Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

From Circopedia

 
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<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 ήρθατε!</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/>
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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
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<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:98%;"> ''Circopedia was originally created with the support of the Big Apple Circus Ltd. and inspired and funded by the [http://www.sdrubin.org/ Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation]''.</div><br/>
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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/>
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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==
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[[File:Big_Apple_Circus_tent_(1996).jpg|right|400px]]
 
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===THE BIG APPLE CIRCUS===
 
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A cherished New York Institution, the original, not-for-profit Big Apple Circus was created in 1977 by Paul Binder and his juggling partner, Michael Christensen, as the performing arm of the New York School for Circus Arts. Its enormous success soon put the school in the shadows, and the circus took over as the principal activity of the organization. It became one of the world’s most respected and successful circuses—until the economic crisis of 2008, which dramatically impacted its fund-raising capacity, sadly led it to file for bankruptcy eight years later.
 
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Its name and equipment were sold to private investors who brought the Big Apple Circus back to life in September 2017 in its traditional winter venue, Damrosch Park, in New York’s prestigious Lincoln Center for The Performing Arts. The new Big Apple Circus quickly abandoned its spring-summer tours of the northeast United States and beyond, and limited its activity to its Lincoln Center four-month winter season. However, the Covid pandemic prevented it from performing in the winter of 2020-21. (As of August 2021, it is not yet known when or if it will resume its performances.)
 
  
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As a child, Paul Binder was occasionally taken to the circus by his parents at Madison Square Garden. "I do have one very powerful memory," Paul said, "a spotlighted Unus, alone in the center ring, doing his one-finger stand on a lighted globe. It was very dramatic!" However, the idea that within the circus ring would lie his career never entered his mind.
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===ELSANE===
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[[File:Elsane_Handstand.jpg|right|300px]]
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The remarkable German trapezist Elsane (1906-1997) had a meteoric circus career: After only ten years performing high under the cupola, a bad fall obliged her to abandon her trapeze; she had been until then a true circus star whose ballet training and her past as an acrobatic dancer had made her a headliner in circuses and on variety stages all over Europe, North Africa, and even the Middle East (at a time when performing there&mdash;sometimes in prestigious venues&mdash;was still a common occurrence).  
  
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Later, Paul attended Dartmouth College, where he joined the Dartmouth Players and the Hopkins Center Repertory Theatre, and then earned an MBA at Columbia University. After a brief stint at Boston University’s School of Fine and Applied Arts, he went to work on television as stage manager for Julia Child’s cooking shows, and later as talent coordinator for The Merv Griffin Show. It was the end of the 1960s, and Paul was restless with the times.
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She was born Else Jaekel on October 26, 1906, in Kossakau in Pomerania, near Danzig (today Gdansk), in what was then Eastern Prussia (Kossakau is today Kosakowo, in Poland). She didn't belong to a circus family, but she was attracted at an early age to ballet and studied it, before meeting Rudolf von Laban (1879-1958), an Austro-Hungarian pioneer of modern dance considered to be the "founding father of expressionist dance." This led Else to evolve toward acrobatic dance&mdash;a specialty that was very popular between the two World Wars.
  
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Meanwhile, in Walla-Walla, Washington, where he was born, Michael Christensen was struggling with a difficult childhood. Somehow, he needed to act out the feelings stirred by his uneasy life, so, quite naturally, he enrolled in the Professional Actor Training program at the University of Washington. As for the circus: "When the circus came to town in the summer, I helped setting up the tents with my brother in exchange for free passes. I also remember laughing uncontrollably at a clown gag—but I don’t remember who the clown was nor what was the gag."
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When she began performing in the early 1920s, right after WWI, German names were not always well received in Europe, so Else gave a French flavor to hers: Else Jaekel became Jacqueline Elsane. Very attractive, with a beautiful figure and a natural grace that came from her ballet training, she had no difficulty finding engagements in the variety circuit, either in dancing companies or as a solo performer. She eventually made a name for herself and worked in many of Europe’s major variety theaters. In 1932, to promote her act, she ordered a personal poster to the trendy Spanish designer Tito-Livio de Madrazo (1899-1979), which is still very much sought after by collectors today.  
  
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Both Paul and Michael ended up in San Francisco, where they met at the San Francisco Mime Troupe. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, San Francisco was the epicenter of a whole era of student revolt and social change. The San Francisco Mime Troupe was taking in active part in that change through a political street-theater movement aimed at stimulating people through outrageous, right-in-your-face physicality.... ([[Big Apple Circus|more...]])
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With her French name, Jacqueline Elsane became quite popular in Paris, where she performed her acrobatic dance act in such prestigious venues of the time as the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, the Palace, and the Casino de Paris. In 1936 at the famous Empire Music-Hall Cirque, which was managed then by the brothers Amar, owners of the Cirque Amar&mdash;France's largest and most successful traveling circus&mdash;she was surrounded by the dancers of the Empire ballet in a piece titled ''Symphonie en Bleu'' ("Symphony in Blue"), choreographed by the Ballet Master of the Paris Opera, Léo Staats (1877-1952).... ([[Elsane|more...]])
  
