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<br><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Bienvenida! ✫ Benvenuto! ✫ 歡迎 ! ✫ Vítejte! ✫ Καλώς ήρθατ
 
<br><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Bienvenida! ✫ Benvenuto! ✫ 歡迎 ! ✫ Vítejte! ✫ Καλώς ήρθατ
 
ε!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Üdvözöljük! ✫ Добре Дошли! ✫ Welkom! ✫ Ласкаво Просимо!</div><div style="font-size:165%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Velkommen! ✫ Tervetuloa! ✫ Дабро Запрашаем! ✫ Välkommen!</div><br/>
 
ε!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Üdvözöljük! ✫ Добре Дошли! ✫ Welkom! ✫ Ласкаво Просимо!</div><div style="font-size:165%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Velkommen! ✫ Tervetuloa! ✫ Дабро Запрашаем! ✫ Välkommen!</div><br/>
<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:98%;"> ''Circopedia was originally inspired and funded by the [http://www.sdrubin.org/ Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation]''.</div><br/>
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<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:98%;"> ''Circopedia is an independent educational website, originally created as a project of the non-profit [[Big Apple Circus]]''.</div><br/>
  
 
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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
[[File:Ali_Hassani.JPG|Ali Hassani|right|300px]]
 
===ALI HASSANI===
 
  
For some thirty years, Ali Hassani (1927-2010) ran the world's most famous troupe of Moroccan tumblers&mdash;and one of the best indeed in the entertainment business&mdash;before becoming a circus owner and producer in his adopted England. Yet, this highly respected artist and impresario came to the circus quite by accident, and in very unusual circumstances.
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===THE REVERHOS===
  
Ali Hassani was born Ali Houssain in a village on the outskirts of Marrakech, in Morocco, on March 7, 1927. Morocco has an age-long tradition of itinerant troupes of acrobats specializing in tumbling and building human pyramids, which for centuries have traveled from market places to village squares. They have been part of the circus practically since its inception, and can still be seen today in the ring, performing their traditional acrobatic skills in a style of presentation that has remained by and large unchanged.  
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[[File:Reverhos_-_Scala.jpg|right|400px]]From the early 1930s through the late 1950s, The Reverhos were major circus and variety performers; however, they didn't leave the same mark in circus history as other, less talented performers may have. The reason is probably that their act was difficult to classify: It mixed juggling, acrobatics, and hand- and head-balancing, some of it performed on a slack wire&mdash;and the sheer difficulty of their vast repertoire prevented imitations. The fact that they worked principally on variety stages is perhaps another factor. Nonetheless, their act was extremely spectacular and has remained unique to this day.  
  
Ali belonged to a poor family of thirteen children, and he and his siblings were often left to their own devices to scrap some food or make a few dirhams in the streets of Marrakech. One day, as he was watching a group of tumblers on Djama Al Ifna, a square in Marrakech, Ali, who was seven at the time, was abducted by the acrobats, who saw him as an ideal "top mounter"&mdash;the light acrobat who stood at the top of their human pyramids.
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It was created by two French brothers who were not born in the circus, nor in the entertainment business for that matter: They began their professional lives as brick masons. Gustave Revereau (1902-1969) was born on February 8, 1902, in Bressuire, a small town in the Deux-Sèvres department, in the Poitou province. His brother André (1906-1996) followed him there four years later, on June 2, 1906. Their father, Adrien, was a Master Brick Mason, and they were destined to follow in his footsteps&mdash;which they did. Or did at first…
  
It must be stressed, though, that Ali was not an unwilling participant; according to his daughter Zayna, "He used to run and watch as a child and the tumblers said 'do you want to do this?' and he was quite cheeky apparently and said 'yes' and they actually took him away with them." Nonetheless, his life changed forever, and he was never to see his parents or siblings again, in spite of his attempts at tracking them years later when he returned to Morocco.
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Predictably, the brothers were very physical and, in their spare time, they joined a local gymnasium where they learned the basics of acrobatics, mostly by imitating their elders&mdash;among whom circus artists who trained there to improve their act or create new ones during their off time between seasons, as it was customary then: Many a circus career at the time began in one of these gymnasiums. There, Gustave and André must have seen some jugglers practice, and they began to learn juggling by themselves, developing in time a solid foundation.  
  
The tumbling troupe, with young Ali in tow, found engagements in neighboring Spain, where they remained through the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and WWII, since Spain was neutral  in the conflict. As an apprentice to the troupe, Ali was not paid: he was just given food and shelter, and the bare necessities of life. Yet, he enjoyed his new life and over the years, he became an excellent tumbler, eventually moving from a light top-mounter to a sturdy bottom man as he grew up.... ([[Ali Hassani|more...]])
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Performers who trained along them were duly impressed by the brothers' skills, and they eventually suggested they build a juggling act. Thus, so did Gustave and André, juggling with tennis rackets at first. However, they quickly began to add a few spectacular acrobatic elements to their act: André juggled upside-down, head-balancing, while passing clubs with Gustave, and Gustave performed a one-arm stand, twirling hoops on his balancing cane, his free hand, and his feet: Traditional juggling increasingly became just an appetizer to the rest of the act. It was highly original, and through their gymnasium connections, they soon attracted agents' attention.... ([[The Reverhos|more...]])
  
