FOR THE KIDS : Audience Members Get Chance to Join the Circus : Performers from a variety of international backgrounds recruit spectators to participate under the big top.

When you go to the circus, do you sit safely in the stands, thankful you aren’t the one teetering on the high wire or flying through the air grappling for the trapeze?

Or do you feel a twinge of jealousy, a yearning for a few minutes in the spotlight?

If so, here is your chance. At Circus Vargas, which is in Oxnard through Sunday, a team of acrobatic performers pulls audience members into the ring to become part of the act.

The acrobats, called Fausto Scorpions, do foot juggling. One member lies on the ground, feet up, and juggles the other two--twirling and flipping them with his feet.

During a recent show, the acrobats picked three people from the audience, including Roger Newbold of Simi Valley, who found himself balancing two of the performers--one doing a handstand on his feet and the other on his hands.

“It was actually fun,” Newbold said. “They knew exactly how to do it.” He called it “another new experience,” one that might be blamed on the fact that he was sitting in the front row with his wife and 2-year-old son.

Ah, the circus. A slice of Americana--although in the case of Circus Vargas, it’s more of an international slice. Nearly all the acts are from other countries: Argentina, Germany, Bulgaria, Spain, the Philippines, Denmark and Kenya.

The lineup of acts includes slapstick acrobats dressed as Superman, tramps and other zany characters; a wire walker who can jump over a line of knives; acrobats who use a swing and a teeterboard to do high-flying gyrations; trapeze artists who do some moves blindfolded; African dancer-gymnasts who dance the limbo under a flaming pole, and two elephants that can stand on their front or hind legs.

Kids will like the dog act. The 10 dogs--boxers and one bulldog--come out suited up for soccer in T-shirts and shorts. In a chaotic scene, the dog teams try to nose a balloon into their opponent’s goal. Shorts fall down and balloons burst.

Of course, there is the clown. In this case, it’s a 60ish retired high-wire walker who falls from a ladder only to be caught by his sturdy suspenders before hitting the ground.

For $2, you can buy a program that describes the acts and the performers in English or Spanish.

The show lasts about two hours, with an intermission during which a circus employee hawks circus coloring books. Vendors also offer the usual circus fare--snow cones, cotton candy, soda, popcorn and those glow-in-the-dark wands. Stars decorate the inside of the big top, which seats 2,400 on bleachers.

Outside the big top, the attractions are meager. For $1, you can view a dozen or so caged snakes, including a 21-foot Burmese python.

The circus, headquartered in Ventura, is in its 25th year. It was started by the late Clifford E. Vargas, the son of a Portuguese immigrant who sold his home to buy his first circus tent. He did so after Ringling Bros. decided in 1969 to begin performing exclusively in indoor stadiums and arenas.

So Circus Vargas still searches out the empty fields and parking lots in towns and cities to put up its big top. Every year, the circus visits 75 locations in California. Before opening in Oxnard on Aug. 25, the circus set up on a dusty field in Simi Valley and, after the Labor Day weekend, it will be on to Anaheim.

Details

* WHAT: Circus Vargas.

* WHERE: Ventura Road and 7th Street in Oxnard.

* WHEN: 5 and 8 p.m. today and Friday; 12:30, 5:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 12:30, 3 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

* COST: $8.50 to $18.50 for adults; $4 to $14.50 for children 2 to 11 years, and free for children 2 and under.

* ETC.: Call 240-0044.