Circus Waldissima opens big-top show at Santa Rosa’s Summerfield Waldorf School

It’s no surprise Florian Basmajian is on a path to join the circus.

After all, his parents, Sieglinde and Don Basmajian, founded the popular annual big-top performance put on by Santa Rosa’s Summerfield Waldorf School, Circus Waldissima.

“I have been doing it basically since I was born,” said Basmajian, 20, who now attends Santa Rosa Junior College.

He was among the performers who Friday afternoon kicked off the 24th year of shows with a rehearsal of a Cirque Du Soleil-like program that reflected how community enriches and colors our everyday life.

The show, which runs through the weekend, includes approximately 20 students from the preschool-12 campus. They will be joined by guest artists such as Tyler Beale, who performs straps - similar to the rings in gymnastics - with Circus Mecca from Mendocino County and Robert Bochman, a German juggler.

One portion of the rehearsal Friday featured acrobatic yoga. The moves featured some students lying on the floor with their feet propped up in the air, holding aloft partners.

There also were aerial movements. Students climbed up silk tissues that hung from the top of the tent, with one girl performing an upside-down split while grasping the fabric.

Zara Keen, 14, ably pulled off an acrobatic routine on a hoop that was suspended six feet off the ground.

“I’ve always loved the circus. In kindergarten, I started doing a little bit of juggling,” Keen said. “It’s something fun to do. It’s exercise. In the circus, you need to trust the people around you, so it’s really good for building groups.”

Basmajian has become a jack of all trades for the Circus Waldissima - a Barnum, Bailey and Ringling Brothers all in one. He puts up the venue; assembles the lighting and its sequencing during the performance; runs the website and social media, and also handles the digital ticket sales.

This year, he provided guidance on the unicycle program for the circus. The single-wheelers are popular of late among students, who develop the show, designing the costumes and selecting and playing the live music. The soundtrack included, “No Diggity,” by American R&B group Blackstreet.

“It’s the first time we have had unicycles in the show. We have third-graders in that (portion),” he said. “They are a very motivated group.”

Basmajian is such an integral part of the performance that his father openly frets what will happen when his son goes away for college. He said his dream job would be to put up tents and do metal fabrication for Cirque Du Soleil.

He participated with the Mendocino-based Flynn Creek Circus for two weeks this past summer, but also realized how much hard work the circus entailed. “I didn’t have a day off. I had seven days a week, almost 15-20 hours a day,” Basmajian said. “It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun as well.”

Saturday’s performance is at 7 p.m. while Sunday’s show will be held at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the door or at www.brownpapertickets.com.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.