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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
  
===ELSANE===
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===EVELYN & ANDRÉ===
[[File:Elsane_Handstand.jpg|right|300px]]
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[[File:Evelyn_and_Andre_US.png|right|300px]]
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).  
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During the communist era in Eastern Europe, circus arts experienced a spectacular evolution in terms of quality and originality, spearheaded by the Soviet Union, where this renaissance had started in 1928 with the creation of the State College of Circus and Variety Arts in Moscow. If the achievements of the Soviet circus were well known in the West thanks to the international tours of the Moscow Circus that started in the 1960s, top performers of the Eastern Bloc countries are often overlooked. However, Hungary, amidst other Eastern bloc states, had a strong independent spirit, and the Hungarian State Circus (as well as, individually, many Hungarian acts) had done countless forays in Western Europe and the U.S. The husband-and-wife duo of Evelyn & André are among those who managed to pursue a brilliant international career.
  
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.
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The duo consisted of Éva Páviács (1941-2021) and Endre Takács (b.1933). Both came from families that had no ties with the circus world. Éva (Evelyn) was born on March 10, 1941, in Budapest, the Hungarian capital. She was a very physical kid, and she soon enrolled in the Ferencváros Torna Club, Budapest's gymnastics club. As soon as she became a teenager, she joined Baross Imre Artistaképző (Imre Baross school for Circus and performing arts) where she continued high school while training in various circus disciplines. She graduated in 1960, and began her professional circus career, first in a parallel bars act, The 4 Hunor with three partners (Károly Deltai, Gábor Hunfi, and Imre László), then in an acrobatic act named the Trio Evelyn, with Károly Deltai and Gábor Hunfi.
  
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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Born in Pàpoc, a village in the Western Transdanubia region of Hungary, on April 28, 1933, Endre Takács (André) trained in gymnastics, and joined the Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre (MTK) club in Budapest, with which he competed in acrobatic gymnastics. He and his team won a silver medal at the 1952 Hungarian Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships. For a living, Endre worked as a mechanic, but after his competitive career had reached an end, he was encouraged to join the circus by his friend, the artistic gymnast and Olympic champion (1948) Ferenc Pataki—or "Szefi bácsi" (Uncle Szefi) as he was affectionately called— who was a teacher at the Baross Imre Artistaképző.... ([[Evelyn and André|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—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).... ([[Elsane|more...]])
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==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
  
 +
* [[Evelyn and André]], Aerialists, Acrobats
 
* [[Ramón Rampin]], Clown
 
* [[Ramón Rampin]], Clown
 
* [[Elsane]], Aerialist
 
* [[Elsane]], Aerialist
 
* [[Nouveau_Cirque_(Paris)/fr|Nouveau Cirque]], History — Version Française (French Version)
 
* [[Nouveau_Cirque_(Paris)/fr|Nouveau Cirque]], History — Version Française (French Version)
 
* [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)/fr|Cirque Medrano]], History — Version Française (French Version)
 
* [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)/fr|Cirque Medrano]], History — Version Française (French Version)
* [[The Reverhos]], Acrobatic Jugglers
 
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Evelyn_and_Andre_Video_(1973)|Evelyn & André]], aerial perch (1973)
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* [[Monte_Carlo_Video_(1974-2019)|Monte Carlo Festival Highlights]], 1974-2019 (2019)
* [[Mironov_Video_(2023)|Aleksey Mironov]], comedy juggling (2023)
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* [[Bertram_Mills_Video_(1934)|Bertram Mills Circus]] on the Road and at Olympia (1934)
* [[Trakhtenberg_Video_(c.1980)|The Four Trakhtenbergs]], jugglers (c.1980)
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* [[Phyllis_Allan_Video_(1967)|Phyllis Allan]], dog act (1967)
* [[Emilien_Bouglione_Video_(1974)|Émilien Bouglione]], horses at liberty (1974)
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* [[Ultra_Jump_Video_(2025)|Ultra Jump]], springboard acrobatics (2025)
* [[Suzanne_Chipperfield_Video_(c.1970)|Suzanne Chipperfield]], dog and elephant act (c.1970)
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* [[Duo_Toldi_Video_(1966)|Duo Toldi]], hand-to-hand balancers (1966)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==
  
 +
* [[Dominique_Jando_Video_(2025)|Dominique Jando interview]] by the Circus Historical Society (2025)
 
* [[Evelyn_and_Andre_Video_(2015)|Evelyn & André Interview]] on Blikk TV (2015)
 
* [[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)
 
  
 
==Circopedia Books==
 
==Circopedia Books==

Latest revision as of 17:24, 1 May 2025


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

In The Spotlight

EVELYN & ANDRÉ

Evelyn and Andre US.png

During the communist era in Eastern Europe, circus arts experienced a spectacular evolution in terms of quality and originality, spearheaded by the Soviet Union, where this renaissance had started in 1928 with the creation of the State College of Circus and Variety Arts in Moscow. If the achievements of the Soviet circus were well known in the West thanks to the international tours of the Moscow Circus that started in the 1960s, top performers of the Eastern Bloc countries are often overlooked. However, Hungary, amidst other Eastern bloc states, had a strong independent spirit, and the Hungarian State Circus (as well as, individually, many Hungarian acts) had done countless forays in Western Europe and the U.S. The husband-and-wife duo of Evelyn & André are among those who managed to pursue a brilliant international career.

The duo consisted of Éva Páviács (1941-2021) and Endre Takács (b.1933). Both came from families that had no ties with the circus world. Éva (Evelyn) was born on March 10, 1941, in Budapest, the Hungarian capital. She was a very physical kid, and she soon enrolled in the Ferencváros Torna Club, Budapest's gymnastics clubA juggling pin.. As soon as she became a teenager, she joined Baross Imre Artistaképző (Imre Baross school for Circus and performing arts) where she continued 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) while training in various circus disciplines. She graduated in 1960, and began her professional circus career, first in a parallel bars act, The 4 Hunor with three partners (Károly Deltai, Gábor Hunfi, and Imre László), then in an acrobatic act named the Trio Evelyn, with Károly Deltai and Gábor Hunfi.

Born in Pàpoc, a village in the Western Transdanubia region of Hungary, on April 28, 1933, Endre Takács (André) trained in gymnastics, and joined the Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre (MTK) clubA juggling pin. in Budapest, with which he competed in acrobatic gymnastics. He and his team won a silver medal at the 1952 Hungarian Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships. For a living, Endre worked as a mechanic, but after his competitive career had reached an end, he was encouraged to join the circus by his friend, the artistic gymnast and Olympic champion (1948) Ferenc Pataki—or "Szefi bácsi" (Uncle Szefi) as he was affectionately called— who was a teacher at the Baross Imre Artistaképző.... (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, 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