Guillermo Fernandez first attempted the “Wheel of Death” as a young teen, following in the skillful footsteps — literally — of his father.

The boy kept pleading with his dad to try the dangerous circus act. He eventually convinced him.

“I was born into this circus life, watching my dad perform under a tent for as long as I can remember,” Fernandez said. “It was all very normal to me. As a circus kid, they teach you a little of everything.”

Fernandez’s first performance, Sept. 14, 2004, was very special to his family. He was just 14.

“I was the youngest acrobat in history to perform a somersault on the outside of the Wheel of Death,” he said. “And the only Mexican to do it.”

Fernandez’s father was raised in a small village in Mexico, where jobs were scarce. One day, a traveling circus came to town and needed crew workers. The elder Fernandez joined to earn a living, later learning how to juggle and then how to perform on the Wheel of Death, a towering metal apparatus that circles around on a circus’ center ring.

“It’s one of the most dangerous acts, if not the most dangerous act in the show,” Fernandez said. “My father loved it, and now I love it.”

A decade after his first public performance, Fernandez performed a double somersault on top of the Wheel.

“It’s an adrenaline rush for me, like when I’m playing extreme sports,” he said.

It’s also an adrenaline rush for his audiences, as I experienced during a Cirque Italia Water Show performance in Warsaw last weekend. I heard verbal gasps from the crowd during his daring performance on the Wheel. (Watch a video on my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TalkingPointsWithJerryDavich.)

At one point, Fernandez appeared to slip while jumping rope on top of the Wheel as it circled around and around. The audience moaned. He just smiled.

“I enjoy what I do,” said Fernandez, 31, who prays before every show. “I’ve had no serious injuries, just small accidents, thanks to God.”

I talked with him after the show, which features a custom-designed stage holding 35,000 gallons of recycled water and somehow travels from city to city. A curtain of water controls each drop, merging it with sound and light, which performers center their act around. Only two other water stages like this exist in the world, in Las Vegas and Dubai, according to its website.

Since 2012, Cirque Italia has offered European-style shows featuring multigenerational performers from Argentina, Romania, Portugal, England and other countries. They perform about eight shows each week year-round, with a month break at Christmas.

“All of our performers are born into the circus,” a spokesman told me. “Most are families, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters — one big family. We have fifth-, sixth-, seventh- and even eighth-generation circus performers under our tents. We also have a few of the cliché first-generation circus performers who run away to join the circus.

“Our shows focus on testing the strength and sheer will of the human form and testing the limits of human capabilities.”

My family was mesmerized during the entire 90-minute show, performed inside a climate-controlled tent equipped with air conditioning on that 90-degree day. My grandson, who soon turns 3, never looked away from the performances.

“That’s great to hear,” said Alex Acero, the show’s clown and ringmaster.

He is a third generation circus performer whose parents are from Brazil and Colombia. He’s been with Cirque Italia, an animal-free circus, for six years traveling the world. His mother once rode bareback on circus horses. His father did a high-wire trampoline act.

“I learned other acts, but I love being a clown,” said Acero, 36, who lives in Sarasota, Florida, the circus’ base city, when he’s not touring.

He’s married with two young daughters, with his family performing in the show just as he did as a child.

“My wife does the hula-hoops act and my daughter dances,” he said Wednesday, his off day, while sightseeing in downtown Chicago with his family.

His energy must be at a high-wire level during shows to hold the attention of audiences, ranging in age from antsy toddlers to seen-it-all senior citizens.

“For each show, I have to go with the flow of the audience and how it reacts,” Acero said. “For example, if I see somebody texting in the middle of a show, I will joke with them to ‘say hello’ from me.”

Acero was charming and entertaining throughout the show I attended. Immediately after it ended, as a storm approached, a crew began tearing down the entire setup — massive tents, bleachers, concession stands and performance equipment, including the water apparatus. It took them less than six hours, down to every nut and bolt.

“They’re such hardworking people,” said Fernandez, who moved to the U.S. in 2009.

The show is now set up for seven performances through Sunday at Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets in Michigan City, then in Orland Park, Illinois, early next month. Tickets range from $10 to $50, with a free promo for children.

Visit www.cirqueitalia.com or call 941-704-8572 for more info or to get the promo code.

Fernandez’s father continues to serve as his trainer, on stage with him for each performance as his son manipulates the Wheel of Death with a daringness that defies fear and, at times, gravity.

“It goes past fear into sincere enjoyment, as if I’m playing some kind of sport,” Fernandez said.

His fiance, a professional dancer, also performs in the “Gold Unit” show, which flashes back to a simpler time of sock hops, drive-in theaters, muscle cars, poodle skirts and leather jackets. Acero performs a funny skit as Elvis Presley that entertained every kiddo and daddy-o in the audience.

“I grew up in the circus,” he said. My daughters will too.”

jdavich@post-trib.com