Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

From Circopedia

 
Line 4: Line 4:
 
------------------------------Banner across top of page------------------------------>
 
------------------------------Banner across top of page------------------------------>
 
{| id="mp-topbanner" style="width:100%; background:#fcfcfc; margin-top:1.2em; border:1px solid #ccc;"
 
{| id="mp-topbanner" style="width:100%; background:#fcfcfc; margin-top:1.2em; border:1px solid #ccc;"
|style="width:56%; color:#000"| <!--  
+
|style="width:56%; color:#0000"| <!--  
  
 
-----------"Welcome to Circopedia" and article count---------->
 
-----------"Welcome to Circopedia" and article count---------->
{| style="width:500px; border:solid 0px; background:none;"
+
{| style="width:100%; border:solid 0px; background:none;"
 
|style="width:500px; text-align:center; white-space:nowrap; color:#000;"|
 
|style="width:500px; text-align:center; white-space:nowrap; color:#000;"|
<div style="font-size:162%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#000;">Welcome to Circopedia,</div>
+
<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
<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:95%;">the free encyclopedia of the international circus.<br />A project of the [http://www.bigapplecircus.org/ Big Apple Circus],<br />inspired and funded by the [http://www.sdrubin.org/ Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation].</div>
+
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 inspired and funded by the [http://www.sdrubin.org/ Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation]''.</div><br/>
  
------------Category list on righthand side---------->
 
|style="width:11%; font-size:95%;"|
 
*[[:Category:Artists and Acts|Artists and Acts]]
 
*[[:Category:Circus Arts|Circus Specialties]]
 
*[[:Category:Circuses|Circuses]]
 
*[[:Category:History|Circus History]]
 
|style="width:11%; font-size:95%;"|
 
*[[:Category:Oral History|Oral History]]
 
*[[:Category:Photo Archive|Photo Archive]]
 
*[[:Category:Video Archive|Video Archive]]
 
*[[Links|Circus Links]]
 
 
|}
 
|}
 
+
|}
  
 
==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
 +
[[File:Luisita_Leers_trap.jpg|right|350px]]
 +
===LUISITA LEERS===
  
===CIRQUE LEONCE===
+
Luisita Leers (1909-1997) was born Martha Luise Krökel in Wiesbaden, in the western state of Hesse in Germany, on October 14, 1909. Her mother, Gertrude, was a member of the Reichenbach circus family. A physically powerful woman, Gertrude acquired fame with an elegant and spectacular acrobatic act, Les Leandros, in which she was the under-stander—an unusual occurrence for a woman. Luisita never knew her biological father, who left Gertrude when Luisita was only two years old. Her mother eventually remarried with Guido Krökel, an aerial contortionist who worked with the Leers-Arvello Troupe; their act, which combined Roman Rings and acrobatic pyramids, was mostly an aerial display of strength.
[[File:Cirque_Leonce_1930.jpeg|thumb|right|250px]]The Cirque Léonce was created in 1907 (and originally called Cirque Printania) by Léonce Chapuis, a circus enthusiast from a well-to-do French provincial family, who left his sedentary life to follow a circus—the well-known and highly reputable Cirque Bureau, one of France’s oldest traveling circuses (active from c.1855 to 1953). There, he worked in the circus office as jack-of-all-trades: Someone with a high school education was enough of a rarity in the traveling circus world to be useful in a large range of administrative chores.
+
  
While at Cirque Bureau, Léonce trained as an acrobat on horseback, the dream he had for himself as a circus artist. Unfortunately, he broke a leg in a bad fall, and his dream came to a vanishing point. He left the circus and became a journalist, and then, probably missing show business and touring, he went on to work with the "Tournées Baret," a famous theatrical touring company. But this was not the circus.
+
Guido took care of Luisita's artistic education without much tenderness, and transformed her into an exceptionally strong female athlete, who was able to hold her own in the Leers-Arvellos's various exhibitions of strength. Luisita made her professional debut on March 8, 1920 in Cologne (Köln), working with the troupe on the Roman rings. She was eleven years old! Soon, she could perform a one-arm "plange" (or planche) and an "iron cross," which were then supposed to belong exclusively to a male repertoire, and she even held with one arm her hanging stepfather. Meanwhile, she was building a trapeze act of her own, in which she could display her unusual strength. She began her solo trapeze career in 1926.
  
