Las Vegas performers struggle to survive coronavirus shutdown
Photos by Chitose Suzuki Story by Alex Chhith Las Vegas Review-Journal
Gladius The Show performer Lisa Varmbo Martonovich performs acrobatic stunts on Thunder, a horse, during a practice at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show co-owner Erik Martonovich rides on Balder, a rescue horse, during a practice for the combat act at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020, as his wife and performer Lisa Varmbo Martonovich riding on Frya, another rescue horse, follows him. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show performer Nicole England-Czyzewski, foreground, performs acrobatic stunts on Cannon, a horse, during a practice at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020, as performer Lisa Varmbo Martonovich performs acrobatic stunts on Thunder, a horse. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show performer Lisa Varmbo Martonovich performs acrobatic stunts on Thunder, a horse, during a practice at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show performer Lisa Varmbo Martonovich performs acrobatic stunts on Thunder, a horse, during a practice at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show performer Lisa Varmbo Martonovich kisses Thunder, a horse, during a practice at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show co-owner Erik Martonovich rides on two horses, Cannon and Thunder during a practice at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show co-owner Erik Martonovich, performs acrobatic stunts with performer Nicole England-Czyzewski during a practice at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show co-owner Erik Martonovich, performs acrobatic stunts with performer Nicole England-Czyzewski, rights, and co-owner Alethea Shelton, top, during a practice at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show performer Nicole England-Czyzewski takes care of horses, Cannon and Thunder during a practice at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show performer Lisa Varmbo Martonovich performs as practicing aerials at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show performer Lisa Varmbo Martonovich, right, gives thumbs up as practicing aerials with performer Nicole England-Czyzewski at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show co-owner Erik Martonovich and his wife and performer Lisa Varmbo Martonovich use homemade gym equipment to work out at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show co-owner Erik Martonovich uses homemade gym equipment to work out as his wife and performer Lisa Varmbo Martonovich looks on at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show co-owner Erik Martonovich and his wife and performer Lisa Varmbo Martonovich use homemade gym equipment to work out at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show performer Nicole England-Czyzewski works out during a training at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show co-owner Alethea Shelton moves hay to feed horses as Thunder munches hay at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Monday, May 18, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show co-owner Alethea Shelton moves hay to feed horses at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Monday, May 18, 2020, as Spirit, a miniature horse, approaches a camera. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show performer Alethea Shelton cleans up at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Monday, May 18, 2020, as Spirit, center, and Puzzle, right, look on. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show co-owner Alethea Shelton sits with Spirit, a miniature horse, during their training at the Gladius the Ranch in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
The gate of Gladius the Ranch is seen in Las Vegas, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Gladius The Show performer Lisa Varmbo Martonovich created the artwork for the gate. (Chitose Suzuki / Las Vegas Review-Journal) @chitosephoto
Gladius The Show co-owner Erik Martonovich and other performers ride their horses down the Strip, Friday, May 8, 2020. (Photo by Maribeth Jalepes-Stanford)
Gladius The Show co-owner Erik Martonovich and other members ride their horses down the Strip, Friday, May 8, 2020. (Photo by Maribeth Jalepes-Stanford)
Performers from Gladius The Show ride their horses down the Strip and perform acrobatic stunts, Friday, May 8, 2020. (Photo by Maribeth Jalepes-Stanford)
Performers from Gladius The Show ride their horses down the Strip, Friday, May 8, 2020. (Photo by Maribeth Jalepes-Stanford)
A Las Vegas-based acrobatic equestrian performing group continues to train every day despite the cancellation of shows because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The performers are part of “Gladius The Show,” which is loosely based on gladiators and mythology. The show has performed at the South Point as well as locations in other cities.
“With this whole shutdown, for us it’s not just the city shutting down, it’s the whole country shutting down because we tour, so everything we had booked for the entire year is canceled,” said Erik Martonovich, one of the show’s co-owners.
In the meantime, performers stay sharp by practicing their routine and training the show’s 18 horses on their Las Vegas ranch.
“We have to keep training every day and keep the horses in training every day, but it’s hard because our shows and our performance is why we do what we do and why we love it so much,” said Nicole England-Czyzewski, a performer in the show. “I think the hardest part is just staying motivated when we don’t know when our next show will be.”
It hasn’t been easy.
“We all lost our jobs,” Alethea Shelton, co-owner of the show, said. She added that she was able to file for unemployment from her job as a massage therapist on the Strip.
“We’re just kind of keeping it together somehow.”
Recently, the performers took the show to the streets of the Strip. Adorned in gladiator outfits, they performed feats atop the horses for cars passing by, police officers and construction workers to brighten up the seemingly apocalyptic atmosphere.
