The Flip Circus is coming to Menlo Park Mall next month and will feature a troupe of performers who recently fled Ukraine.

According to Patch.com, Bingo Troupe is a collection of Ukrainian artists; their story itself is fascinating. The troupe is not complete: it lacks most of its male performers because young men of fighting age were not allowed to leave Ukraine.

For some of the performing members, just getting to the United States was an ordeal. One such artist, Anastasia Blyshchyk, had to walk to Poland after her flight was canceled when war broke out in February; she told the Chicago Tribune how she did it,

“The train, after walking the border, after the bus, after the train and after the taxi,” she said. “It was also winter. You needed to stay outside for a long time and you thought, OK, I’m going to be a snowman today!

According to VOA.com, members of the troupe constantly worry about their families back in Ukraine. “I don’t know what situation they will be in the next day, next week, next month. I’m crying about it,” says Olga Rezekina, 22, who also fled Ukraine after the invasion began and whose parents and brother live in Odessa.

The troupe also performs with the Circus Vasquez, run by the same family.

Also on the program: the humor of the Italian Bello brothers, Globe of Death Motorcycles, Alexa Swing Pole Act, the aerial strap number of Shirley Larible and the Chicago All Stars Acrobats.

You can buy tickets and get more information (but not much more) on their website.

Tickets start at $25 (kids) and $40 (adults) with senior/military/handicap discounts available.

The circus has traditional acts like trapeze artists.

Goblets and acrobats are an integral part of the circus.

Supposedly, they correspond to five motorcycles in this globe.

There are no animal acts in the Flip Circus.

The views expressed in the above post are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.

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