When a 31-foot-high trapeze rig appeared in Lincoln Park this July, it drew a lot of curious stares from the joggers, sunbathers, and golfers who congregate near Recreation Drive. For circus artists Julio and Gloria Gaona, however, the trapeze–along with a safety net, practice bar, and trampoline–was as natural for the setting as a Weber grill. “I grew up around this,” said Julio. “To me it’s as normal as walking.”
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A seventh-generation circus performer, Julio was born into the Flying Gaona Family, a well-known Mexican family of trapeze artists, in 1968. He began performing with the California-based Circus Gatti at the age of three, doing tricks on the trampoline. “My father told me I could stay home and do my homework or take correspondence courses and come on the road with them,” says Julio. “I chose to go on the road. . . . I wanted to do what my uncles and father did.” By age seven he was performing on the trapeze for Circus World Orlando along with his father, a brother, and a sister. He went on to become a feature of the act and–at ten–one of the youngest fliers ever to complete a triple somersault, a feat he demonstrated a year later in an appearance on the TV show That’s Incredible!
Julio sees some irony in the current popularity of such classes (there are at least three other schools currently operating in Chicago): while it’s easier than ever for a novice to learn tricks on the trapeze, trampoline, or tightrope, circus professionals are having an increasingly difficult time practicing their craft. “When I was at my peak, like 16 years old, there were so many trapeze acts you could not count them all,” he says. “Now I can count on my hands how many there are in the United States.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Jon Randolph.
