Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

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<div style="font-size:165%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Welcome! Bienvenue! Willkommen! Добро Пожаловать!</div><div style="font-size:165%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Bienvenida! Benvenuto! 歡迎 ! Vítejte! Καλώς ήρθατε!</div><div style="font-size:165%; 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/>
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<div style="font-size:165%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Welcome! Bienvenue! Willkommen! Добро Пожаловать!</div><div style="font-size:165%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Bienvenida! Benvenuto! 歡迎 ! Vítejte! Καλώς ήρθατε!</div><div style="font-size:165%; 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:110%;"> Circopedia is 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>
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<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:110%;"> Circopedia was originally created with the support of the [http://www.bigapplecircus.com/ Big Apple Circus],<br />and has been inspired and funded by the [http://www.sdrubin.org/ Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation].</div>
 
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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
[[File:John_Bill_Ricketts.jpg|right|300px]]
 
===JOHN BILL RICKETTS===
 
  
On April 3, 1793, a crowd of theatergoers, horsemanship enthusiasts, and prying citizens gathered at the corner of Market and Twelfth Streets in Philadelphia to witness the debut performance of Mr. John Bill Ricketts's company at the Circus. The Circus was a roofless arena of some eight-hundred seats (divided between pit and boxes) surrounding a circular riding space filled in with a mixture of soil and sawdust, forty-two feet in diameter—the ring. The wooden construction had been erected in a matter of weeks by Ricketts, a British equestrian who had arrived from Scotland the previous year and had quickly established a riding school in Philadelphia, then the capital of the newly formed United States of America. Ricketts had followed the example of Philip Astley, who had established just such a riding school in London in 1768, at the foot of Westminster Bridge, before creating there the first modern circus two years later.
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===PINITO DEL ORO===
 +
[[File:Pinito_del_Oro_on_trapeze.jpeg|right|300px]]Pinito del Oro (1931-2017) was a genuine circus star, an iconic personality of the Spanish entertainment scene, and one of the world’s top aerialists in the 1950s and 1960s. Beautiful, with a natural elegance and a radiant smile—and indeed extremely talented—she was featured with her outstanding Washington trapeze act in Europe’s most prestigious circuses, and had been a center-ring headliner with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in the United States for seven consecutive seasons. She was also courageous and resilient: she survived three near-fatal accidents, and each time resumed her precarious career on the trapeze.
  
Before long, a small group of performers from Ricketts's former British company joined him in Philadelphia. Among them were his brother Francis, an equestrian and tumbler; Mr. Spinacuta, the rope-dancer, along with his wife, an attractive equestrienne who rode two horses at full gallop; Mr. McDonald, another tumbler who performed comic acrobatic intermezzos as the Clown; and Ricketts's pupil, young Master Strobach. The performance included a great many "feats of horsemanship," most of them presented by Ricketts himself, rope-dancing, some tumbling, and McDonald's acrobatic parodies. This was the first circus show ever put on in America.([[John Bill Ricketts|more...]])
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She was born Cristina María del Pino Segura on November 6, 1931 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (on Gran Canaria, one of Spain’s Canary Islands off the coast of southern Morocco). Spain was in political turmoil at the time, entering a period of disorder that would lead to the Spanish Civil War, and Pinito’s father, José Segura, had decided to take his small family circus company to the Canary Islands, far from the mainland’s troubles, and in an area also totally devoid of competition. (The Spanish circus scene at the time was particularly active.)
  
==New Biographies==
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José Segura was not born into the circus: He came from a middle-class family of Alcoy, in the Province of Alicante (southeast of Spain), where his parents ran a delicatessen. They wanted José to be a doctor, but alas, José’s father died unexpectedly, and there was no money left to pay for his studies. One of José’s uncles stepped in—but he wanted José to enter a seminary and embrace priesthood. This didn’t suit José’s bohemian lifestyle and his taste for pretty girls; he ran away and joined a traveling comedian and puppeteer named Anastasiano, who initiated him to the performing arts and taught him rudiments of acrobatics, juggling and other circus skills.... ([[Pinito del Oro|more...]])
  
* [[Kannan Bombayo]], Rope Dancer
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==New Biographies==
* [[Réjean St. Jules]], Juggler
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* [[Les Bario]], Clowns
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* [[Walter Nones]], Circus Director, Animal Trainer
* [[Edoardo Raspini]], Juggler
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* [[Norman Crider]], Juggler
* [[Italo Medini]], Juggler
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* [[Zhejiang Acrobatic Troupe]], Chinese Acrobatics
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* [[Gene Mendez]], High Wire Artist
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* [[Franz Czeisler (Tihany)]], Magician, Circus Owner
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Bennetts_Video_(c.1970)|Archie & Diane Bennett]], Contortion Act (c.1970)
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* [[Duo_Volkov_Video_(2001)|Duo Volkov]], Roman Rings (2001)
* [[Abillos_Video_(1976)|Los Abillos]], Rola-Bola (1976)
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* [[Owl_and_Pussycat_Video_(2017)|The Owl & The Pussycat]], Trapeze Duet (2017)
* [[Gambys_Video_(1965)|The Gambys]], Perch-Pole Act (1995)
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* [[Manduca_Video_(2001)|Duo Manduca]], Comedy Acrobatics (2001)
* [[Totem_Video_(1996)|Totem]], Triple Trapeze Act (1996)
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* [[Encho_Video_(2007)|Encho]], Hand Balancer (2007)
* [[Don_Saunders_Piste_Video_(1965)|Don Saunders]], Clown (1965)
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* [[Olympiads_Video_(1985)|The Olympiads]], Hand-to-Hand Balancing (1985)
  
