performs in
Lo de Marcos!

Working as a great partnership, Amigos de Lo de Marcos and La Casa de Los Ninos brought the Circo to town for their premier show in Lo de Marcos. The Circo is produced by the Colectivo San Pancho group and they have traveled along the Riviera Nayarit coast, delighting audiences in many villages along the way.

Israel and Andres arrived around 5:00pm to setup for the show to begin at 9:00pm. The church in the plaza meets from 8:00 to 9:00pm and, to be respectful, the show was scheduled to begin after church. The children of town didn't wait! They arrived to help, to question, to rearrange, to ride bikes, to wrestle, to watch, to kick balls, and to anticipate the grand event. A placard was set up advertising the Circo and then the stage background was raised.

Although Ralph had his lights packed, he generously loaned them to the troupe to enhance the lighting of the show. While the lights of the new plaza are effective for night lighting, Circo presents great feats and colorful costumes that look better under brighter lights. Thanks Ralph! He plays in the Juan-Ted and the Amazing Rhythm Roosters band.

Boxes wrapped in newspapers defined the edge of the stage after the backdrop was constructed. The mystery grew when the red velvet curtain was hung on the backdrop door and then visqueen was strung to hide the activities behind the stage. Anticipation was making us wait.

Clara lent benches and stools from La Casa de Los Ninos, Nestor turned on the electricity, lent chairs from the delegado's office, and arranged for bathroom attendants. Choncho, Indira, Glades, and others arrived and looked for coffee. Hmm... Oxxo...? Choncho set up the music to play and people began sitting down. It was only 8:00 – one hour until show time.

Kids got restless, the sun sank below the horizon, the microwave for popcorn was plugged into the plaza's stage and then a 10 minute warning was announced. Then 5 minute warning. Then the music changed and the drum roll caused everyone to move their chairs closer to the edge of the stage.

Through the red velvet curtain came the actors brandishing flags, advertising Welcome to the show! As they exited, dancing horses accompanied the Master of Ceremonies and performed tricks as directed.

Then, surprise! A horse from Africa arrived – rather than red, blue, green, or yellow, it was black and white striped.

Jokes and funny dialogue ensued before tall black eagles came to clear the stage for the finely sculpted belly dancer. Back bend, undulate, switch, smooth roll, to the click of the many cameras. She finished, the eagles glided off stage...

….and the jugglers appeared. Three, four, five, six, seven batons between the two of them. Then the woman juggler circled gold hoops around her arms, over her head, down her body, on one leg, other leg, up her body, over her head, around her arms, faster and faster until they were simply circles of golden light. Monkeys closed their act and encouraged many children back to their chairs and then a very tall, leggy, King Kong gorilla emerged from the side of the backdrop. He strutted his long-legged stuff, danced a very cool boogie, gently shook hands with the audience, hunkered down and then casually strolled away.

What appeared to be a man dusting the stage became a two headed body, with the assistance of a boy from the audience. They shared a top coat and the man provided the ideas and hand motions while the boy reacted with spontaneity. Make way for the lion tamer! The muscled arm-banded tamer commanded the two beasts with authority and kindness until one after another, the jaguars loped off stage.

Mother Earth danced onto stage, waving her smile and grand embrace to all. She clapped her appreciation and the actors returned with bright flags to dance in her arms.

    

What a GREAT event! It was difficult to count the number of smiling faces in the spaciousness of the new plaza but rough estimates guess 400.

Thank you, Colectivo San Pancho, for presenting your Circo de Carton to Lo de Marcos. Please return again soon, especially if you have a new show next year.

Thank you, La Casa de Los Ninos, for helping to bring the show to Lo de Marcos. It's the first of many events we will do together.

Thank you, everyone, for making this a very special night in Lo de Marcos.