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Victor married María Teresa Palencia, who didn't belong to a circus family. Together they had six children: Maria Guadalupe ("Lupe"), Jorge Armando ("Mando," born November 19, 1943), Silvia Graciela ("Chela," born May 23, 1945), Victor Daniel ("Tito," born August 29, 1947), Ricardo ("Richie," born May 25, 1957), José, and Marco Antonio. | Victor married María Teresa Palencia, who didn't belong to a circus family. Together they had six children: Maria Guadalupe ("Lupe"), Jorge Armando ("Mando," born November 19, 1943), Silvia Graciela ("Chela," born May 23, 1945), Victor Daniel ("Tito," born August 29, 1947), Ricardo ("Richie," born May 25, 1957), José, and Marco Antonio. | ||
| − | The children weren't thrown immediately into the world of the circus. They went to school like any other kids in their hometown of Guadalajara. During their summer vacations, they visited their father, who toured with various circuses in the United States. But they had circus blood in their veins, and Tito often claimed that, by age three, he already wanted to join the circus. When he saw the film Trapeze (1956)—Carol Reed's tale of an aging flyer and his gifted young pupil, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, and Gina Lollobrigida—Tito decided he wanted to be a flyer. Or so he claims. By the time the movie came out, he'd already had a taste of the trapeze: in the summer of 1954, at age seven, he was announced as "the world's youngest flyer," with the Flying Valentines at Tom Packs Circus in New Orleans | + | The children weren't thrown immediately into the world of the circus. They went to school like any other kids in their hometown of Guadalajara. During their summer vacations, they visited their father, who toured with various circuses in the United States. But they had circus blood in their veins, and Tito often claimed that, by age three, he already wanted to join the circus. When he saw the film Trapeze (1956)—Carol Reed's tale of an aging flyer and his gifted young pupil, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, and Gina Lollobrigida—Tito decided he wanted to be a flyer. Or so he claims. By the time the movie came out, he'd already had a taste of the trapeze: in the summer of 1954, at age seven, he was announced as "the world's youngest flyer," with the Flying Valentines at Tom Packs Circus in New Orleans.... ([[Flying Gaonas|more...]]) |
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==New Essays and Biographies== | ==New Essays and Biographies== | ||
Revision as of 22:06, 11 March 2025
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In The Spotlight
TITO GAONA
The Gaonas are a large Mexican circus family. Since the flying trapezeAerial act in which an acrobat is propelled from a trapeze to a catcher, or to another trapeze. (See also: Short-distance Flying Trapeze) has long been a specialty of the Mexican circus, it was inevitable that flying acts featuring members of the Gaona family would call themselves, with some legitimacy, the Flying Gaonas. And indeed, this has happened. To the circus world, however, there has been one and only one Flying Gaonas: the act in which, for 35 years, Tito Gaona caught flawless triple somersaults with extraordinary grace and astonishing consistency.
Victor Gaona Murillo (1925-2016) was born to an old, prolific Mexican circus family that traces its roots to the Circo Gaona y León, created in 1891 by Bernabé Gaona Ramos, a former military officer (whose brother, Rodolfo, was a well-known torero), and Carlos León, a trapeze artist. Victor's father, also named Bernabé, was a celebrated clown in Mexico under the name of Yoyito.
Victor married María Teresa Palencia, who didn't belong to a circus family. Together they had six children: Maria Guadalupe ("Lupe"), Jorge Armando ("Mando," born November 19, 1943), Silvia Graciela ("Chela," born May 23, 1945), Victor Daniel ("Tito," born August 29, 1947), Ricardo ("Richie," born May 25, 1957), José, and Marco Antonio.
The children weren't thrown immediately into the world of the circus. They went to school like any other kids in their hometown of Guadalajara. During their summer vacations, they visited their father, who toured with various circuses in the United States. But they had circus blood in their veins, and Tito often claimed that, by age three, he already wanted to join the circus. When he saw the film Trapeze (1956)—Carol Reed's tale of an aging flyerAn acrobat that is propelled in the air, either in a flying act, or in an acrobatic act (i.e. teeterboard). and his gifted young pupil, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, and Gina Lollobrigida—Tito decided he wanted to be a flyerAn acrobat that is propelled in the air, either in a flying act, or in an acrobatic act (i.e. teeterboard).. Or so he claims. By the time the movie came out, he'd already had a taste of the trapeze: in the summer of 1954, at age seven, he was announced as "the world's youngest flyerAn acrobat that is propelled in the air, either in a flying act, or in an acrobatic act (i.e. teeterboard).," with the Flying Valentines at Tom Packs Circus in New Orleans.... (more...)
New Essays and Biographies
- Nouveau Cirque, History — Version Française (French Version)
- Cirque Medrano, History — Version Française (French Version)
- The Reverhos, Acrobatic Jugglers
- Francis Brunn, Juggler
- Tereza Durova, Animal Trainer
New Videos
- Evelyn & André, aerial perchA hanging perch, from where the performers hang with the help of hand or ankle loops. (French: Bambou - Russian: Bambuk) (1966)
- The Berosinis, 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.) (1964)
- Pieric and Djuboudiep, clowns (1993)
- Duo Disar, strap actAerial act performed hanging from a pair of fabric or leather straps. (See Aerial Straps.) (2024)
- Anvar Sattarov & Nikolai Konovalov, clowns (2023)
New Oral Histories
- For A Moment You Fly, The First Season of The Big Apple Circus (1977)
- Vladimir Durov Documentary on Russian Television (c.2000)
- Dolly Jacobs Interview at The Ringling (2018)
- Pinito del Oro's Interview on Spanish Television (1970)
- Gia Eradze's Interview on SSU TV (2015)
Circopedia Books
- Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus, by Dominique Jando (2018)
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
