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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
  
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===ELENA PANOVA===
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===LOLA DOBRITCH===
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[[File:Elena_Panova_(1991).jpg|right|300px]]
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Elena Panova is credited with having originated a new swinging trapeze style and technique, which she developed quite by accident at Moscow's State College for Circus and Variety Arts, along with her teachers, Tereza Durova and Victor Fomine. When it was presented for the first time in the West in 1987 (it was at a time when communist Eastern Europe was still secluded), her act was a sensation that triggered the creation of a string of new swinging trapeze acts in a similar style, notably in Canada.
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Elena Panova was born Elena Nikolaevna Borisova on July 18, 1964 in Murom, four hundred kilometers from Moscow, the third daughter of Nikolai Borisov and his wife, Klavdia, née Kazanskaya. Her parents had nothing to do with the circus: they came from peasant stock and both worked in a local factory.  
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A fourth-generation circus performer (through her mother), Lola Dobritch (1922-2008) was one of the great tight-wire artists of the mid-twentieth century, famous for crossing her wire on her toes like a ballerina—still a rare feat in her times—which, along with her natural grace and her use of a feather fan instead of an umbrella for balancing, won her to be advertised as “The Pavlova of the Silver Strand.”
  
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Murom is one of Russia's oldest cities, dating back to the 9th century, and "home" to the Kievan Rus folk hero of yore, Ilya Muromets. It is also a Holy City that managed to keep some of its monasteries and convents open during the communist era. Yet, it is a small town, and although the Soviet government gave it a theater building, it didn't have a circus, neither was it important enough to receive the summer visit of a ''shapito'' (or ''chapiteau'' in French—a traveling circus). In fact, Elena never saw a live circus performance while growing up.  
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She was born Vera Dobrich—the correct English spelling of her name (1)—on October 14, 1922 in Sofia, Bulgaria, to Alexandre and Anna Dobrich. Alexandre and his brother, Lazar (1881-1970), owned the Royal Dobrich Circus in Bulgaria. “Lola”, as Vera would become known (she was often featured as "Miss Lola"), learned all traditional circus disciplines from her parents and took ballet classes in Sofia, before specializing as a wire dancer. She made her debut on the wire at age ten, in 1932, in the family circus.
  
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She did see circus shows on television, however, as well as ballet performances, and in her early teens, she enrolled herself in her school's amateur dance company. Meanwhile, a friend of hers had joined the local "Circus Club" and suggested that Elena, who was then fourteen, came with her. "Circus Clubs" were the Soviet equivalent of European or American youth circuses, though generally at a much higher level in terms of the training they provided. They flourished in the Soviet Union, where circus arts were held in high esteem.
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In 1946, Lola Dobritch married the German acrobat on unicycle Emil Goetschi (1921-2002), whose remarkable novelty act with brothers Carl and Hans was well known all over Europe, and she became part of the Goetschis’ act while continuing to perform her own tight-wire act. The following year, 1947, the Goetschis signed a contract for their two acts with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and went to the United States.
  
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During these years, Elena trained in basic acrobatics, but her tastes drew her to aerial apparatuses; while still at the  Circus Club, she and a fellow student developed a "bambou" (aerial perch) act. Her performance debut came in April 1978, when she presented a static trapeze act in the Easter show the Circus Club staged in Murom’s Grand Theatre.... ([[Elena Panova|more...]])
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Lola Dobritch made her debut with The Greatest Show On Earth at Madison Square Garden in New York on April 9, 1947. She performed in a triple tight-wire display that included herself on ring one, the amazing Reverhos in the center ring, and The Joannides on ring three; all three acts were making their American debut. Lola and the Goetschis remained three seasons with Ringling Bros., playing dates in Europe or in America during the winter.... ([[Lola Dobritch|more...]])
  
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==

Revision as of 01:23, 1 July 2023

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 was originally inspired and funded by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.

In The Spotlight

LOLA DOBRITCH

A fourth-generation circus performer (through her mother), Lola Dobritch (1922-2008) was one of the great tight-wire artists of the mid-twentieth century, famous for crossing her wire on her toes like a ballerina—still a rare feat in her times—which, along with her natural grace and her use of a feather fan instead of an umbrella for balancing, won her to be advertised as “The Pavlova of the Silver Strand.”

She was born Vera Dobrich—the correct English spelling of her name (1)—on October 14, 1922 in Sofia, Bulgaria, to Alexandre and Anna Dobrich. Alexandre and his brother, Lazar (1881-1970), owned the Royal Dobrich Circus in Bulgaria. “Lola”, as Vera would become known (she was often featured as "Miss Lola"), learned all traditional circus disciplines from her parents and took ballet classes in Sofia, before specializing as a wire dancer. She made her debut on the wire at age ten, in 1932, in the family circus.

In 1946, Lola Dobritch married the German acrobat on unicycle Emil Goetschi (1921-2002), whose remarkable novelty act with brothers Carl and Hans was well known all over Europe, and she became part of the Goetschis’ act while continuing to perform her own tight-wire act. The following year, 1947, the Goetschis signed a contract for their two acts with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and went to the United States.

Lola Dobritch made her debut with The Greatest Show On Earth at Madison Square Garden in New York on April 9, 1947. She performed in a triple tight-wire display that included herself on ring one, the amazing Reverhos in the center ring, and The Joannides on ring three; all three acts were making their American debut. Lola and the Goetschis remained three seasons with Ringling Bros., playing dates in Europe or in America during the winter.... (more...)

New Essays and Biographies

New Videos

  • Martine Gruss, ballerina on horseback (1977)
  • Bogdanov Troupe, combination flying actAny aerial act in which an acrobat is propelled in the air from one point to another. (2023)
  • Compagnie Soralino, object-balancing comedy act (2023)
  • Aleksei Grigorov & Marina Galavatskikh, lyraAerial apparatus similar to an Aerial Hoop, but in the form of a lyre, or an aerial hoop with a horizontal bar at its top. (2019)
  • Franky Babusio & Co., clown entrée(French) Clown piece with a dramatic structure, generally in the form of a short story or scene. (1962)

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
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