Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

From Circopedia

(263 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 15: Line 15:
 
==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
  
===MAY WIRTH===
+
===BAPTISTE LOISSET===
[[File:May_Wirth_1920.jpeg|right|400px]]
+
[[File:Baptiste_Loisset.jpg|right|400px]]Baptiste Loisset (1797-1863) was, in the first half of the nineteenth century, one of Europe’s greatest equestrians and circus directors, a major figure in the circus world. He was one of the first horsemen to perform a somersault on horseback (on a ''panneau'', or flat saddle), and both his reputation and his knowledge of horsemanship led him to finish his brilliant career in the position of director of the royal riding academy at The Hague in the Netherlands—a country this Frenchman called home for most of his professional life.
One of the greatest female acrobats on horseback of all times, May Emmeline Wirth (1894-1978) was born on June 6, 1894 at Bundaberg, Queensland, in Australia, the daughter of John Edward Zinga, a circus artist from Mauritius (an island nation off the southwest coast of Africa) whose original name was Despoges, and his Australian-born wife Marie Dezeppo. In 1901, after her parents separated, May was adopted by Marizles ("Rill") Martin (1868-1948), an equestrienne and a sister of the Wirth brothers, proprietors of one of Australia’s largest circuses.
+
  
Having already been taught by her father to turn "flip-flaps," May soon featured in Wirth Bros. Circus in balancing and tumbling acts, and as a tight wire performer and contortionist. From the Wirths, May also learned equestrian skills. At the age of ten, she was a "real trick rider." In Melbourne in 1906, aged twelve, she was billed as "May Ringling," the "American fearless hurricane hurdle rider." Like the most adroit of circus performers, bareback riders in particular, May was short but strong. She grew to be only 150 centimetres tall (about five feet)
+
He was born Jean-Baptiste Antoine Loisset on November 28, 1797 (according to his Dutch marriage certificate) in Charleville (today Charleville-Mézières), in the department of Ardennes in France’s northeast region. However, popular biographies have placed his birth in Strasbourg, in the French province of Alsace, either on November 11 of that same year, or on August 9, 1793 (according to Signor Saltarino in his biographical dictionary, ''Pauvres Saltimbanques''). Where those dates come from is everybody’s guess.
  
Contortion work and tumbling, the earliest and most basic performing skills she acquired, were the basis of the technical precision and artistry she brought to her career as a bareback rider. By 1910, May’s work on horseback was clearly the most outstanding of her versatile accomplishments. But for all her skill as an equestrienne by that time, she did not rank highly on the Wirth program.... ([[May Wirth|more...]])
+
Charleville was, then as now, an industrial city, and its economy was based upon slate and coal and the hardware needed for these industries—notably iron nails. Baptiste’s parents were François Loisset, whose occupation was recorded as "nailsmith" in official documents, and Magdaleine, née Hugot. Circus lore, however, usually makes François Loisset an officer in Napoléon’s army, and has him wounded either at the battle of Wagram (1809) or at the battle of Marengo (1800).
 +
 
 +
The former assertion is not credible since the story also says that Baptiste lost his mother to yellow fever when he was four years old, and his father the following year—which would place François Loisset’s death in 1802 at the latest, seven years before the battle of Wagram. One may surmise that there has been some confusion between the elder Loissets: Baptiste’s uncle (François’s brother) served in Napoléon’s army, was wounded near Alessandria, in Piedmont, at the battle of Marengo, and is said to have settled thereafter in that Italian city.
 +
 
 +
If none of Baptiste’s given birthdates can validate the story of François Loisset in Wagram, it works certainly better with Marengo. But then, why would have his occupation been recorded posthumously as "nailsmith" if he had been an officer in the French army? It is quite likely that the legend of François’s military career has been borrowed from his brother’s. ([[Baptiste Loisset|more...]])
  
