High prices at the Spanish Circus

A banner for the Hermanos Vasquez Circus hangs underneath the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx

Nov. 1– Bronx Resident Nora Narcano did not know the circus was in town until she ordered a pizza and won a free ticket for her son. Papa Johns pizza was giving away complimentary children’s tickets with every order of a large pizza. The Hermanos Vasquez circus comes to New York City once a year. It’s a Spanish language circus. On Sunday afternoon the Narcanos joined a queue of other families waiting to buy tickets for the show. Although she had won a free one for her son, she had to buy two more for herself and her mother. The prices were higher than expected.

“I thought it would be $10 or $15 but when they said $35 i thought, that was very expensive”, Narcano said. She is a single mother from the Patterson houses and is currently unemployed. Still, Narcano saved enough to bring her son and mother to the Spanish Circus. Adult tickets cost $35 but those who wanted to sit closer to the rink could pay $15 more for VIP tickets. Surprisingly, the VIP section filled up quickest. Those families sitting closest to the rink had a better chance of interacting with the clowns.

The two hour Hermanos Vasquez circus opened up with a line of six scantily clad show girls in shiny studded bikinis. They did a short dance number, and then an act of poodles in dresses followed. The height of the show was a stunt performance by motorcyclists from Colombia. Narcano said that they were her favorite part of the show. Four cyclists rode around the egg-like cage simultaneously. Everyone was at the edge of their seat. At times it seemed they were riding

An empty car lot transformed by pink purple tents next to the Major Deegan Expressway, South Bronx

sideways, defying gravity. “It’s ok so far, trying to see if it was worth what I paid for and so far its worth it,” she said.

At the end of the show the performers came out together and bowed. Then families lined up to pay an additional $15 to have their photographs taken with one of the acts. If you wanted to be photographed with more than one act then you had to pay twice as much. As the Narcanos left the circus, they seemed satisfied with the show. Nora Narcano said she might come again if the Hernando Vasquez circus returns to town next year.