About an hour before the first show of the evening, he transformed in the passenger seat of his pickup truck. Holding a small white mirror, he applied white foundation over his face, dabbed black powder into his eyebrows and rubbed hot pink powder on his cheeks and nose.
He pulled on his blue jumper and a striped long-sleeve shirt with a bright red pocket and checked the set once again before showtime.
Circus performer Julio Ramazini puts on clown makeup before the First Thursday circus performance April 2 at the Rotary Dream Park in downtown Arlington. Ramazini is the co-owner of the Ramazini Circus and a ladder clown.
There was no spotlight to mark the beginning of the act, just the sun beating overhead and the wind whipping as oversized beanbags soared through the air back and forth between him and his partner, the steady exchange easing the crowd into the rhythm of the circus act.
“Circus is a free spirit — so we do what we love,” said Julio Ramazini, co-owner of the Ramazini Circus and ladder clown.
As part of downtown Arlington’s First Thursday, The Ramazinis’ Circus Extravaganza brought a 15-minute three-man street show spectacle to Rotary Dream Park, featuring juggling, aerial stunts and spinning tops.
The Ramazinis are a circus duo based in Dallas-Fort Worth. Owners Kelli and Julio Ramazini toured the U.S. for several years with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus before opening their production company in Texas.
“We’ve really never had any other job than what we do; we’re performers, and that’s it,” Kelli Ramazini said. “I feel like I’m living my dream every day.”
The dream, however, takes consistent work, day in and day out.
“Circus is a free spirit — so we do what we love.”
– Julio Ramazini, co-owner of the Ramazini Circus
Kelli Ramazini said before she and Julio Ramazini had their child, they would practice for about three hours a day. Now they squeeze in two to three two-hour practice sessions per week.
“We’re so busy with shows now that we pretty much practice between our shows while we’re there,” Kelli Ramazini said.
Circus performers Julio Ramazini, left, and Kelli Ramazini perform a juggling stunt during a First Thursday circus performance April 2 at Rotary Dream Park in downtown Arlington. Julio Ramazini said the wind was a challenge and they tried their best not to drop anything.
However, Julio Ramazini said performing keeps him young.
“Mentally, if I’m being honest, I still think I’m in circus school,” Julio Ramazini said. “I’m in my 20s, but every morning when I wake up, I feel my 40s.”
Audience engagement, he said, is essential to performances.
Liam Fenwick, 7, practices juggling during the First Thursday circus performance April 2 at Rotary Dream Park in downtown Arlington. Fenwick said he enjoyed juggling and will practice more.
Embedded Instagram video post from The Shorthorn.
“Every single show is a tryout for a clown,” Julio Ramazini said. “When you get good feedback from the audience, you keep it.”
Julio Ramazini threw a solid red hat across the lawn to Kelli Ramazini. The crowd watched in anticipation as the hat soared in the air. The hat barely missed Kelli Ramazini’s head. Julio Ramazini ran, grabbed the hat, and tried again.
The rule of threes is applied to everything in clowning, Julio Ramazini said.
“If it doesn’t work in the third time, we need to move on,” he said. “If you got it the first time, it’s like a fire inside.”
Aerialist Natalia Valencia said seeing audience members with big reactions helps her pull through her performance.
Before her act began, Valencia checked her reflection in the truck window, flattening down her hair and adjusting her suit. She stretched her arms and legs, plastered a smile on her face, and walked from behind the truck, ready to grab onto the aerial silk.
The music started, and she was in the air, twirling in the fabric while cars drove past on the road behind her. Audience members leaned forward, eyes trained on her. She wrapped herself in the fabric, then dropped, gasps erupting from the crowd.
Aerialist Natalia Valencia twirls the fabric on an aerial stand during a First Thursday circus performance April 2 at Rotary Dream Park in downtown Arlington. There were three performance times for the event.
Valencia has been doing aerial stunts for over 15 years, and said the nerves never wear off.
“I’m still afraid of heights,” she said. “You see people like little ants down there, so I try not to look down.”
Circus performer Julio Ramazini takes his hat off during a First Thursday circus performance April 2 at Rotary Dream Park in downtown Arlington. Ramazini said every performance is a tryout for a clown.
Arlington residents Daun Fuller, 41, and her daughter Arianna Hutchings, 13, have attended close to 15 shows. Fuller said the excitement and joy that the show sparks bring her back.
“It makes you feel like a kid again,” Fuller said.
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