Established in 1988, The Circus Ring of Fame Foundation™ was created to formally acknowledge Sarasota, Florida’s rich circus history and honor the people who have made significant contributions to the performing arts and circus industry throughout their performance careers. The “Ring” now boasts over 150 inductees from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds, all directly connected by their incredible achievements and pioneering journeys within the circus arts. To select these individuals, honorees may be annually nominated by the public and then voted on by current members of The Circus Ring of Fame, several industry professionals, local historians, and representatives from the global circus community. Once a class is recognized, each inductee is honored with a bronze circus wagon wheel plaque placed among their fellow Ring members at Sarasota’s Saint Armands Circle. This year, as a special technologicaladdition to their awards, QR codes can be found on all the performer’s plaques, where visitors can scan and watch videos of the Ring’s members’ best moments.

On February 4th, 2023 in Sarasota,  Florida, at the Circus Sarasota Big Top located at Nathan Benderson Park Regatta Center, the Annual Inductee Ceremony commenced. As a past performer of the Sarasota circus scene, I was thrilled to travel back to my hometown for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and the immense honor to meet with these amazing performers and hear their inspiring stories firsthand. In a public press conference event prior to the award ceremony, I was able to sit down with Jeanette Williams, Peggy Williams, Daniella Arata Quiroga, and Annaliese Nock and ask them about their empowering journeys in the performing arts and their thoughts on receiving their respective honors. ...