Giovanni Zoppé

Giovanni Zoppé is a sixth-generation circus performer from the Italian Zoppé family with more than 100 active performers in the family worldwide.  His father was a bareback rider, and his half brother is Tino Wallenda, the patriarch of the legendary Flying Wallendas high-wire act.  Zoppé has learned nearly every job in the circus over the years, including bareback riding, juggling, and the trapeze.  At 2, he was performing regularly with his family; at 9, he became the youngest circus performer ever to accomplish a somersault on horseback.  He not only excels in the Zoppé tradition of equestrian arts, but also has garnered international attention performing his comedy aerial Loop-the-Loop act as Nino, an old-world, European-style clown.  Zoppé has traveled throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico with his family show, Zoppé, An Italian Family Circus, founded in Italy in 1842.  He has performed as Nino in Italy, Greece, Jamaica, Bermuda, Newfoundland and Labrador.  Zoppé was highlighted on The Circus of the Stars and The Bozo Show.  He has many awards and honors to his name, including a gold medal at the American Circus Competition in Sarasota, a National Lifesaving Award for saving the life of another artist, a Best of the Past 20 Years award from the Annenberg Center for the Arts, a National Funny Face Award (1999), and in 2004, he was the youngest person ever to be inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame.