Yasmine Smart

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(Redirected from Yasmin Smart)

1 Equestrienne, Animal Trainer
- 1.1 Award-Winning Equestrienne
2 See Also
3 Suggested Reading
4 Image Gallery

Equestrienne, Animal Trainer

By Dominique Jando

Born in Windsor, England on November 24, 1953, Yasmine Smart is the daughter of David Smart (1929-2007) and Olga Elleano-Stey (b. 1932 to a Swiss family of wirewalkers). She is the granddaughter of the famous English showman Billy Smart. Yasmine made her debut in the ring at age 11, at Billy Smart's New World Circus, with a group of twelve Shetland ponies. She was tutored in horse and animal training by John Gindl, who was at the time Billy Smart's Circus's head trainer.

Although an equestrienneA female equestrian, or horse trainer, horse presenter, or acrobat on horseback. by choice, Yasmine also worked with exotic animals and elephants, animals she presented in other British circuses, such as Blackpool’s Tower Circus and Belle Vue Circus in Manchester, after Billy Smart's Circus folded its tents in 1971. She also presented horses for other circuses, notably for Circus Knie in Switzerland and Circus Krone and Circus Hagenbeck in Germany. Eventually, Yasmine became a celebrated "Ringmistress"—a role she originated at the Billy Smart’s Circus Christmas Spectacular, a BBC Holiday special that aired for several years after the Billy Smart's Circus had ceased touring.

It is in her capacity as Ringmistress that Yasmine participated for the first time in the International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo in 1975. The following year, she presented a group of horses "at liberty"Liberty act", "Horses at liberty": Unmounted horses presented from the center of the ring by an equestrian directing his charges with his voice, body movements, and signals from a ''chambrière'' (French), or long whip." from Circus Krone at a Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee at Windsor. She married Dany Cesar (Bradford) in 1978. They presented together a high schoolA display of equestrian dressage by a rider mounting a horse and leading it into classic moves and steps. (From the French: Haute école) act at her father's Super Circus in Battersea Park in London in 1980. (Yasmine and David eventually separated in 1989.)

Award-Winning Equestrienne

Yasmine (2012)

In 1980, she purchased a group of ten Arab stallions, which she trained herself and with which she worked until 2003—the year she went to the U.S. to perform as Equestrian Director at the Big Apple Circus. In 1981, she participated again in the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo, this time as an ,and won the prestigious Dame du Cirque award. She returned to the Festival in 1985 to win the coveted Silver Clown award for her act. She was awarded a second La Dame du Cirque award in 1995.

Yasmine was the first British circus artist to be awarded in Monte Carlo and remains the only artist to have been awarded three times. Among other venues, she has been featured with Circus Jacobi-Althoff and Circus Roncalli in Germany, Liana Orfei's Golden Circus Festival in Italy, and the Big Apple Circus in the U.S., where she spent four seasons, creating a new act each season. Yasmine has also appeared in several horse shows and festivals in Germany and France, as well as on several TV shows in Europe. In 2007, she sat on the Jury at the International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo. In 2010, Yamine was the subject of, and starred in, the musical Yasmine, presented in England by Giffords Circus.

Yasmine was featured with her horses at Zippo's Circus in 2012, and was the ringmistressFeminine form of ringmaster. of a revival of Billy Smart's Circus (as a rented title) in 2014. She was also inducted into the International Circus Hall Of Fame in Peru, Indiana in 2014.

Image Gallery

A young Yasmine Smart grooming a friend
Yasmine Smart on her first horse
Yasmine with Billy Smart and Princess Margaret (c.1963)
Yasmine, with Sergio, at the International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo (1975)
Poster of David Smart's Super Circus (1980)
Yasmine Smart at the Big Apple Circus (2004)
Yasmine Smart at the Big Apple Circus (2005)
Poster for Yasmine (2010)
Yasmine Smart (2012)