The life of Noe España is a life in the circus.  He was born into it, as were his children and grandchildren.  I think it is safe to say that it is akin to the air he breathes and the water he drinks, always there and always a part of existence.  In his many years as a circus artist and now as a producer, he has discovered that at its root, circus is all about the audience.  If you stay relevant to the audience, you will stay relevant in changing times.  They will guide you through the years and generations, as they have done for Noe and his family.

His mother’s parents had their own small circus in Mexico, specializing mostly in floor acrobatics and aerials, although his uncles also played music and were part of the circus band  His father was hired as an acrobat and met his mother.  They fell in love and he joined the family as well as the show.  Noe’s own family was large (3 brothers and 3 sisters) and eventually had to split off into several flying troupes to keep everyone in the act.  Noe started as a flying troupe, but when the Wheel of Death became the most highly desired act, he and his brother learned the act and began performing it.   Noe says “If we had stayed only as a flying trapeze troupe we might not have survived the years.  We always have to learn new acts to stay in the business.  As circus people we have confidence and faith that we can learn any new act if we train and practice.”  

As Noe moved from trapeze to the Wheel of Death and eventually the Globe of Death, he noticed a changing relationship to the audience and circus techniques.  He says,  “I have to admit that trapeze was an act where every time was a personal challenge with myself. Each time I wanted to do something better or more interesting to be my best.  It was for myself just as much as it was for the audience.”  But when he started performing the Wheel of Death and the Globe of Death he started really playing with the audience to get their attention, their big reactions, and to entertain them.  It became about the people and he got hungry for the audience’s response.  These were the moments when he realized that as performers and entertainers we exist because of and for the audience.  No matter where we are and what we do, we have to keep that in mind.  

With his company Masterworx Entertainment, Noe tries to create something that caters to the audience who come to see exciting moments, elegant moments, all of these things that the culture of the circus can provide.  He says, we are truly artists, using our creativity to make new versions of these acts that have been around for hundreds of years.  This reminds me of a quote that I have always loved: “Art is long and life is short”.  In our short time on this earth we, as circus artists, dedicate our lives to this business and thereby contribute to the long story and eternal life of the art of circus.  Says Noe, “Through circus we contribute to life and people in a unique and relevant way, now and forever.  We plant seeds in people and those seeds are important.”