Animal-Free Circus Coming to Town

A big top has been set up for a circus troupe offering a single-ring show devoid of live animals but filled with acrobats, jugglers and aerialists who tell the story of a magical toy box in which toys come alive.

Circus Chimera will give performances at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. today inside its blue tent at the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion Center in Port Hueneme, producer Jim K. Judkins said.

“It’s a wonderful family show with stars from all over the world. It’s the best of a tradition--sort of a Cirque du Soleil-style but not quite as weird and dark,” promoter Colin Gray said.

Australian frowning clown Archie the Tramp hosts the triple trapeze somersaults of the Flying Rodogels; foot juggling by Xiaohong Wu of China’s Wu Han School of Circus Arts; and the Rosales family’s three-person double perch pole. The show is suitable for all ages.

The circus also includes a nine-person teeterboard show, the “Walk of Death” 70 feet in the air, and motorcycle daredevils, Gray said.

“Circus Chimera wanted to provide an intimate setting where the audience could be as close to the action as possible,” Judkins said. “Many of the performers interact with the audience.”

Circus Chimera, named for a Greek term for an imaginary creation, started its first national tour earlier this year in Oklahoma. From Port Hueneme, the troupe will travel to Santa Maria and then Paso Robles.