MIDDLETOWN - At precisely 1:30 p.m. the music played and they walked onto a little patch of grass as they have thousands of times.
Resplendent in red and gold, Lijana Troffer stood at a silver microphone and told a small crowd: ''Grandfather always told us: 'Never give up.' And I am proud to tell you, we will never give up.''
Despite the threat of death, giving up never occurs to her and the Fabulous Wallendas, who perform
high-wire acrobatics in three shows every day but Monday at Americana Amusement Park.
For centuries the Wallendas - ''the first family of tightrope'' - have awed crowds around the world, and now four of them were ascending a 5/8-inch stainless steel cable suspended 30-feet high over the park's midway.
For 15 minutes Delilah Wallenda Troffer; her husband, Terry Troffer; and their children, Nikolas, 18, and Lijana, 20, walked their magic - without a safety net. In the grandstand, young and old applauded the Sarasota, Fla., family's athletic grace and nerve.
Lithe as a swan's neck, their legs moved across the wire while a loud speaker blared the Star Wars theme. Lijana stood on a long pole - supported on the shoulders of her brother and father - and did the splits for an appreciative crowd.
The Wallendas depend on balance, concentration, dedication - and possibly something genetic that makes them walk at dangerous heights. They seem oblivious to heat, noise, stress and death. But not to changing times. In the last few years, many smaller circuses have closed or have reduced their programs, leaving the Wallendas seeking work.
''We used to work 48 weeks a year with only one day off a week,'' Delilah said after the show. ''Last year, we worked six weeks. We can't live off that.''
The family is happy to work at Americana until Sept. 1. By living in a large motor home at the park, the Wallendas save time and money that would be spent traveling.
Jeffrey A. Siebert, Americana's operations manager and organizer of live shows, said the family's decline in bookings might have something to do with a national loss of patience.
''People are so used to television, they don't want to sit through entire live shows anymore,'' he said. ''But the Wallendas really hold your attention. Their act is a part of Americana, and we're proud to have them. You can see the shock on people's faces as they watch. You don't see this type of show much anymore.''
John Ellison, vice president and general manager, said Americana's attendance has been light this season, but on crowded weekends ''the park stops to watch.''
In Europe, spectators have watched Wallendas defy death for centuries. In America in the 1930s, family members performed for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus. After family patriarch Karl Wallenda set a world record by walking 1,800 feet at a height of 60 feet at Kings Island in 1974, his nephew, Rudi Wallenda, said: ''All the Wallendas have been a little crazy, some more so than others.''
Karl died in 1978 while trying to walk on a cable strung between two hotels in Puerto Rico.
That did not deter Lijana, who decided to join her parents' group when she was 13. Nikolas was 15 when he joined.
Delilah, who started performing at age 2, didn't take up the wire until she turned 18 and finished high school. Now in her early 40s, she continues a century of American Wallenda entertainment.
Most amusement-park spectators don't fully appreciate the danger on a high wire. They don't know that in 1962 two members of the Flying Wallendas died when their seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit. In 1996, Enrico Wallenda, a 30-year wire veteran, left the business after dropping onto concrete and breaking both his feet.
''You must be dedicated,'' said Delilah, who once walked across a 450-foot wire.
Delilah met Terry when he joined Karl Wallenda's troupe after high school. In those days, 25 years ago, 16 Wallendas walked the wires. Terry learned the act from the elder Wallenda, who allowed the couple to start their own troupe.
Today, however, only two Wallenda groups still perform on the high wire, Delilah said, and she wonders if Lijana and Nikolas will have a future in the business.
''I'd love to carry on the tradition,'' Lijana said. ''We won't give up. It's what we were born to do.''
