attraction for the whole family. Little do those families realize they are going to watch a group of families who are not so different performing for them.
Ringmaster Andre McClain and his wife Dani perform together, as do Russian brother and sister comedy act Alex and Irina Emelin. Husband and wife Dmitry Dolgikh and Nadejhda Tarasova, who perform the “Iron Jaw” act, also travel with their children.
Ms. Souza, 37, met her husband, Tabayara Maluenda, when he came through her hometown in Brazil. She followed him to several other cities, until they became a couple and eventually married. She began performing alongside him and now works with animals. In this show, she performs in a living carousel where the horses look like they are dancing.
They have two children, Tabitha, 17, and Gunther, 5. While the kids grew up in a circus atmosphere, they do not perform because they are too young. But the children are used to the hectic travel schedule.
“They are used to traveling every day, going and going and going,” she said. “When we stop, that’s the part we miss, the travelling.”
While traversing the country, however, they are schooled alongside the children of other performers and circus crew members.
Teacher Cindy Trent, 53, travels with the circus and instructs a diverse community and has at least one student in each grade level.
“People don’t believe that there is a teacher who travels with the show,” she said. “They don’t think about children traveling with us.”
Ms. Trent was a public school teacher in Florida, but after becoming an empty-nester, she decided to hit the road. And in Ms. Trent’s school, there is no clowning around.
“In a typical school setting, you might get 10 or 15 minutes each hour out of your children,” she said. “Here, they’re focused and they’re working the entire time.”
Ms. Souza’s daughter, Tabitha, will be graduating from school soon. While many of the children go on to college, Tabitha may have aspirations of continuing her family’s legacy.
“She loves the circus,” Ms. Souza said. “So we’ll see.”
