Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at Covelli Centre A hair-raising experience

April 24, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

At one time or another most of us have a crazy thought in our mind.

You know, you’ll be driving and think, “Why can’t we teleport yet?” Or you’ll be planting your garden contemplating installing an electrified fence to keep the deer away from your plants.

Then there’s Brazilian-born Andre Medeiros and his Bulgarian-born wife, Viktoria, who last year were a part of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s “Dragon” tour.

Medeiros is the visionary behind his wife’s hair-hanging act. Now Medeiros has expanded the act, which previously involved two hair-hanging girls in the air.

“The whole idea was to create a new act that was totally different,” said Medeiros, calling from Norfolk, Va. “We decided to do a group of eight girls, which has never been done before. It’s really dangerous. Everything that’s new has a really high risk because we created something. It wasn’t like we could copy another act.”

Basically, trial and error is how the record-breaking Medeiros Hair Hang Act made it to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s new “Legends” show, which appears Friday through Monday at Covelli Centre.

The idea of hair hanging originated in China, but the Medeiros Hair Hang Act finds “hairialists” performing a combination of choreography and cut-ups including spinning, hanging from hoops and rolling down wrapped silks, all while being suspended 35 feet in the air by their hair alone. The group features three girls held by one girl’s hair, a five-girl hair-hanging pyramid, an eight-person hair-hang and motorcycle high-wire show.

Medeiros said language barriers between the girls, who are from five different countries, wasn’t the only hurdle. The first hurdle was determining if their hair and scalp could withstand the aerial demands.

“First of all, they have to have good hair,” Medeiros said. “They can never change their hair. They also have to take a lot of vitamins to help their hair. It’s not something where you can go to the gym and work out. It’s a total different care of your hair. We have to make sure the care of the hair not only looks good but it’s also safe.”

The list of hair requirements for the performers include air-dry only (no hairdryers), no curling iron, no brushing when wet and using special shampoo.

“Safety is the main thing,” Medeiros said.

The Medeiros Hair Hang Act is just one attraction in “Legends,” which is celebrating mythological creatures (Pegasus and unicorn), as well as featuring circus legends such as big-cat presenter Alexander Lacey, the Riders of the Wind Cossack horsemen, motorcycle daredevils, a 20- acrobat troupe and a never-before-seen double-wide, high-flying trapeze act.

Naturally, the circus means exotic animals, ranging from Asian elephants and kangaroos to donkeys, pigs and llamas.

As for the Medeiros Hair Hang Act, invariably audience members can expect to take in a hair-raising experience.

“It is, exactly,” Medeiros said, laughing.