Miss Fillis
From Circopedia
Aerialist
By Dominique Jando
Miss Fillis was one of the greatest trapeze artists of the first half of the twentieth century. Like many of her most talented colleagues of that era, she was endowed with a remarkable strength, which she had developed working in her father’s horizontal bar act. She is remembered as the first woman ever to hold a handstand on the trapeze bar, a feat that has been replicated only by one of her father’s students, Maryse Begary. Yet, Miss Fillis was in actuality the second woman to do so: The first had been her sister.
From Aimée Marcoud to Miss Marguerite
Miss Fillis was born Aimée Marcoud in Paris in 1891. Her father was a famous gymnast on the horizontal bars, Nicolas Marcoud, of the Marcoud-Banola Troupe. The Marcoud-Banolas (Marcoud and the brothers Banola) had an act that was a mixture of flying actAny aerial act in which an acrobat is propelled in the air from one point to another. and horizontal bars: Nicolas flew from his bars to the hands of one of the Banola brothers, who worked as a catcherIn an acrobatic or a flying act, the person whose role is to catch acrobats that have been propelled in the air.. Aimée made her professional debut at age ten in her father’s act—quite an arduous discipline to learn for a little girl.
Her father also trained Aimée to a solo trapeze act, for which he replicated a trickAny specific exercise in a circus act. he had taught Aimée’s sister, Marguerite—the famous handstand on the trapeze bar. Sadly, Marguerite had died prematurely, without time to make a name for herself, and Nicolas had been left with a stock of printed advertising material for her act, which she was to perform as "Miss Marguerite." Thus, in order to save some money, Aimée became Miss Marguerite—the name under which she began to perform her solo trapeze act.
In 1908, a journalist in Milan, Italy, where Aimée worked, called her an "insuperabile" aerialistAny acrobat working above the ring on an aerial equipment such as trapeze, Roman Rings, Spanish web, etc.; over the years, the beautiful Aimée became known as "The Star," or "The Venus of the Trapeze," and she inspired journalists to wax poetic about her exploits: "Accrochée à son trapèze, les cheveux blonds gonflés de lumière, Miss Fillis devient rythme, s’inscrit dans une courbe de beauté et se confond avec les commentaires harmonieux de la musique," wrote one of them (*).
Enter Miss Fillis
For Miss Marguerite soon became Miss Fillis, the name she will keep until the end of her trapeze career: In 1913, she married the equestrian Charles William Fillis, nephew of the legendary British equestrian, James Fillis. She did so probably to escape the Marcoud-Banola act, and her father’s constant supervision: The marriage didn’t last long, and the couple divorced two years later.
Soon after she had become Miss Fillis, the First World War broke out while Aimée was working in Germany. Having become a British citizen through her marriage, Aimée was repatriated to England, from where she escaped her husband and quickly returned to France, where she regained her initial citizenship. Miss Fillis was now a free woman, and a major trapeze star on her own right.
In 1928, while she was working in Madrid at Circo Price, Aimée Marcoud met her fellow aerialistAny acrobat working above the ring on an aerial equipment such as trapeze, Roman Rings, Spanish web, etc. Alfred Robles, a talented flyerAn acrobat that is propelled in the air, either in a flying act, or in an acrobatic act (i.e. teeterboard). who had worked with the Aljévols, a famous French flying actAny aerial act in which an acrobat is propelled in the air from one point to another. of the period. Alfred and Aimée fell in love, and decided to create a new short-distance(Flying Trapeze) A flying act in which the catcher is in a static cradle, limiting the swing motion to the flyer only. Generally performed on a standing apparatus, above a safety mat. flying trapezeAerial act in which an acrobat is propelled from a trapeze to a catcher, or to another trapeze. (See also: Short-distance Flying Trapeze) act together. They secured the services of a second flyerAn acrobat that is propelled in the air, either in a flying act, or in an acrobatic act (i.e. teeterboard)., Robert Saulnier, and the Trio Astrée was born; Aimée—a strong woman in all meanings of the term—was the catcherIn an acrobatic or a flying act, the person whose role is to catch acrobats that have been propelled in the air.!
Aimée continued to perform her trapeze act as Miss Fillis, and appeared anonymously in the Trio Astrée. In 1932, Aimée’s younger sister, Reine Marcoud took the place of Saulnier in the trio, and the act continued to work in variety theaters and circuses until 1937. Then, the Trio Astrée disappeared, and Robles created another short-distance(Flying Trapeze) A flying act in which the catcher is in a static cradle, limiting the swing motion to the flyer only. Generally performed on a standing apparatus, above a safety mat. flying actAny aerial act in which an acrobat is propelled in the air from one point to another., the Volairs, with new partners. Aimée reverted to being just Miss Fillis.
In 1939, the outbreak of the Second World War put an end to the Volairs, since Alfred Robles was drafted. He would resume his activities in 1941, after the German occupation of France. As for Miss Fillis, she continued to perform her remarkable trapeze act until 1946, when she finally retired from the ring; she was fifty-five years old. Alfred Robles continued to work as an aerialistAny acrobat working above the ring on an aerial equipment such as trapeze, Roman Rings, Spanish web, etc. for another ten years.
Notes
(*): "Hanging from her trapeze, her blond mane puffed up with light, Miss Fillis becomes rhythm, carves herself in a curve of beauty, and merges with the harmonious commentaries of her music…"
Image Gallery
Miss Fillis (c.1930)
