Circus in Little Elm to feature performers with Hunt County connections

Sep. 2—It may be a bit off the beaten path from Hunt County. But Little Elm, Texas is home to Circus España — a circus helmed by a family with a close Greenville connection.

"I was born in Mexico but my family moved to Greenville when I was about 8 months old," Visan España said.

"I'm a fourth-generation performer and a kind of funny story I've been told about our coming here is that my grandfather was getting a lot of work with circuses in the U.S. and he wanted to live more-or-less at the midpoint between Southern California and Miami, Florida, so he got out a map, laid his finger down without looking near the middle of that distance and it landed on Greenville, Texas," España said. "So, his decision to move to Greenville was mostly based on having about the same amount of travel distance, regardless of which side of the country he was working on."

Being essentially born into the circus lifestyle, España started training on the trapeze when he was 3 years old. Within a few short years, España performed for the first time at the age of 7 in front of an audience of about 3,800 people in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Since then, España has performed a variety of acts, including the Russian swing (a large floor-mounted swing with a platform built into it instead of a playground-style seat from which acrobats can make huge leaps and do flips) and motorcycle stunts — such as the "Globe of Death," aka "Sphere of Fear."

"In this show coming up, my brother [Ricardo] and I will be riding around in the globe while my wife [Laura Dunn, an aerialist, acrobat and dancer] will be in the middle," España said.

The España family business as performers began with Visan's great-grandfather, Fernando España Vaca, originally from Nicaragua, who was trained in the theatre but later fell in love with the circus and quickly retrained as a contortionist — after which he was often referred to professionally as El Hombre de Gomo (The Rubber Man). A fictionalized version of España Vaca's story served as the basis for Circus España's show this year in Little Elm.

Titled "Gitano" (Spanish for Gypsy), the show loosely centers around a story involving a "lonely wanderer seeking adventure and belonging," who soon meets a mysterious fortune teller who shares with him visions of people performing feats he didn't know were possible, which sets him on the path of joining the circus.

"He's wandering through life like a tumbleweed ... but he becomes fascinated with the circus, and he's eventually accepted into the circus and the Gypsy lifestyle," España said.

While "Gitano" contains theatrical elements such as "a story and dialogue," España assures that the show is still very much a circus — with acrobats, highwire (tightrope) walkers, contortionists, trapeze artists, jugglers, clowns and more.

In addition to España, Dunn and their family, the show happens to feature a few other residents of the Hunt County area, including aerialist Tayelor Hise of Greenville and artist Laura Irrgang of Lone Oak (who will be playing the role of the fortune teller), along with an international cast from countries that include the United Kingdom, Cuba, Romania and Mexico.

"Little Elm had been great for us, but we would like to bring our show closer to Greenville sometime soon," España said.

Circus España's "Gitano" had its first showtime Friday, Sept. 1 but there are still 17 more planned before the show wraps at the end of the month.

The remaining show dates and times are:

—Saturday, Sept. 2 at 2 p.m.

—Saturday, Sept. 2 at 5 p.m.

—Saturday, Sept. 2 at 8 p.m.

—Sunday, Sept. 3 at 2 p.m.

—Sunday, Sept. 3 at 8 p.m.

—Friday, Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

—Saturday, Sept. 9 at 2 p.m.

—Saturday, Sept. 9 at 5 p.m.

—Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

—Sunday, Sept. 10 at 2 p.m.

—Sunday, Sept. 10 at 5 p.m.

—One Weekend Off

—Friday, Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m.

—Saturday, Sept. 23 at 2 p.m.

—Saturday, Sept. 23 at 5 p.m.

—Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m.

—Sunday, Sept. 24 at 2 p.m.

—Sunday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m.

The shows will be at 701 W. Eldorado Pkwy. in Little Elm. Tickets can be purchased online at https://tinyurl.com/yc4rpcm3