For the Circusmagazine De Piste from Holland

Juan: There's nothing we would love to see more than our children carry our name through new generations. Veronica and Victoria were the only ones to perform on the trapeze with Miguel and Me. Under Miguel's supervision David who is fourteen has recently been dabbling in it, and Christian who is three loves jumping on the net and loves being on the pedestal, Miguel recently made him a miniature bar because Christian wants to fly so bad. Both are Miguel's sons. So we truly do not know what their future brings, we can only hope.

- How young were the daughters when they first flew on the trapeze?

Juan: They were around four when we put them on the net and the pedestal, to get comfortable with the height, as they grew more comfortable then we let them on the fly bar. Not until they were around seven did they start to really train in trapeze, up until then they would just swing and have fun with it. My youngest daughter Geraldine also trained for a bit but decided that trapeze wasn't what she wanted to do, which was fine with Patricia and me. We always wanted them to have a choice.

Miguel:Dominique was also around four when we took her up, she loved playing with her cousins but she never had a desire to perform or train on the trapeze (Dominique is my daughter).


- Which other members of the family are still performing (and if they are, why not in Europe!?)

Juan: Victoria is actually the only one performing on the Trapeze right now. She is flying in Cirque Du Soleil's La Nouba. The girls are always talking about getting the act together again, they would like David to be a bit older though.

- The Vazquez Family has traveled all around the globe. Of which countries do you have special memories.

Miguel: I think every one has there special memories everywhere. For me France, Monte Carlo, performing in the festival and winning the Gold Clown has to be one of the best memories of our career. I don't think we ate the whole week prior to the performance (laughing). So it was great to travel their last year as a judge and not a performer, it was definitely a different experience (smiling).

Juan: I agree with Miguel that was definitely one of our best memories. In all truth Europe was such an incredible experience we had a lot of great memories there. Arriving in a new city being able to walk and ride our bikes everywhere, visiting castles and climbing mountains. The kids really loved it. I remember when we got to Munchen Germany, the circus was having an Easter egg hunt for all the kids in the show. They all received these big chocolate eggs filled with all kinds of treats, the girls were so happy, little things like that were priceless.


- You have performed at the Krone-Bau in Munich, Germany and the Royal Theater Carr� in Amsterdam. Two of the most important circus buildings in the world. Wouldn't you like to have performed at the Cirque D'Hiver-Bouglione in Paris where the flying trapeze was invented by Leotard? Might it otherwise be goal for the next generation to achieve?

Juan: I know that mine nor Miguel's kids would ever fly to try to out do or try to achieve more than we did. If it happened they would be happy, and if it didn't, they would be happy. They are proud to be Vazquez and obviously there is a lot of responsibility that comes with that name but there never has or never will be any pressure, in our part at least. But it would be amazing to see them perform in Paris (smiling).

- Do you have fond memories of the time in Carr� Amsterdam or other tours that led you through Holland?

Juan: For me it was a bit weird, my wife was pregnant with Geraldine so she and the kids stayed in Florida so although it was so beautiful, a great Circus and an incredible experience I was sad to not have them with me. Had they been there it would have been perfect!

Miguel: I didn't have to leave my wife or daughter in Florida so it was perfect for me (smiling). No really, it was a beautiful time and a great show to have performed in. We were truly blessed to have had that opportunity.


- What was it like to transfer from The Greatest Show on Earth to the one-ring circuses in Europe? Culture shock, perhaps? What where the biggest differences, if there where any.

Juan: It was funny because when didn't resign with Ringling Brothers there was this fear of the unknown, we weren't really sure where we were going to perform or where we were going to go. I have to say the best circuses in the world are in Europe. We liked the intimacy of the tents and the response from the audience was amazing. As far as a culture shock, I grew in Europe so it felt like going home in a way, I had really good friends in Europe that I got to see again. My kids absolutely loved it, they were learning how to speak german and when we got back from Europe to the United States they had skipped a grade in school because of the great education they were getting in Germany.

Miguel: For me it was definitely a culture shock, I grew up in the States and had never toured anywhere else. It was weird when they would announce your act and you didn't understand the language (laughing). There were alot of differences from Ringling to let's say Knie, just in the way we lived our day to day lives. I think for me the hardest thing was the language barrier. As far as performance I think the best season of my career was given in Knie. It was an amazing experience, but I was happy to come home.


