REVIEWS

The circus has come to town Defying death is a way of life for Mundo, star of the Mexican National Circus. The world-renowned clown, whose full name is Raymundo Campa, is putting his life on the line, under the big top in Edmonton until June 1. Mundo is in town with the Mexican National Circus, a traditional one-ring spectacle that will transport the audience to a magical world through colorful costumes and acrobatics. In the intimate setting of a 1,472 seat tent set up at the hangar on Kingsway, Mundo is performing such death-defying stunts as The Eagles, in which he jumps from the handlebars of a 1,000 cc motorcycle while it's 13 meters in the air swinging like a pendulum. It's a dangerous way to make a living and Mundo, 34, has broken both legs and both arms during a career that stretches back to preschool days. Born into a circus family (his parents Roberto and Deyanira Campa founded the Mexican National Circus in 1983), Mundo began performing on the trampoline at the age of four. For the last 15 years he has worked as a clown, and in that time, he has learned to enlist the help of the audience in his pantomime routines. "I discovered that people really like to be part of the show. It's like Abbott and Costello, or Laurel and Hardy — Mundo and the audience." There is no animal in the Mexican National Circus, but that doesn't stop the audience from being treated to an entertaining traditional circus patterned after Montreal's Cirque du Soleil. With the furthest seat being 13 metres away, the spectators are in for a visual feast. Lavish costumes bring alive such acts as the South American Bird Trade and the visually stunning re-enactment of the Monarch butterfly migration. There will be plenty of acrobatic feats, including trampoline and trapeze acts by performers such as Danny Ramos-Gaomz, 14, and his older brother Larry, 17, who are affectionately known as the wolf boys because they suffer from a rare genetic disorder that's left them covered in hair. In an amazing show of strength, eight year old Miriam Guerrero will dangle from the trapeze, and with one arm, carry her entire family.

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