By special contributor to the News, Alex Smith

The circus is coming to town. Circus Vargas will arrive at the new Westfield Culver City Mall on -Wednesday for a six-day engagement to mark the 41st Southern California edition of the live show, which is now animal-free and includes over 30 performers from Argentina, Mexico, Italy and Africa.

Culver City once housed the largest circus in America. In the 1920s, the area west of the San Diego (405) Freeway between Washington and Culver boulevards served as the winter home of the mighty Al G. Barnes Circus. The show claimed to have an estimated 1,200 animals, more than any other circus. Annually, between December and March, the 100-acre area served as home to these animals and was eventually developed into a year-round attraction known as Barnes City Zoo. Whenever the circus animals on tour became unruly and refused to perform they would be sent back to the zoo and placed on display.

Barnes City Zoo was actually half zoo and half freak show, exhibiting human attractions such as Jack, the human fly and Fat Sally, the world’s largest woman. The top animal attraction was Tusko, a giant elephant that stood 12 feet tall and weighed 8,000 pounds.  During performances, Barnes would ride into the ring atop Tusko and announce acts such as The Flying Letourneaus, which featured a male trapeze performer who performed without a net. 

One day another circus elephant, named Tommy, escaped from the show and made it as far as the La Brea Tar Pits, where he eventually became trapped. Tommy’s elephant pal Freda came to his rescue and pulled him out with her trunk.

Aside from runaway elephants and the roars of lions during feeding time, residents became annoyed with Barnes and his crew, since workers would sometimes become disorderly and were notorious for doing business with local bootleggers.

Anticipating his imminent eviction, Barnes moved to incorporate Barnes City (his winter quarters) and decided to have his massive circus play the area on Election Day, while ensuring his entire crew would vote and he would win. An opponent of the incorporation was quoted as saying, “Barnes changed his entire circus schedule so the circus would play Barnes City and even the monkeys could vote without leaving their cages on Election Day.” 

Nearly the entire electorate approved the incorporation, but the victory was short-lived after some angry residents demanded a new election. Barnes decided to leave the area in 1927 and sold the show to American Circus Corporation for $1 million. Eventually Ringling Bros. would buy out the show.

Different from the depression-era circus, Circus Vargas, which is presented in a European-style tent and has no animals, is the epitome of a modern-era show. Founder Clifford E. Vargas is the man responsible for the inception of this modern circus. Vargas, the son of Portuguese parents, claimed he had fond memories of Circus Day, when the tents would be raised near his family’s farm in his hometown of Livermore, Calif. Later he worked as a Fuller Brush salesman and did marketing for the Chicago Zoo, eventually drifting into the circus world himself, first as a promoter, then purchasing a small show. 

Within three years, he was able to turn a rag-tag operation of three trucks and a few props into a major three-ring big-top show. In the 1970s, he modernized the circus on every level from transportation to marketing, presenting flashy and glamorous presentations. In this modern era, bringing the glory of an outdated performance art back under the big top was an accomplishment most critics had thought impossible.

Like Barnes, Vargas found a friendly audience in Southern California and played the area for several months every year. He wintered his show at various southland fairgrounds and lived in the Hollywood Hills. He died in 1989. 

Vargas would scout the world for talent. The Flying Tabares were one of his discoveries. Originally from Argentina, the Tabares presented one of the best flying acts, and Vargas anticipated great things from the troupe. His prediction was correct — after several years with Circus Vargas, the Flying Tabares went on to great success as a highlighted act in the Ringling Bros. Circus and won the Golden Clown award at the International Circus Festival in Monte Carlo in 2004. Things have now come full circle as The Flying Tabares, who purchased the show in 2006, celebrate their fifth season at the helm. They open the second half of the show with their flawless double-trapeze act.

Co-owner Katya Quiroga, a seventh-generation circus performer and her husband, Nelson Quiroga, a fifth-generation performer, run the show’s daily operations. The Quirogas are one of several families who make up the ensemble. With three children in tow, directing the circus throughout the 10-month tour is quite a task, but the Quirogas say that being able to spend  time with their family and still perform in the flying trapeze act makes it worth it.

Whether it’s the Garcias in the Globe of Death, the aerial artistry of Celeste and Michelle Rivera on the bungee or the Zindu troupe of Africa Tumbler, Circus Vargas 2010 aims to present circus as an art form.

This latest edition of Circus Vargas bridges the gap between tradition and innovation, uniting breathtaking performances with the innocence and silliness of comedic circus clowns.

Those who arrive early may receive a crash course in circus skills in the ring with pre-show entertainer and co-ringmaster John Weiss, of CBS’s The Amazing Race. 

Circus Vargas plays from Sept.1-6 at the new Westfield Culver City Mall, 6000 Sepulveda Blvd.

Show times are Wednesday, Sept. 1 - Friday, Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 4 and Sunday, Sept. 5 at 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Labor Day Monday, Sept. 6 at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tickets are available online at www.circusvargas.org.