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Fearless flores
Flores 2a
Erick Dominguez juggles flaming torches during his performance as part of the Fearless Flores Circus Thrill Show at the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair Thursday night. - photo by MICHELLE BOAEN/staff

Flores Circus

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Erick Dominguez said he doesn’t think about the potential dangers of his job. He just does what he’s practiced for years and concentrates on the task at hand.
    “I just concentrate. You can’t think about anything else,” the 16-year old said.
    That may sound like many jobs people have until you stop and consider what it is that Dominguez does for a living.
    Dominguez, along with his father, Henrry, ride motorcycles inside a metal globe, wowing audiences with their exploits inside the sphere.
    For Erick Dominguez, performing in “the globe” (as he calls it), seems to be his destiny. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather have all driven motorcycles in the globe, Henrry Dominguez said.
    And the family tradition doesn’t only trace its roots to the past. Forty Dominguez families across the planet perform in the globe, making them the biggest family of globe performers on the planet, Henrry Dominguez said through his son, who translated for him.
    Erick Dominguez started riding in the globe when he was ten after his father asked him what he wanted to do with the circus.
    “I really liked the motorcycles, so I wanted to so that,” he said.
    Since then, he’s gotten more and more comfortable performing to the point that he’s not concerned about his safety.
    “I know what I’m doing, so I feel safe,” he said.
    The family recently switched from performing in circuses to riding in fairs and Dominguez said it is very different.
    “With the circus, people would see that the globe was going to be there and they would come to see that,” he said. “Here, people come for the fair and not because of us.”
    Another change is the number of riders inside the globe at one time. At the circus, there would be as many as eight motorcycles inside the globe at one time. This week, no more than three people would be in there at a time.
    On Thursday afternoon, Henrry Dominguez stood in the middle of the globe as another of his son’s practiced riding inside the metal sphere.
    “(My father) stands in there because he doesn’t feel safe yet,” Erick Dominguez said. “He did that with me too, but I don’t need him there anymore.”
    Both Henrry and Erick Dominguez said they feel a sense of pride when they hear the crowd cheer for them following a performance.
    “When people stand up and clap, I feel good, knowing people like the globe” said Henrry Dominguez.
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