By Mark Zaloudek – HeraldTribune.Com
SARASOTA – As a member of one of the most celebrated circus families in the United States, Belmonte Cristiani dazzled audiences worldwide with his acrobatic feats on horseback.
Belmonte Cristiani in 1941. He performed with his siblings from childhood until 1962. He was proud of the Cristiani Bros. Circus becoming the first nationally touring circus to perform in Alaska in 1954, his daughter said. He later manufactured carnival rides.
Even though he performed with his nine siblings as The Cristiani Troupe, Belmonte Cristiani, who died Feb. 6 in Sarasota at 91, frequently stood out for his athleticism.
In one act, known as the “Triple Backward Suicide Somersault,” Cristiani and one of his brothers, each standing on separate horses circling an arena, simultaneously somersaulted backward through a hoop and landed on their feet on a moving horse behind them as a third brother dismounted his horse with the same flourish.