Highlights:
· Born into a sixth generation of acrobats, jugglers and high wire walkers on his mother’s side, and a fourth generation of trapeze artists on his father’s, Taba began his career as an acrobat, performing in the shows that his mother and her family traveled with throughout his native Chile.
· At the age of 13, Taba saw a television program that featured the renowned Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey animal trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams who became Taba’s idol. He recently named his newborn son after Gunther.
· At 15 years old, Taba performed his first animal act in a circus in South America and was placed in charge of all the show’s animals and a staff of 12 people.
Tabayara “Taba” Maluenda
Tiger Act
Taba Maluenda is the greatest tiger trainer of his time, though he would never put it that way.
Back for his third tour with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey®, Taba, the successor to legendary animal trainer Gunther Gabel-Williams, is humble about his place in circus history.
Ask him about performing with 12 Bengal and white tigers and this native of Chile starts by describing the circus. Not just any circus, he’s quick to point out, The Greatest Show On Earth®!
“If you want to look at beautiful women, hear beautiful music, the acrobats, illusion or magic – come to the circus. You want to feel emotion – fear – come to the circus. People are laughing together. Spouses and families are together. There’s no money in the world that can pay to see that!”
Taba knows something about circuses, since he’s the sixth generation of his family to work under the big top. As a child, he used to watch Ringling Bros®. – especially the tigers and the horses – from between the curtains. Growing up he worked an assortment of circus jobs and found fame on the flying trapeze. But when a door opened to work with the animals, he grabbed it.
Taba remembers that first animal show like a first date. There were leopards, tigers and a lion – and the trainer was late. “I told them that I could do it. I went into the cage, without my mother knowing!”
Though he was just 15, a trusting owner gave him a chance and Taba never looked back. For 18 years, he toured South and Central America with the Gasca organization. He found he was “born to work with animals… We have a connection.”
Imagine his joy when Ringling Bros. called. After his first performance, he cried. “I achieved something great in my life in joining Ringling Bros. To be in Ringling Bros. is like for a big actor to be in Hollywood. Imagine looking for 20 years on the video at Gunther Gebel-Williams. To be in the only arena where he worked. The only unit he worked in. … I could die and be happy and have a complete life. It’s like winning a gold medal.”
But reality sets in every morning at 7:30, when Taba begins a 14-hour day of feeding and caring for the tigers and the horses – and he loves every minute of it.
When the tigers hear his boisterous voice, he says they stand alert, ready to accept his instructions. But they’re also really smart. Sometimes, he says, they want to be, like, “I’m the tiger.”
“It’s important the tigers respect you, but it’s more important you respect the tigers. Safety comes first, he emphasizes. “You need to check everything.” Even still, Taba has 80 or 90 scars. Occupational scratches, he calls them. No different than a carpenter who bangs his thumb.
Taba commits to giving 100 percent every performance, with tumbling feats, some two-legged surprises and a signature move: a tiger jumping through his open-legged handstand.
Taba, will joined on tour by his wife, his newborn son Gunther named after the famous animal trainer, and daughter Tabitha, 11, who attends Ringling Bros.’ traveling school and is herself a talented tumbler.
“If I were born again,” the proud papa and animal trainer says, “I would again work with the circus and again as an animal trainer. For me, the circus is my life. It’s everything. Whatever I have in my life – my career, my family and my family’s name – it comes from working in the circus.”