The Zoppés charm audiences nationwide with their one-ring circus. Photo courtesy of the Zoppé Italian Family Circus.

by Heidi Trilling

In this age of smart phone applications, video games and automated everything, there are some old-fashioned pleasures that are hard to beat. Like going to the circus!

Luckily for us, the Zoppé Italian Family Circus is coming to Redwood City for a 10-day stint October 16 to 25, 2009.

In a nutshell: It is sensational.  Don’t miss it!

It’s an old-fashioned, one-ring European circus with a family of acrobats, jugglers, equestrians, well-treated dogs and horses, a ring master in a red velvet coat, and the heart and soul of the show: red-nosed Nino, the sweet and silly acrobatic clown. And all in a big, round striped tent!

Before the show, there may even be an extra treat: The Zoppés are often out by the ticket booth, greeting everyone and performing impromptu juggling and balancing acts that draw squeals of delight from the gathering crowd.

Nino the Clown is the the heart and soul of the show. Photo courtesy of the Zoppé Italian Family Circus.

“The circus is our home; it’s our life,” says Giovannni Zoppé — alias Nino — head of the circus, and the youngest inductee of the International Clown Hall of Fame. “We welcome people to the tent as we would welcome them to our house: We greet them, make sure they’re comfortable, talk with them, interact … we joke and laugh together. … It’s a small tent, holds only 500 people, so it’s like friends visiting. Like family.”

And family history and traditions are what the Zoppés are all about.

Giovanni’s father, the legendary Alberto Zoppé, was the first of the family to come to the United States from Italy, in the post-war 1940s. Alberto passed away in March 2009, but he is remembered as the beloved patriarch of the circus: a gentleman of the finest old-world graciousness, a devoted husband and father, and a consummate master of equestrian acrobatics.

Beloved patriarch Alberto Zoppé. Photo courtesy of the Zoppé Italian Family Circus.

Courted by John Ringling North of the Ringling Brothers Circus, as well as Orson Welles and Cecil B. DeMille of Hollywood fame, Alberto proposed a swap. He would come to America and perform his extraordinary circus skills in the movies if Ringling Brothers would send an elephant to Italy, to replace him as the main attraction of his small family circus. Alberto’s talents were singular enough for Hollywood and Ringling Brothers to sit up and take notice. The deal was struck.

Alberto then appeared in DeMille’s Academy Award-winning movie, The Greatest Show on Earth, and several other films. He worked as a producer of the Ringling Brothers Circus before he, his wife Sandra, and their children resumed the family tradition of producing their own circus.

Tosca Zoppé, enchanting equestrian ballerina. Photo courtesy of the Zoppé Italian Family Circus.

But the Zoppé story goes back even farther than that.

In fact, the Zoppé Italian Family Circus was founded in 1842 by Napoline Zoppé, a French clown who fell in love with Ermenegilda, an equestrian ballerina from Hungary. Her father disapproved of his daughter taking up with a street performer,    so the lovers eloped to Venice and founded a circus.

One hundred and sixty-seven years later, Giovanni Zoppé is the sixth generation of his family to perform in the circus. As Nino the Clown, Giovanni constantly refreshes his antic comedy with new material while honoring traditional circus skills from the Old Country.

Yet, not all of the antics in the ring are funny business.

Circus artists put their lives on   the line each time they put on a show. The Zoppés have had their share of jaw-dropping injuries.

The ups and downs of their circus life are captured in Sawdust: Life in the Ring, a superb documentary on the Zoppés co-produced and co-directed by Mark McCutcheon and Jim Distasio. The DVD is available through the Zoppé Web site and is also for sale at the circus performances.

The Zoppés delight the crowd with pre-show juggling and acrobatics. Photo courtesy of Jerry A. Pierce.

Alberto Zoppe’s daughter Tosca, who inherited her father’s astounding equestrian acrobatic skills, comments on the hazards of circus artistry in an  interview segment from Sawdust: “We’ve all had our close calls. … But there’s something that drives us, and I think it’s our history, our heritage, that keeps us going. … It’s something we love.”

Audiences love the Zoppé circus, too. When the Zoppés first arrived in Redwood City last October, they sold 500 tickets to their show. Word of mouth traveled fast, and over the next few days, they sold 3,000 tickets.

“It’s because this is not just about circus skills,” says Bruce Labadie of Labadie Productions, the performing arts management company instrumental in bringing the Zoppés to Redwood City. “It’s about passion, it’s about patience, it’s about self-respect and mutual respect. … It’s also about family — not only because most of them are related, but because they are a family of artists creating something magical in the ring, and also creating the feeling of extended family with their audiences.”

Peggy Ford, dean of students at the Circus Center of San Francisco, the respected school of circus arts, adds: “Our students at our clown conservatory were totally enchanted by the Zoppés! To see this kind of small, family show that is built around clowning is so inspiring. To see how versatile Nino is, how much skill he has, and the relationships he creates with the other artists in the ring and the audience … it is just wonderful.”

Old-fashioned and intimate, the circular tent at the Zoppé Italian Family Circus seats 500. Photo courtesy of Jerry A. Pierce.

Seven-year-old audience member Anna summed it up this way: “It’s the best circus I’ve ever seen in my whole life! I want to go back every day!”

You will, too.

Comic antics of Nino the Clown and the Ringmaster keep audiences engaged and laughing. Photo courtesy of Jerry A. Pierce.

Amazing acrobats and jugglers at the Zoppé Italian Family Circus. Photo courtesy of Jerry A. Pierce.