Wonderland
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Ten acts share the ring at Wonderland, from the high wire to freestyle motocross. Hover an act to meet the artists who perform it.
[ placeholder descriptions · lineup subject to change ]
High-Wire
Nik Wallenda · Erendira Wallenda · Paul Lopez · Erick Ashton Lam Meluzzi · Jimmy Luu
Five artists, one cable, no net. The family crosses in formation above the ring, where every step taken is shared by everyone on the wire.
Nik Wallenda is a 7th generation member of the legendary Wallenda family. Known world-wide for his incredible feats upon the high wire and beyond, Nik has set 13 World Records, among these the highest 4-level 8-person pyramid on the wire, the highest and longest bicycle ride on a wire, hanging from a helicopter by his teeth, and the first tightrope crossing of an active volcano. His career began at the age of 2, learning to walk the wire while holding his mother’s hand, and it has continued with record breaking performances across the United States and around the world.
In 2012, he fulfilled his life-long dream to become the only person to walk directly over the precipice of Niagara Falls live on ABC. In 2013, he became the first person to walk a wire across the Grand Canyon, an epic event aired live by Discovery Channel in 178 countries, breaking network ratings and social media records in the process. The following year, Discovery Channel again provided live coverage as Nik broke 2 more world records over the city of Chicago. In 2019, Nik & his sister, Lijana, became the first to walk a tightrope directly over Time Square NY live on ABC; and in 2020, ABC aired yet another special live to the world, as Nik claimed another world record, becoming the first person to walk a tightrope over an active volcano.
Nik is a member of the ownership group of Big Apple Circus and headlined and produced the 2021 & 2022 seasons. In 2023, Nik & his wife Erendira started their own show, “Wonderland”, and have just completed the 3rd successful edition, both producing and headlining in what has become a holiday tradition in his hometown of Sarasota. Nik & Erendira have been married 26 years and have 3 children, and 4 grandchildren. Nik is the author of 2 books, “Balance” and “Facing Fear”, and he carries his motto of “Never Give Up” in every walk with the purpose of inspiring people around the world to follow their dreams.
High-Wire
Nik Wallenda
The wire is strung and the net is not. Every crossing happens live above the ring, in full view of the tent.
Erendira Vazquez Wallenda’s performing heritage is circus royalty. An 8th generation performer, her roots can be traced to one of the oldest circuses in all of Australia, the Ashton Family Circus. On her father’s side, the Vazquez Family is world renowned as the first family to complete the quadruple somersault on the flying trapeze. Performing since the age of 5 years old, Erendira has charmed audiences with her beauty and grace as a performer. Her unmatched aerial artistry allowed her to become the featured female performer on the 137th edition of Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth.
In addition to her aerial cloud swing, lyra, and chiffon routines, she has thrilled audiences on the soaring 70’ high sway pole and the high wire, performing alongside her husband Nik Wallenda. In 2017, she set a new world record performing an aerial lyra routine from beneath a helicopter over the raging waters of Niagara Falls, finishing by hanging by her toes and finally, her teeth, nearly 300’ above the waters below. In 2020, she broke her own world record, again hanging by her teeth 1800’ above the active Masaya Volcano. In addition to her performance portfolio, Erendira is also a talented designer and choreographer, selecting the music and routines for the Wallenda acts, and developing new aerial acts, costumes, and co-producing entire theatrical shows.
High-Wire
Erendira Vazquez Wallenda
Aerial strength and high-wire nerve in a single act, worked high above the sawdust with nothing underneath.
No stranger to the big top, Ty McFarlan served as ringmaster with Ringling Brothers for four years. He credits his thirteen-year tenure as an officer in the Army National Guard and a strict “military brat” upbringing with preparing him for the job of the evanescent emcee of the big top.
After graduating from the University of South Carolina with a degree in criminal justice, McFarlan followed his heart into a theatrical career that included theatre, TV, films, and eventually a stint with a national theater group that lead him to where he truly belongs – the circus. “There’s nothing quite like the rich history and family atmosphere that comes with a circus,” says McFarlan. “When you think about it, few things in America have more tradition than the circus, which predates baseball, apple pie and Coca Cola!”
Host
Ty McFarlan
The voice of the big top. He opens the night, keeps the ring moving, and makes sure nobody in row fourteen feels entirely safe.
Johnny Rockett has been crowned the clown prince of comedy and one of the top physical comics in the circus world today. As a comedic daredevil, he describes himself as Charlie Chaplin and Evel Knievel put together! Johnny Rockett will have you laughing tears of joy and then put you on the edge of your seat in disbelief. You won’t want to miss him under the Big Top!
Comic
Johnny Rockett
Comedy that comes looking for you in your seat. The bits build all night until the whole tent is in on the joke.
Foot Juggler
Helen Wonjila
Everything happens upside down and at speed. Objects leave her feet and return exactly where she wants them.
Bubble Act
Denis Lock
Soap, air and light. A quiet act that stops the tent cold and sends every kid home trying it in the bath.
Dog Act
Veranica Tchalabaeva
Dogs with better timing than most humans, and a handler who makes the whole routine look like it was their idea.
Freestyle Motocross
Austin Drummond · Dereck Beckering · James Arthur May · Rob Routley
Motocross launched into open air inside the tent. Engines, dirt and riders inverted above the ring.
[ act name to be confirmed ]
Hand Balancing Trapeze
Zoe Rihanna Gimenez Miranda · Alondra Brihanna Medel Gimenez
Two sisters holding shapes that should not hold, balanced and suspended high above the ring.