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
  
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* [[Pablo Noel]], Animal Trainer
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* [[Ramón Rampin]], Clown
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* [[Big Apple Circus]], History
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* [[Elsane]], Aerialist
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* [[Gerry Cottle]], Circus Owner
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* [[Nouveau_Cirque_(Paris)/fr|Nouveau Cirque]], History &mdash; Version Française (French Version)
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* [[Sarah Chapman]], Aerialist
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* [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)/fr|Cirque Medrano]], History &mdash; Version Française (French Version)
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* [[The 3 Bragazzi]], Comedy Acrobats
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* [[The Reverhos]], Acrobatic Jugglers
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
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* [[Wellton_Video_(2010)|John Wellton]], Comedy Juggler (2010)
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* [[Mary_Chipperfield_Video_(1974)|Mary Chipperfield]], horses & zebras at liberty (1974)
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* [[Espanas_Video_(1983)|The Flying Españas]], Flying Trapeze (1983)
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* [[Rampin_Risley_Video_(2006)|The Rampin Brothers]], Risley act (2006)
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* [[Wu_Zhengdan-Wei_Baohua_Video_(2008)|Wu Zhengdan & Wei Baohua]], Acrobatic Adagio (2008)
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* [[Rafael_and_Lucy_Video_(c.1980)|Rafael & Lucy]], sword balancing (c.1980)
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* [[Duo_Unity_Video_(2016)|Duo Unity]], Cyr Wheel (2016)
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* [[Addis_Abeba_Video_(2024)|Addis Abeba Troupe]], basket acrobatics (2024)
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* [[Credo_Video_(2017)|Trio Credo]], Russian Barre (2017)
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* [[Yasmine_Smart_Video_(c.1971)|Yasmine Smart]], horses at liberty (1971)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==
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* [[Circopedia Books|Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus]], by Dominique Jando (2018)
 
* [[Circopedia Books|Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus]], by Dominique Jando (2018)
  
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==A Message from Dominique Jando==
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==A Message from the Founder==
  
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''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&mdash;and sometimes daily&mdash;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 [[Circopedia:Contact|contact us]]: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.''  
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''CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding archive of the international circus, maintained by reliable circus historians and specialists. New videos, biographies, essays, and documents are added to the site on a weekly&mdash;and sometimes daily&mdash;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 [[Circopedia:Contact|contact us]]: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.''  
  
 
:'''Dominique Jando'''
 
:'''Dominique Jando'''
 
:Founder and Curator
 
:Founder and Curator

Latest revision as of 20:20, 3 April 2025


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

ELSANE

Elsane Handstand.jpg

The remarkable German trapezist Elsane (1906-1997) had a meteoric circus career: After only ten years performing high under the cupola, a bad fall obliged her to abandon her trapeze; she had been until then a true circus star whose ballet training and her past as an acrobatic dancer had made her a headliner in circuses and on variety stages all over Europe, North Africa, and even the Middle East (at a time when performing there—sometimes in prestigious venues—was still a common occurrence).

She was born Else Jaekel on October 26, 1906, in Kossakau in Pomerania, near Danzig (today Gdansk), in what was then Eastern Prussia (Kossakau is today Kosakowo, in Poland). She didn't belong to a circus family, but she was attracted at an early age to ballet and studied it, before meeting Rudolf von Laban (1879-1958), an Austro-Hungarian pioneer of modern dance considered to be the "founding father of expressionist dance." This led Else to evolve toward acrobatic dance—a specialty that was very popular between the two World Wars.

When she began performing in the early 1920s, right after WWI, German names were not always well received in Europe, so Else gave a French flavor to hers: Else Jaekel became Jacqueline Elsane. Very attractive, with a beautiful figure and a natural grace that came from her ballet training, she had no difficulty finding engagements in the variety circuit, either in dancing companies or as a solo performer. She eventually made a name for herself and worked in many of Europe’s major variety theaters. In 1932, to promote her act, she ordered a personal poster to the trendy Spanish designer Tito-Livio de Madrazo (1899-1979), which is still very much sought after by collectors today.

With her French name, Jacqueline Elsane became quite popular in Paris, where she performed her acrobatic dance act in such prestigious venues of the time as the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, the Palace, and the Casino de Paris. In 1936 at the famous Empire Music-Hall Cirque, which was managed then by the brothers Amar, owners of the Cirque Amar—France's largest and most successful traveling circus—she was surrounded by the dancers of the Empire ballet in a piece titled Symphonie en Bleu ("Symphony in Blue"), choreographed by the Ballet Master of the Paris Opera, Léo Staats (1877-1952).... (more...)

New Essays and Biographies

New Videos

  • Mary Chipperfield, horses & zebras 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. (1974)
  • The Rampin Brothers, Risley actAct performed by Icarists, in which one acrobat, lying on his back, juggles another acrobat with his feet. (Named after Richard Risley Carlisle, who developed this type of act.) (2006)
  • Rafael & Lucy, sword balancing (c.1980)
  • Addis Abeba Troupe, basket acrobaticsSee Banquine. (2024)
  • Yasmine Smart, 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. (1971)

New Oral Histories

Circopedia Books

A Message from the Founder

CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding archive of the international circus, maintained by reliable circus historians and specialists. 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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