Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
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===TINI BERMAN===
 
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[[File:Tini_Berman_(c.1965).jpg|right|280px]]
 
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Often billed as "Miss Yvonne"—and thus called sometimes Yvonne Berman—Tini (or Tintje, which literally means ''savor'' in English) Berman (1929-2013) was a talented and very popular cat trainer on the European circus scene from the 1950s up to the early 1970s. She was born Katharina Ijzerman on August 22, 1929 in Benthuizen (today Rijnwoude), a small town in the province of South Holland, in the Netherlands, to a family that was not related to the circus. As a young woman, Tini went on to work as a stenographer at the Dutch Defense Ministry, while studying to become a goldsmith.
 
  
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Her studies were interrupted in 1951, when Tini Ijzerman fell in love with Adriaan Berman, a childhood friend of her brothers. Adriaan had become an animal trainer and presented a group of polar bears at Circus Carré in Amsterdam, during the traditional winter season of Circus Strassburger in the legendary "circus-theater." The polar bears belonged to the Klant Zoo, created by Willy Hagenbeck’s stepson, Erie Klant (1912-1990), on the hill of Cauberg in Valkenburg. The zoo was particularly renowned for its animal-trainer school: Adriaan had learned his trade with Klant, and when his contract with Strassburger was over, he returned to Cauberg with Klant’s bears, and Tini in tow.... ([[Tini Berman|more...]])
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===SERGEI IGNATOV===
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[[File:Sergei_Ignatov_c.1985.jpg|right|180px]]
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One of the greatest jugglers in circus history, Sergei Mikhailovich Ignatov was born August 23, 1950 in Chemnitz, in Saxony, in the former German Democratic Republic (or East Germany), to a Russian circus family. His grandfather, Ivan Petrovich (1900-?), was an equestrian, and his father, Mikhail Ivanovich (1924-1967), had been a dog and monkey trainer. Sergei grew up in Moscow, in what was then the USSR, along with his younger brother, Leonid Mikhailovich, who also became a remarkable juggler.
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Sergei joined the State College for Circus and Variety Arts (the "Moscow Circus School") at age fifteen in 1965. After only one year, he had to give up acrobatics due to knee problems and he specialized as a juggler. His teacher was the legendary [[Violetta Kiss]], an amazing juggler and hand-balancer who was, with her brother Aleksandr, a major star of the Soviet circus in the 1950's and 1960's.
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In just two years time, training eight hours a day, Sergei became a very proficient juggler with rings, large balls, and clubs. He created new tricks, such as the "pancake throw" with rings, and a special kick-up from four to five clubs. Both tricks are still performed by jugglers today. The juggling technique that Violetta Kiss taught him became the firm foundation of Ignatov’s subsequent twenty years of creative work. At the Moscow circus college's graduation show in 1968, he was an unmitigated success. The audience present was well aware of his exceptional talent, and knew that Sergei’s performance was only the harbinger of things to come.... ([[Sergei Ignatov|more...]])
  
 
==New Biographies==  
 
==New Biographies==  

Revision as of 20:27, 1 February 2014

Welcome to Circopedia,
the free encyclopedia of the international circus.
A project of the Big Apple Circus,
inspired and funded by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.

In The Spotlight

SERGEI IGNATOV

Sergei Ignatov c.1985.jpg

One of the greatest jugglers in circus history, Sergei Mikhailovich Ignatov was born August 23, 1950 in Chemnitz, in Saxony, in the former German Democratic Republic (or East Germany), to a Russian circus family. His grandfather, Ivan Petrovich (1900-?), was an equestrian, and his father, Mikhail Ivanovich (1924-1967), had been a dog and monkey trainer. Sergei grew up in Moscow, in what was then the USSR, along with his younger brother, Leonid Mikhailovich, who also became a remarkable juggler.

Sergei joined the State College for Circus and Variety Arts (the "Moscow Circus School") at age fifteen in 1965. After only one year, he had to give up acrobatics due to knee problems and he specialized as a juggler. His teacher was the legendary Violetta Kiss, an amazing juggler and hand-balancer who was, with her brother Aleksandr, a major star of the Soviet circus in the 1950's and 1960's.

In just two years time, training eight hours a day, Sergei became a very proficient juggler with rings, large balls, and clubs. He created new tricks, such as the "pancake throwIn juggling, a figure in which a juggling ring is thrown in a way that makes it flip over its own axis rather than spinning around it, much like a pancake on a pan." with rings, and a special kick-up from four to five clubs. Both tricks are still performed by jugglers today. The juggling technique that Violetta Kiss taught him became the firm foundation of Ignatov’s subsequent twenty years of creative work. At the Moscow circus college's graduation show in 1968, he was an unmitigated success. The audience present was well aware of his exceptional talent, and knew that Sergei’s performance was only the harbinger of things to come.... (more...)

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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. 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 contact us: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.

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