Although the circus has been shut down due to safer at home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic, there is another option that you can check out from home.
Ruben Caballero runs his family business called Circus Caballero. It’s a crew of 45 performers who travel across Canada, the United States and Mexico 11 months out of the year.
The traveling act has been stuck in south El Monte while they wait out the Covid-19 pandemic.
Their performers come from around the world, but sending them home during the pandemic proved far too complicated.
“We were supposed to do two weeks in Santa Ana but the second week everything shut off,” Caballero said. “But it was so expensive to send everybody home. And then the issues with the visas coming back.”
They’ve instead opted to hunker down – trailer-living, bathrooms and kitchens on site – their own self-quarantine.
U.S. & World
“It’s been hard because we can’t go outside, and we can’t do the shows anymore,” said contortionist Carolina Bautista.
They have nothing to do but hone their skills.
“Mostly practicing what I know and practicing new stuff, things I want to do in the future,” she said.
They will practice until Thursday when the curtains rise again on a virtual show for real-life viewers.
It used to be the people and the kids coming to the circus. Now we’re going to be coming to your own home.
Ruben Caballero
Circus Caballero is taking the big-top to your living room with a free two-hour show streaming live Thursday on Dia del Nino, a common holiday in Latin-American countries honoring children. Their hope is to remind you that magic still exists, as they prepare to figure out how to navigate the new normal when the stay at home orders end.
“You can open the state or the whole country but we don’t know if people will be afraid to come to the circus,” Caballero said. “We’re still alive, we’re still here and we will come back stronger than ever.”
Watch Thursday April 30 online, streaming on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter at @circuscaballero starting at 7 p.m.