When his road crossed that of the popular Cirque Pinder (then still under the management of Arthur Pinder), Léonce asked for a job, and was hired as Régisseur—in the old French circus, a job whose fuzzy description embraced the duties of performance director, artistic administrator, stage manager, and probably, in Léonce’s case, anything that required a minimum of academic education.... ([[Cirque Léonce|more...]])
+
Her remarkable work on the trapeze quickly drew attention, and she was featured in some of the world's most prestigious circuses and variety theaters, from the legendary Wintergarten and Scala in Berlin to the Roxy, New York's premier movie palace, and a four-year contract with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from 1928 through 1933. There, she occupied a center-ring position in a program that was particularly rich in stellar aerialists: It included Winnie Colleano on the swinging trapeze, the Codonas and the Siegrist-Silbons on the flying trapeze, and the undisputed star of the show, Lillian Leitzel, on the Roman rings.... ([[Luisita Leers|more...]])
  
==New Biographies==  
+
==New Essays and Biographies==
  
* [[Pancracio]], Clown
+
* [[Alexis Gruss, Jr.]], Equestrian, Circus Owner
* [[Circus Sarrasani]], History
+
* [[Alona Zhuravel]], Hand-Balancer
* [[Tom Dougherty]], Clown
+
* [[George Carl]], Clown
* [[Alfred Beautour]], Cat Trainer
+
* [[Cedric Walker]], Circus Owner
* [[Ali Hassani]], Acrobat and Circus Owner
+
* [[The Aragón Family]], Clown Dynasty
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
''The new videos listed below show acts that have participated in the ''Idol'' Circus Festival in Moscow in September 2014.''
 
  
* [[Du_Quan_Ho_Video_(2014)|Du Quan Ho]], Aerial Loop (2014)
+
* [[Davio_Togni_Video_(c.1995)|Davio Togni]], hippo, rhino and leopard act (c.1995)
* [[Aleksandrov_Bears_Video_(2014)|Yuriy & Natalya Aleksandrov]], Bear Act (2014)
+
* [[Pneumatic_Arts_Video_(2024)|Pneumatic Arts]], flying trapeze (2024)
* [[Sharkovich_Video_(2014)|Duo Sharkovich]], Slack Wire (2014)
+
* [[Dziuba_Video_(2023)|Victoriia Dziuba]], hand-balancer (2023)
* [[Bayramukov_Troupe_Video_(2014)|Bayramukov Troupe]], Fast-Track Tumbling (2014)
+
* [[Bella_Ringenbach_Video_(2002)|Bella Ringenbach]], tiger act (2002)
* [[Pyongyang_Flying_Troupe_Video_(2014)|Pyongyang Flying Troupe]], Flying Trapeze (2014)
+
* [[Alexis_Gruss_Liberty_Video_(2022)|Alexis Gruss]], liberty presentation (2022)
* [[Nikulina_and_Zaets_Video_(2014)|Margarita Nikulina & Vitaliy Zaets]], Acrobatic Adagio (2014)
+
 
* [[Kanakhin_Duo_Video_(2014)|Aliya & Andrey Kanakhin]], Chinese Pole (2014)
+
==New Oral Histories==
* [[Nergui_Duo_Video_(2014)|Nergui Duo]], Contortion Act (2014)
+
 
* [[Vik_and_Fabrini_Video_(2014)|Vik & Fabrini]], Comedy Magic (2014)
+
* [[BAC_Blumberg_Video_(1977)|''For A Moment You Fly'']], The First Season of The Big Apple Circus (1977)
* [[Francois_Borie_Video_(2014)|François Borie]], Juggler (2014)
+
* [[Durov_Documentary_Video_(c.2000)|Vladimir Durov Documentary]] on Russian Television (c.2000)
* [[Israfilovi_Video_(2014)|Erik Israfilov]], Camel Act (2014)
+
* [[Dolly_Jacobs_Interview_Video_(2018)|Dolly Jacobs Interview]] at The Ringling (2018)
* [[Aleksandrov_Dogs_Video_(2014)|Viktoria & Oleg Aleksandrov]], Dog Act (2014)
+
* [[Pinito_del_Oro_RTE_Video_(1970)|Pinito del Oro's Interview]] on Spanish Television (1970)
* [[Fujian_Troupe_Lasso_Video_(2014)|The Fujian Acrobatic Troupe]], Tumbling and Lasso (2014)
+
* [[Eradze_Video_(2015)|Gia Eradze]]'s Interview on SSU TV (2015)
* [[Anastasia_Evkhimenko_Video_(2014)|Anastasia Evkhimenko]], Hula-Hoop on Horseback (2014)
+
* [[Mikheev_Trio_Video_(2014)|Mikheev Trio]], Ring Balancing (2014)
+
* [[Yulia_Denisenko_and_Yuriy_Khokhlov_Video_(2014)|Yulia Denisenko & Yuriy Khokhlov]] Polar Bears (2014)
+
* [[Shatirov_Troupe_Video_(2014)|The Shatirov Troupe]], Russian Barre (2014)
+
* [[Skokov_Troupe_Video_(2014)|The Skokov Troupe]], Russian Swing (2014)
+
* [[Khamada_Kuta_Video_(2014)|Khamada Kuta]], Lion and Tiger Act (2014)
+
* [[Veronika_Teslenko_Video_(2014)|Veronika Teslenko]], Aerial Straps (2014)
+
* [[Baranenko_%26_Petrikova_Video_(2014)|Elena Baranenko & Elena Patrikova]], Tissu Act (2014)
+
* [[Shagunin_Troupe_Video_(2014)|Shagunin Troupe]], Perch-Pole Balancing (2014)
+
  
