Petunio and Cantaleta: two Cuban actors in Miami who make the circus a livelihood

Perhaps if you live in Miami you have bumped into the clowns Petunio and Cantaleta on the streets or at a birthday party. Beyond putting on entertaining shows for children, behind the clown costume are two young actors who try to make circus and performances a way of life.

Yunier López (Petunio) and Joan Fernández (Cantaleta) are two talented Cuban actors who bring humor to hundreds of people at private parties. López, awarded in Cuba with awards such as the Caricato, spoke about the difficult experience of doing theater in the city of Miami from an economic point of view and how the circus has entered his professional life.

“It has given me a lot, especially in spontaneity. You make direct contact with large masses and you have the added risk of having a large audience watching you constantly,” López, 30, told CiberCuba about his new stage.

Both regularly perform children's shows on weekends and are looking to expand within the currently not very well-paid world of acting.

Joan Fernández, 30 years old, on the other hand, arrived from Cuba hired by the legendary and now defunct Ringling Bros. company and confesses to being comfortable with the duo of Petunio and Cantaleta.

“We are consolidating the duo. The circus is a medium that has been complicated by the same way of life and conditions, but this year we will continue and for next year we already have some proposals,” said Fernández, who embodies the character of Cantaleta.

They were already working in Spain in 2017 and in October they have a trip to Mexico scheduled before returning to the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the year. Meanwhile, they continue perfecting the circus duo in a city disinterested in intelligent theater.

“We want to open ourselves to the Anglo-Saxon market, to the English-speaking public. We are looking to create our own company, perhaps a clown representation company, always step by step, and we want to fulfill the circus contracts we have for this year and those to come," adds López (Petunio) about the possibility in the future of doing shows in English.

Fernández, on the other hand, has worked for the last five years with Ringling and does not fail to recognize that this training helps him a lot at the present.

“I learned many things, especially about the American market, that served as a school for me. I learned makeup and costume techniques, and even though in Cuba I won awards and other recognitions, I arrived here and realized that I didn't know anything.”

Their show will continue the same at any birthday party in Miami or in any country where they receive job proposals. Life does not stop for two young people who have had to take a turn in their careers to survive without separating themselves from personal fulfillment.