 
==Featured Oral Histories==
 
==Featured Oral Histories==
  
* [[Moira_Orfei_Video_(2012)|Moira Orfei]], Circus Owner - Davide Maggio Interview (2012)
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* [[Anastasia_Dementieva_Video_(2017)|Anastasia Dementieva-Kornilova]] – Vadim Vernik Interview (2017)
* [[Oleg_Popov_Circus_Legends_Video_(2014)|Oleg Popov]], clown - Russian Television Feature (2014)
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* [[Freres_Knie_Video_(1962)|''Les Frères Knie'']], Documentary (1962)
* [[Albert_Fratellini_Interview_(1957)|Albert Fratellini]], clown - French Television Interview (1957)
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* [[Jean_Richard_Video_(1979)|Jean Richard and Jean-Pierre Richard]] at the Cirque Jean Richard – Christian Boner Interview (1979)
* [[Pavlenko_Interview_Video|Nikolai Pavlenko]], tiger trainer - Interview (RIA Novosti, 2012)
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* [[Buster_Keaton_Video_(1947)|Jérôme Medrano about Buster Keaton]] at the Cirque Medrano (1947)
* [[Alberto_Zoppé_Interview_2003|Alberto Zoppé]], Equestrian - Interview (McCutcheon & Distasio, 2003)
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* [[Moira_Orfei_Video_(2012)|Moira Orfei]], Circus Owner – Davide Maggio Interview (2012)
  
 
==A Message from the Editor==
 
==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&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.''  
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''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 [[Special:Contact|contact us]]: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.''  
  
 
:'''Dominique Jando'''
 
:'''Dominique Jando'''
:Editor/Curator
+
:Founder and Curator

Revision as of 04:24, 25 November 2017

Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!
Bienvenida! ✫ Benvenuto! ✫ 歡迎 ! ✫ Vítejte! ✫ Καλώς ήρθατε!
Üdvözöljük! ✫ Добре Дошли! ✫ Welkom! ✫ Ласкаво Просимо!
Velkommen! ✫ Tervetuloa! ✫ Дабро Запрашаем! ✫ Välkommen!

Circopedia was originally created with the support of the Big Apple Circus,
and has been inspired and funded by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.

In The Spotlight

PINITO DEL ORO

Pinito del Oro on trapeze.jpeg
Pinito del Oro (1931-2017) was a genuine circus star, an iconic personality of the Spanish entertainment scene, and one of the world’s top aerialists in the 1950s and 1960s. Beautiful, with a natural elegance and a radiant smile—and indeed extremely talented—she was featured with her outstanding Washington trapeze(orig.: "trapèze à la Washington" – French) A heavy trapeze with a flat bar, on which an aerialist performs balancing tricks. Originated by the American aerialist H. R. Keyes Washington (1838-1882). act in Europe’s most prestigious circuses, and had been a center-ring headliner with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in the United States for seven consecutive seasons. She was also courageous and resilient: she survived three near-fatal accidents, and each time resumed her precarious career on the trapeze.

She was born Cristina María del Pino Segura on November 6, 1931 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (on Gran Canaria, one of Spain’s Canary Islands off the coast of southern Morocco). Spain was in political turmoil at the time, entering a period of disorder that would lead to the Spanish Civil War, and Pinito’s father, José Segura, had decided to take his small family circus company to the Canary Islands, far from the mainland’s troubles, and in an area also totally devoid of competition. (The Spanish circus scene at the time was particularly active.)

José Segura was not born into the circus: He came from a middle-class family of Alcoy, in the Province of Alicante (southeast of Spain), where his parents ran a delicatessen. They wanted José to be a doctor, but alas, José’s father died unexpectedly, and there was no money left to pay for his studies. One of José’s uncles stepped in—but he wanted José to enter a seminary and embrace priesthood. This didn’t suit José’s bohemian lifestyle and his taste for pretty girls; he ran away and joined a traveling comedian and puppeteer named Anastasiano, who initiated him to the performing arts and taught him rudiments of acrobatics, juggling and other circus skills.... (more...)

New Biographies

New Videos

Featured Oral Histories

A Message from the Editor

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