Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

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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 ήρθατ
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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
 
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 created with the support of the Big Apple Circus Ltd.''</div><div style=font-size:98%;">''and 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==
  
===ALFREDO CODONA===
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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).
  
[[File:Alfredo_and_Vera_Codona_(c.1932).jpg|right|300px]]The Codonas (and Alfredo Codona in particular) were conceivably, in terms of international fame, the greatest circus stars of the first half of the twentieth century. They owe their distinctive place in circus history to the exceptional talent of Alfredo Codona, but also to the dramatic ending of his career, and subsequently, the tragic conclusion of his life. Not only was The Codonas’ act recorded on film (in E.A. Dupont’s ''Varieté'' in 1925), but they were also the subjects of an Academy Award-nominated documentary, Jack Cummings’s ''Swing High'' (1932), a romanticized biopic, A.M. Rabenalt’s ''Die drei Codonas'' (1940)&mdash;a very rare occurrence for circus artists&mdash;and two romanticized biographies.
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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.
  
Alfredo (1893-1937) and Abelardo ("Lalo," 1895-1951) Codona were born into a circus family. Their grandfather, Henry, came from a long line of Scottish showmen of Swiss-Italian descent. Francesco (Frank) Codoni (1765-1849), the dynasty's founder, settled in Scotland in the nineteenth century; he was a fairground showman, and illiterate&mdash;which led the family's name to be registered under a great variety of spellings over the years: Cardoni, Cardownie, Cardone, Codone, Candone, and Codona, which eventually stuck in the 1870s. Henry Codona married a French woman, Victorine Régnier (1841-1924), with whom he had two children, Enrique and Eduardo, who was born in Mexico on September 21, 1859. (Enrique and Eduardo also had a half-brother, William). When and for which purpose Henry and Victorine immigrated to Mexico is not known.  
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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.  
  
In any event, Eduardo Codona (1859-1934) became a Mexican circus performer and entrepreneur. In 1883, he married the fourteen-year-old Hortense (Hortensia) Buislay (1869-1931), a trapezist who hailed from an old French circus family of "acrobats, pantomimists, and gymnasts" (i.e., aerialists). The enterprising Buislays had come to Mexico where, in 1869 (the year of Hortense’s birth), they created with Ricardo Bell the ''Circo Océano'', and rented Giuseppe Chiarini’s circus building in Mexico City before touring the country for some time. Like Chiarini, in whose circus company they had previously traveled around the world, the Buislay family had settled in San Francisco, in the United States. ([[The Codonas|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==
  
* [[Mikhail Shuydin]], Clown
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* [[Ramón Rampin]], Clown
* [[Yury Nikulin]], Clown, Actor, Circus Director
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* [[Elsane]], Aerialist
* [[Serge]], Circus Chronicler and Illustrator
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* [[Nouveau_Cirque_(Paris)/fr|Nouveau Cirque]], History &mdash; Version Française (French Version)
* [[Alexandre Palisse]], Clown, Circus Owner
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* [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)/fr|Cirque Medrano]], History &mdash; Version Française (French Version)
* [[Rico y Alex]], Clowns
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* [[The Reverhos]], Acrobatic Jugglers
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Red_Sails_Video_(2020)|Red Sails]], double tissu (2020)
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* [[Duo_Toldi_Video_(1966)|Duo Toldi]], hand-to-hand balancers (1966)
* [[Shandong_Plates_Video_(2020)|Shandong Acrobatic Trouype]], plate spinning (2020)
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* [[Evelyn_and_Andre_Video_(1973)|Evelyn & André]], aerial perch (1973)
* [[High_Five_Video_(2019)|High Five]], trampoline (2019)
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* [[Mironov_Video_(2023)|Aleksey Mironov]], comedy juggling (2023)
* [[Poselskiy_Video_(2020)|Trio Poselskiy]], Russian barre (2020)
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* [[Trakhtenberg_Video_(c.1980)|The Four Trakhtenbergs]], jugglers (c.1980)
* [[Ruzhilo_Video_(2011)|Pavel Ruzhilo]], Juggler (2011)
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* [[Emilien_Bouglione_Video_(1974)|Émilien Bouglione]], horses at liberty (1974)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==
  
 +
* [[Evelyn_and_Andre_Video_(2015)|Evelyn & André Interview]] on Blikk TV (2015)
 
* [[BAC_Blumberg_Video_(1977)|''For A Moment You Fly'']], The First Season of The Big Apple Circus (1977)
 
* [[BAC_Blumberg_Video_(1977)|''For A Moment You Fly'']], The First Season of The Big Apple Circus (1977)
 
* [[Durov_Documentary_Video_(c.2000)|Vladimir Durov Documentary]] on Russian Television (c.2000)
 
* [[Durov_Documentary_Video_(c.2000)|Vladimir Durov Documentary]] on Russian Television (c.2000)
 
* [[Dolly_Jacobs_Interview_Video_(2018)|Dolly Jacobs Interview]] at The Ringling (2018)
 
* [[Dolly_Jacobs_Interview_Video_(2018)|Dolly Jacobs Interview]] at The Ringling (2018)
 
* [[Pinito_del_Oro_RTE_Video_(1970)|Pinito del Oro's Interview]] on Spanish Television (1970)
 
* [[Pinito_del_Oro_RTE_Video_(1970)|Pinito del Oro's Interview]] on Spanish Television (1970)
* [[Eradze_Video_(2015)|Gia Eradze]]'s Interview on SSU TV (2015)
 
  
 
==Circopedia Books==
 
==Circopedia Books==
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==A Message from the Founder==
 
==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&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 23:04, 18 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

  • Duo Toldi, hand-to-handAn acrobatic act in which one or more acrobats do hand-balancing in the hands of an under-stander. balancers (1966)
  • Evelyn & André, aerial perchA hanging perch, from where the performers hang with the help of hand or ankle loops. (French: Bambou - Russian: Bambuk) (1973)
  • Aleksey Mironov, comedy juggling (2023)
  • The Four Trakhtenbergs, jugglers (c.1980)
  • Émilien Bouglione, 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. (1974)

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