==Featured Oral Histories==
+
==Circopedia Books==
  
* [[Pavlenko_Interview_Video|Nikolai Pavlenko]], tiger trainer - Interview (RIA Novosti, 2012)
+
* [[Circopedia Books|Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus]], by Dominique Jando (2018)
* [[Alberto_Zoppé_Interview_2003|Alberto Zoppé]], Equestrian - Interview (McCutcheon & Distasio, 2003)
+
* [[Olivier Taquin Interview 2008|Olivier Taquin]], Mime - Interview (Jando, 2008)
+
* [[Barry Lubin Interview 2008|Barry Lubin]], Clown (Grandma) - Interview (Jando, 2008)
+
* [[Fumagalli Interview 2008|Fumagalli]], Clown - Interview (Jando, 2008)
+
  
==A Message from the Editor==
+
==A Message from the Founder==
  
''CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding encyclopedia of the international circus. New videos, biographies, essays, and documents are added to the site on a weekly&mdash;and sometimes daily&mdash;basis. So 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 [[Special:Contact|contact us]]: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.''  
+
''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.''  
  
 
:'''Dominique Jando'''
 
:'''Dominique Jando'''
:Editor/Curator
+
:Founder and Curator

Latest revision as of 19:40, 31 May 2024


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

Luisita Leers trap.jpg

LUISITA LEERS

Luisita Leers (1909-1997) was born Martha Luise Krökel in Wiesbaden, in the western state of Hesse in Germany, on October 14, 1909. Her mother, Gertrude, was a member of the Reichenbach circus family. A physically powerful woman, Gertrude acquired fame with an elegant and spectacular acrobatic act, Les Leandros, in which she was the under-standerIn an acrobatic act, the person who is at the base, supporting other acrobats (for example, the base of a human pyramid). Also known as the "bottom Man" (or "Bottom Woman").—an unusual occurrence for a woman. Luisita never knew her biological father, who left Gertrude when Luisita was only two years old. Her mother eventually remarried with Guido Krökel, an aerial contortionist who worked with the Leers-Arvello Troupe; their act, which combined Roman Rings and acrobatic pyramids, was mostly an aerial display of strength.

Guido took care of Luisita's artistic education without much tenderness, and transformed her into an exceptionally strong female athlete, who was able to hold her own in the Leers-Arvellos's various exhibitions of strength. Luisita made her professional debut on March 8, 1920 in Cologne (Köln), working with the troupe on the Roman ringsA pair of small wooden or metallic rings hanging from ropes or straps, used by circus aerialists as well as competition gymnasts.. She was eleven years old! Soon, she could perform a one-arm "plange(American, From the French, ''planche'') Acrobatic figure in which one's body is held in a straight horizontal position." (or planche(French) Acrobatic figure in which one's body is held in a straight horizontal position.) and an "iron cross," which were then supposed to belong exclusively to a male repertoire, and she even held with one arm her hanging stepfather. Meanwhile, she was building a trapeze act of her own, in which she could display her unusual strength. She began her solo trapeze career in 1926.

Her remarkable work on the trapeze quickly drew attention, and she was featured in some of the world's most prestigious circuses and variety theaters, from the legendary Wintergarten and Scala in Berlin to the Roxy, New York's premier movie palace, and a four-year contract with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from 1928 through 1933. There, she occupied a center-ring position in a program that was particularly rich in stellar aerialists: It included Winnie Colleano on the swinging trapeze, the Codonas and the Siegrist-Silbons on 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), and the undisputed star of the show, Lillian Leitzel, on the Roman ringsA pair of small wooden or metallic rings hanging from ropes or straps, used by circus aerialists as well as competition gymnasts..... (more...)

New Essays and Biographies

New Videos

  • Davio Togni, hippo, rhino and leopard act (c.1995)
  • Pneumatic Arts, 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) (2024)
  • Victoriia Dziuba, hand-balancer (2023)
  • Bella Ringenbach, tiger act (2002)
  • Alexis Gruss, 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. presentation (2022)

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