Fabrizio Gowdy
Gadsden County News Service
For those driving past the William M. Inman Agricultural Center on U.S. 90 this past weekend, the black and yellow big top was likely hard to miss.
The setup belonged to Cirque Du Lux, a small circus company that has been traveling the South.
Cirque Du Luxe’s performances are family-friendly but enjoyable for all ages. The performance is equal parts edge-of- your seat tension and clown-induced comedic relief. It features everything from acrobatic stunts to balancing acts and even live music.
The group performed eight shows across four nights, drawing a couple hundred
attendees per show.
Owner and performer Frank Diaz said he has been running the show for a year.
The show’s cast numbers just nine but features talent from around the world. Diaz has 25 years of performance experience, having come up in a circus school in Cuba before coming to the U.S.
Diaz performs alongside his son Derek, who like his father specializes in gravity-defying balancing acts. Asked if watching his son perform dangerous stunts makes him nervous, Diaz chuckles.
“Yeah man, a little bit!” said Diaz.
Diaz’s fellow cast member Wilson Culuaga is a 20-year veteran from Colombia who has previously performed in circuses in China, Germany, Turkey, and Venezuela. He says his favorite part of the show is the closing act, the high-flying, no safety net “wheel of destiny.”
“It’s too much adrenaline,” said Culuaga.
Cirque Du Luxe was most recently in Marianna and Panama City, and is scheduled
to appear next in Marietta, Georgia after a weekend off.
