In a show of neighbourly love, Vailima Breweries stepped up and made sure that the Magic Circus of Samoa has water supply for their performers living on-site. 

Performers are practicing and getting ready for their grand opening on 18 July. Despite various requests to the Samoa Water Authority, the circus had not been connected to the water supply grid. Now that the issue has been solved, the focus is the first act.

Performers arrived in Samoa two months ago to begin practicing before their show and are eager to begin. During their free time, they have enjoyed exploring the city, dancing bachata and salsa at Taumeasina Island Resort, and even joined a local soccer club.  

Carlos Santander is the Argentinian knife thrower and motorcyclist for the globe of death. He said growing up he was the black sheep of the family who promised his mom he would run away with the circus and travel the world and attempted to do that at 15. 

“My mom called the police and the police were looking for me and eventually brought me back home,” Santander said in Spanish. 

Once he turned 16, he ran away from his parent's house and his journey with the circus began. Since then, he’s worked his way up the circus learning a variety of different acts and now is one of the most experienced motorcyclists for the globe of death in Argentina and has been doing knife throwing for over 10 years. 

His training consists of warming up his arm to ensure his knife-throwing skills are sharp. After many years of practice and experience, he has perfected his talent and luckily, has never had an accident. 

This is his third time coming to Samoa and said he likes coming because the people bring lots of love and respect. 

“There’s not one day that I don’t get emotional after looking at the crowd of people and hearing the applause,” Santander said. “It brings me great satisfaction and fills my soul.” 

Alejandro Eguino is also from Argentina and his family has been in the circus for over four generations. He performs the Wheel of Death and the Globe of Death. 

Neider Cardona is from Colombia and joined the circus simply because he liked it. He performs the Wheel of Death and high wire. 

When telling their family and friends they were traveling to Samoa, they said the majority of people didn’t know where Samoa was. They had to explain that it’s a small island near Australia and New Zealand. 

It is both of their first time in Samoa and they have enjoyed the beauty of the country and the friendliness of the people but the biggest shocker has been the weather. 

“In Colombia it’s maybe 15 or 16 degrees and here it’s almost 30 degrees everyday,” Cardona said in Spanish.