Park hosts open air ‘Big Top’

While Halloween festivities got underway, vehicles were parked around the front of Dublin City Park from Thursday through Monday with families getting to enjoy 90 minutes of fantastic feats and daring dogs, thanks to the appearance of Dominguez Family Attractions’ Drive-In Circus Live!

The family-run circus gained some notoriety during the 14th season of “America’s Got Talent,” when husband and wife, Jorge and Alcira, appeared with their children, Logan and Makayla as well as a group of specially-trained dogs.

The family led canines through a variety of these crowd-pleasing acts during their appearances in Dublin this weekend. Dogs held jump ropes for the kids, jumped over and through moving hoops, joined in a conga line and in one poodle’s case, climbed a ladder and dived into the waiting arms of Jorge.

Sierra Jones Dominguez, sister-in-law to Jorge and Alcira, reported that the acts are “tricks driven by massive amounts of treats.”

“Most of the dogs have been picked up from adoption centers, believe it or not,” she said. “That’s something I really admire about the family. We’ve been places with strays and we will take it to the city. If nobody claims it, we will adopt it.”

Sierra said the secret to getting such highly-trained dogs is that the nine canines always stay and train together.

“Dogs that stay together have a really good bond,” she reported.

The circus also included motorcycle stunts, a unique spinning top act brought to the US from South America, the ‘wheel of destiny,’ a special appearance by Spider-Man in the ‘wheel of death,’ juggling and much more.

Sierra acted as ringmistress for the appearance and also performed aerial acts from 30 feet above. Sierra was adopted into the circus life at 18, saying that she was raised in the city and did a lot of gymnastics as a child.

She admitted that the way of life was completely different than her upbringing but she doesn’t regret her choice.

“You’re standing in front of a crowd and doing what you love,” Sierra said. “For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged somewhere.”

There was no culture shock for Jorge and Alcira, whose families have been in the circus for generations. Alcira started performing as a contortionist at the age of five.

The highly-skilled family performed in bigger indoor venues (like the Shrine Circus) before this year but due to the COVIDpandemic came up with a drive-in plan to set up outdoor shows that allowed the audience to keep social distance while still getting to see the show.

Sierra said the family recently relocated to Seagoville, Texas. When they started the tour in May, they sought to book shows around the state to stay close to home and because the pandemic guidelines would be the same around the state.

This has led them to visit many towns around Texas with Sierra saying she’s met many nice people and worked with many helpful Chamber of Commerce workers like Dublin Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ellisa Tiscareno. Sierra has particularly liked Dublin on her repeat visits in setting up the weekend engagement.

The Dominguez family’s schedule can be found on Facebook and Instagram under driveincircuslive and at driveincircuslive.com.

The Dublin appearance was possible through the sponsorship of the following businesses and organizations: Insurance Advisors Agency of Central Texas, Waste Connections, Things Celtic, Ike Wade Bookkeeping & Tax Service, BMY, Dreamcatcher Dairy, Beukeboom Dairy and Comanche County Medical Center.