Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

From Circopedia

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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
  
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===LE CIRQUE LEONCE===
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===STRUPPI HANNEFORD===
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[[File:Cirque_Leonce_1930.jpeg|right|300px]]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 a 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.
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Struppi Hanneford (1931-2014) was a major star aerialist before becoming a high-wire dancer, a wild animal trainer, and eventually, one of the United States’ foremost circus producers along with her husband, Tommy Hanneford (1927-2005). Her circus career, both as an artist and a producer, spanned the entire second half of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first.
  
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However Léonce was a good horseman, and while at Cirque Bureau he trained as an acrobat on horseback—the goal he had set 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.
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She was born Gertrude Zimmerman on September 26, 1931 in Speyer, a small town in Rhineland-Palatinate, near Mannheim in Germany. Her family had no connection with the circus or the performing arts: Her father was a baker, and her mother a homemaker. Yet at a very young age, Gertrude showed a keen interest for gymnastics and all things physical, which was strongly encouraged by her parents—in a country where, at the time, physical education was kept in very high regard.
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... ([[Cirque Léonce|more...]])
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As a little child, Gertrude used to hang from a bar that her father held with his hands; she enjoyed it, and created little routines of her own. When she was seven, her mother heard of a former trapeze artist whose husband was in the military, and who gave trapeze lessons to augment the family income. Thus Gertrude (Trude) Johann entered the life of Gertrude Zimmerman and became her trapeze teacher.... ([[Struppi Hanneford|more...]])
  
 
==New Biographies==  
 
==New Biographies==  
  
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* [[Struppi Hanneford]], Aerialist, Animal Trainer, Circus Owner
 
* [[Pancracio]], Clown
 
* [[Pancracio]], Clown
 
* [[Circus Sarrasani]], History
 
* [[Circus Sarrasani]], History
 
* [[Tom Dougherty]], Clown
 
* [[Tom Dougherty]], Clown
 
* [[Alfred Beautour]], Cat Trainer
 
* [[Alfred Beautour]], Cat Trainer
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* [[Ali Hassani]], Acrobat and Circus Owner
 
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==

Revision as of 21:17, 3 December 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.
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In The Spotlight

STRUPPI HANNEFORD

Struppi Hanneford (1931-2014) was a major star aerialistAny acrobat working above the ring on an aerial equipment such as trapeze, Roman Rings, Spanish web, etc. before becoming a high-wire dancer, a wild animal trainer, and eventually, one of the United States’ foremost circus producers along with her husband, Tommy Hanneford (1927-2005). Her circus career, both as an artist and a producer, spanned the entire second half of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first.

She was born Gertrude Zimmerman on September 26, 1931 in Speyer, a small town in Rhineland-Palatinate, near Mannheim in Germany. Her family had no connection with the circus or the performing arts: Her father was a baker, and her mother a homemaker. Yet at a very young age, Gertrude showed a keen interest for gymnastics and all things physical, which was strongly encouraged by her parents—in a country where, at the time, physical education was kept in very high regard.

As a little child, Gertrude used to hang from a bar that her father held with his hands; she enjoyed it, and created little routines of her own. When she was seven, her mother heard of a former trapeze artist whose husband was in the military, and who gave trapeze lessons to augment the family income. Thus Gertrude (Trude) Johann entered the life of Gertrude Zimmerman and became her trapeze teacher.... (more...)

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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. 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.

Dominique Jando
Editor/Curator
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