Paranormal Cirque: A high-flying acrobatic circus with a dark twist comes to Lake Wales

LAKELAND – You won’t see the traditional grinning clowns, smiling acrobats with balloons or pink tutu-wearing poodles walking on their hind legs.

What you’re more likely to see when Paranormal Cirque comes to Lake Wales is something more like the underworld — chainsaws, sword eaters, sexy vampires, tightrope-walking zombies, contortionists and a stilt-walking demon.

Paranormal Cirque, based in Bradenton, is more of an adult-themed venture into illusions and a “dark world inhabited by creatures with incredible circus art abilities,” according to its website.

Unlike a traditional circus, where leaving with a smile and a warm-and-fuzzy feeling is the name of the game, Paranormal Cirque is out to scare, bewilder and amuse all at the same time.

For four days, from Jan. 25 to 28, at Eagle Ridge Mall in Lake Wales, Paranormal Cirque is bringing what one of its artists said is “a little bit of Las Vegas.”

Paranormal Cirque shows are held from January to March in three versions: Paranormal Cirque, Paranormal Cirque II and Paranormal Cirque III, which performs in Palm Bay, Lake Wales and Orange Park and in Alpharetta, Georgia.

From Palm Bay, Roxana Midi, a Paranormal Cirque artist since 2016, said the January dates mark the first time Paranormal Cirque has performed in Polk County. A native of Romania, she said the circus has about 50 artists and crew members who travel to perform each year. She said it’s a “normal” circus with very little normality.

“We have very talented people over here, they’re coming from all over the country, all over the world and they do stunning acrobatics. They do traditional circus acts, but with a horror twist,” she said.

Midi said Paranormal Cirque evolved from the “Cirque Italia Water Circus” and was created in 2018 as a unit of Cirque Italia, based in Sarasota, which started in 2012.

“This is a brand-new baby; it was born last year in April,” said Midi, a self-trained performer.

All of Paranormal Cirque’s acts are intriguing and special in their own way. But among the more popular acts, Midi said, are the “Wheel of Death,” on which an artist balances on a giant, rotating pendulum; a female acrobat who performs dangling by her hair; and aerialists who work without safety nets.

She said the shows are “R” rated.

“It’s good for a boys’ night out, girls’ night out – it’s like a perfect date," she said.

“You spend two hours with live performers, you’ll have a cool experience that’s full of emotion. It’s very theatrical and we, as artists, are presenting ourselves as the characters we have to perform as,” Midi said.

“We’re bringing terror, we’re bringing comedy – we’re bringing all types of emotions all at the same time,” she said.

If you go

WHAT: Paranormal Cirque III

WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Jan. 25; 7:30 p.m., Jan. 26; 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Jan. 27; 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Jan. 28

WHERE: Eagle Ridge Mall, 955 Eagle Ridge Drive, Lake Wales

COST: $20 to $60, $5 parking.

INFO: For those 17 and older; 13 to 17 admitted with a parent or guardian. See www.paranormalcirque.com or call 941-704-8572

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Paranormal Cirque: It's dark. It's adult. It's coming to Polk