- What are the members of the Family doing at the moment?

Juan: Well I work as a Technician in a show called 'Le Reve' by Dragone here in Las Vegas.

Miguel: I am a Technician in a show as well, I work for 'O' by Cirque Du Soleil in Las Vegas.

- The forthcoming book �The Biggest Trick� what can we expect from it and why should all the circus fans buy it?
 
Juan: I don't really know too much about the specifics. Harry Graham the writer of the book e-mailed us one day and told us that he wanted to re-release the book. He wants to update some pictures and add a few new entries.  It will be a great way for people to able to purchase the book again, because you can't buy it anymore.

- Is the book to be regarded as the original biography of The Flying Vazquez?

Juan: I don't know if I would call it the original biography, if you were to take each one us individually and ask us to each write a book about that time we would all come up with a completely different book. Harry Graham who is a very dear friend was around a lot and is very knowledgeable in trapeze, the book was written by him with all of our in-puts of course. As far as dates, tricks and more specifics the book is accurate.

- When will the book come out and how can where can we order? Via your website?

Juan: A date has yet to be set. Yes, I'm sure we will be selling it on the website.

- Is there an extra risk involved jumping the quadruple compared to a triple or pirouette?

Juan: Absolutely

Miguel: Of course, the height, speed and revolution of a quadruple somersault  makes the risk a lot higher.

- What has been the most dangerous trick the Flying Vazquez have ever performed?

Juan: For me it was the quadruple, the revolution that in consists of was insane. One time during practice Miguel came at me so hard and so fast he hit against me and split my tongue open right down the center (that was painful). In trapeze really any trick in dangerous, the net is you savior but it can also be the death of you weather you're doing a triple or a quad.

Miguel: Performing, the quadruple was the hardest. Practicing the quintuple was dangerous, but the four and a half was the most dangerous for me and for Juan because it had to be caught by the legs the risks it involved were a lot greater.

- Is there a group of Fliers Juan and Miguel have seen as there idols or even saw as an inspiration to become fliers just like the rest of the family?

Juan: It was a bit weird for us because I grew up doing high bars and we never really thought of doing trapeze it wasn't something we grew up watching or dreaming about. It wasn't until I married my wife Patricia that the trapeze even came into our lives. She was flying and that's where it all started. Once we were already flying then we started to become a lot more familiar with other troupes. We really taught ourselves everything we learned, at the time You Tube didn't exist, we didn't have access to videos or dvds we didn't have any resources not the way you would now. Tony Steal is a dear friend and a great flier, and I was personally a fan of the Farfans I think they flew beautifully. I think that's why back in those days everyone was different, everyone's style was unique because you did what came natural to you, you couldn't imitate other people, you didn't really have that option.

Miguel: Same for me when I started flying it wasn't something that everyone was doing and truthfully I didn't really know anything about it. Everything I did was just what came natural to my body. Once we put the flying act together a passion came over all of us, it became our lives, I believe that's why we accomplished what we did. We all had such a drive for it, we wanted to do what no one else had done. We would rehearse for hours after three show days. A fever came over everyone suddenly everyone wanted to fly, that kind of energy is intoxicating and inspiring. It was a great time to be a flier.


- Who do you think are the best fliers (besides The Flying Vazquez) at this moment?

Miguel: That's a hard questions to answer. A great flier is comprised of many elements. From the dismount from the platform to their force-out,  their set, the lift they have off the bar, how it's caught, is it caught by the shoulder or the wrists? How all these steps are executed make up a great flier. It's hard to find fliers who have all these things. I will say my niece Victoria is a great flier, she reminds me of myself when she flies (smiling).


-Closing Statement

Juan: There is a quote by Leonardo Da Vinci that reads:
'When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned upward, for there you have been and there you will always long to return.' I think that is very true to our family, it was such a huge part of our lives, it's all our kid's grew up knowing, it's hard to think that it will ever be completely over. It's definitely still in My blood, My Wife's, Miguel's Wife, Miguel's, unfortunately for us our bodies didn't give us a choice. But it was and will always be such a big part of us and who we are, it is somewhere we will always want to be. Flying.

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