In the Spotlight
MISS FILLIS
Miss Fillis was one of the greatest trapeze artists of the first half of the twentieth century. Like many of her most talented colleagues of that era, she was endowed with a remarkable strength, which she had developed working in her father’s horizontal bar act. She is remembered as the first woman ever to hold a handstand on the trapeze bar, a feat that has been replicated only by one of her father’s students, Maryse Begary. Yet, Miss Fillis was in actuality the second woman to do so: The first had been her sister. Miss Fillis was born Aimée Marcoud in Paris in 1891. Her father was a famous gymnast on the horizontal bars, Nicolas Marcoud, of the Marcoud-Banola Troupe. The Marcoud-Banolas (Marcoud and the brothers Banola) had an act that was a mixture of
flying actAny aerial act in which an acrobat is propelled in the air from one point to another. and horizontal bars: Nicolas flew from his bars to the hands of one of the Banola brothers, who worked as a
catcherIn an acrobatic or a flying act, the person whose role is to catch acrobats that have been propelled in the air.. Aimée made her professional debut at age ten in her father’s act—quite an arduous discipline to learn for a little girl.... (
more...)
New Biographies
New Videos
Featured Oral Histories
- Alberto Zoppé, Equestrian - Interview (McCutcheon & Distasio, 2003)
- Olivier Taquin, Mime - Interview (Jando, 2008)
- Barry Lubin, Clown (Grandma) - Interview (Jando, 2008)
- Fumagalli, Clown - Interview (Jando, 2008)
- Kris Kremo, Juggler - Interview (Jando, 2007)
A Message from the Editor
- 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—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!
- Dominique Jando
- Editor/Curator