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
  
* [[Alessandro Guerra]], Equestrian, Circus Director
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* [[Nouveau_Cirque_(Paris)/fr|Nouveau Cirque]], History &mdash; Version Française (French Version)
* [[Jimmy Scott]], Clown
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* [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)/fr|Cirque Medrano]], History &mdash; Version Française (French Version)
* [[Alexis Gruss, Jr.]], Equestrian, Circus Owner
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* [[The Reverhos]], Acrobatic Jugglers
* [[Alona Zhuravel]], Hand-Balancer
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* [[Francis Brunn]], Juggler
* [[George Carl]], Clown
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* [[Tereza Durova]], Animal Trainer
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Murillo_Ulysses_Video_(1989)|Murillo & Ulysses]], Hand-to-Hand Balancing (1989)
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* [[Shalamova-Martini_Video_(2024)|Anna Shalamova-Martini]], hand-balancer/contortionist (2024)
* [[One_Heart_Video_(2023)|Duo One Heart]], jugglers (2023)
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* [[Amara_Video_(2024)|Amara Troupe]], teeterboard (2024)
* [[Jump'n'Roll_Video_(2020)|Jump'n'Roll]], Korean teeterboard (2020)
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* [[Archie_and_Diane_Bennett_Video_(1977)|Archie & Diana Bennet]], contortionists (1977)
* [[Davydenko_Video_(2023)|Valeriia Davydenko]], hand balancer (2023)
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* [[Chu_Chuan_Ho_Video_(2023)|Chu Chuan Ho]], diabolo act (2023)
* [[Amartuvshin_Video_(2024)|Hunnu Empire]], teeterboard act (2024)
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* [[Reverhos_Video_(1947)|The Reverhos]], acrobatic jugglers (1947)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==

Latest revision as of 22:35, 25 December 2024


Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!
Bienvenida! ✫ Benvenuto! ✫ 歡迎 ! ✫ Vítejte! ✫ Καλώς ήρθατ ε!
Üdvözöljük! ✫ Добре Дошли! ✫ Welkom! ✫ Ласкаво Просимо!
Velkommen! ✫ Tervetuloa! ✫ Дабро Запрашаем! ✫ Välkommen!

Circopedia is an independent educational website, originally created as a project of the non-profit Big Apple Circus.

In The Spotlight

THE REVERHOS

Reverhos - Scala.jpg
From the early 1930s through the late 1950s, The Reverhos were major circus and variety performers; however, they didn't leave the same mark in circus history as other, less talented performers may have. The reason is probably that their act was difficult to classify: It mixed juggling, acrobatics, and hand- and head-balancing, some of it performed on a slack wireA Tight Wire, or Low Wire, kept slack, and generally used for juggling or balancing tricks.—and the sheer difficulty of their vast repertoire prevented imitations. The fact that they worked principally on variety stages is perhaps another factor. Nonetheless, their act was extremely spectacular and has remained unique to this day.

It was created by two French brothers who were not born in the circus, nor in the entertainment business for that matter: They began their professional lives as brick masons. Gustave Revereau (1902-1969) was born on February 8, 1902, in Bressuire, a small town in the Deux-Sèvres department, in the Poitou province. His brother André (1906-1996) followed him there four years later, on June 2, 1906. Their father, Adrien, was a Master Brick Mason, and they were destined to follow in his footsteps—which they did. Or did at first…

Predictably, the brothers were very physical and, in their spare time, they joined a local gymnasium where they learned the basics of acrobatics, mostly by imitating their elders—among whom circus artists who trained there to improve their act or create new ones during their off time between seasons, as it was customary then: Many a circus career at the time began in one of these gymnasiums. There, Gustave and André must have seen some jugglers practice, and they began to learn juggling by themselves, developing in time a solid foundation.

Performers who trained along them were duly impressed by the brothers' skills, and they eventually suggested they build a juggling act. Thus, so did Gustave and André, juggling with tennis rackets at first. However, they quickly began to add a few spectacular acrobatic elements to their act: André juggled upside-down, head-balancing, while passing clubs with Gustave, and Gustave performed a one-arm stand, twirling hoops on his balancing cane, his free hand, and his feet: Traditional juggling increasingly became just an appetizer to the rest of the act. It was highly original, and through their gymnasium connections, they soon attracted agents' attention.... (more...)

New Essays and Biographies

New Videos

New Oral Histories

Circopedia Books

A Message from the Founder

CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding archive of the international circus. New videos, biographies, essays, and documents are added to the site on a weekly—and sometimes daily—basis. Keep visiting us: even if today you don't find what you're looking for, it may well be here tomorrow! And if you are a serious circus scholar and spot a factual or historical inaccuracy, do not hesitate to contact us: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.

Dominique Jando
Founder and Curator