 
==New Biographies==
 
==New Biographies==
+
 
* [[Norman Crider]], Juggler
+
* [[Baptiste Loisset]], Circus Owner and Equestrian
* [[Zhejiang Acrobatic Troupe]], Chinese Acrobatics
+
* [[The Kornilov Dynasty]], Elephant Trainers
* [[Gene Mendez]], High Wire Artist
+
* [[Sergei Korolev]], Acrobat
* [[Franz Czeisler (Tihany)]], Magician, Circus Owner
+
* [[Victor Fomine]], Acrobat, Circus Coach
* [[Cirque_Medrano_(Paris)|Circuses Fernando and Medrano]], History
+
* [[Annie Fratellini]], Clown, Circus Director
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Paolo_Bedini_Video_(1964)|Paolo Bedini]], Juggler (1964)
+
* [[Orlando_%26_Celina_Video_(1975)|Orlando & Celina]], Teeterboard (1975)
* [[Duo_eMotion_Video_(2014)|Duo eMotion]], Single Point Trapeze (2014)
+
* [[Knie_Elephants_Video_(2000)|Franco Knie]], Elephant Act (2000)
* [[Anzorge_and_Golikov_Video_(1964)|Olga Anzorge & Viktor Golikov]], Aerial Cradle (1964)
+
* [[Anthony_Gatto_Video_(2000)|Anthony Gatto]], Juggler (2000)
* [[Schumann_High_School_Video_(c.1965)|Albert, Max, Paulina, Katja, Benny & Jacques Schumann]], High School Act (c.1965)
+
* [[Teslenko_Bros_Video_(2000)|The Teslenko Brothers]], Jugglers (2000)
* [[Schumann_Liberty_Act_Video_(c.1965)|Albert Schumann]], Horses at Liberty (c.1965)
+
* [[Balkanski_Video_(1997)|The Balkanski Troupe]], Teeterboard (1997)
  
==Featured Oral Histories==
+
==2018 Circopedia Award==
  
 +
* [[Dandies_Video_(2018)|''Dandies'' (Yury Kreer, Johnny Gasser, Kirill Ivanov)]], Russian Barre
 +
 +
==New Oral Histories==
 +
 +
* [[Rosa_Bouglione_Video_(2012)|Rosa Bouglione]]'s interview on Franch Television (2012)
 +
* [[Circo_Price_Video_(2017)|A Short History of Madrid's Old Circo Price]], Documentary (1970)
 
* [[Anastasia_Dementieva_Video_(2017)|Anastasia Dementieva-Kornilova]] – Vadim Vernik Interview (2017)
 
* [[Anastasia_Dementieva_Video_(2017)|Anastasia Dementieva-Kornilova]] – Vadim Vernik Interview (2017)
 
* [[Freres_Knie_Video_(1962)|''Les Frères Knie'']], Documentary (1962)
 
* [[Freres_Knie_Video_(1962)|''Les Frères Knie'']], Documentary (1962)
 
* [[Jean_Richard_Video_(1979)|Jean Richard and Jean-Pierre Richard]] at the Cirque Jean Richard – Christian Boner Interview (1979)
 
* [[Jean_Richard_Video_(1979)|Jean Richard and Jean-Pierre Richard]] at the Cirque Jean Richard – Christian Boner Interview (1979)
* [[Buster_Keaton_Video_(1947)|Jérôme Medrano about Buster Keaton]] at the Cirque Medrano (1947)
+
 
* [[Moira_Orfei_Video_(2012)|Moira Orfei]], Circus Owner – Davide Maggio Interview (2012)
+
==New Circopedia Books==
 +
 
 +
* [[Circopedia Books|Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus]], by Dominique Jando (2018)
  
 
==A Message from the Editor==
 
==A Message from the Editor==

Revision as of 19:39, 22 October 2018

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

BAPTISTE LOISSET

Baptiste Loisset.jpg
Baptiste Loisset (1797-1863) was, in the first half of the nineteenth century, one of Europe’s greatest equestrians and circus directors, a major figure in the circus world. He was one of the first horsemen to perform a somersault on horseback (on a panneau(French) A flat, padded saddle used by ballerinas on horseback., or flat saddle), and both his reputation and his knowledge of horsemanship led him to finish his brilliant career in the position of director of the royal riding academy at The Hague in the Netherlands—a country this Frenchman called home for most of his professional life.

He was born Jean-Baptiste Antoine Loisset on November 28, 1797 (according to his Dutch marriage certificate) in Charleville (today Charleville-Mézières), in the department of Ardennes in France’s northeast region. However, popular biographies have placed his birth in Strasbourg, in the French province of Alsace, either on November 11 of that same year, or on August 9, 1793 (according to Signor Saltarino in his biographical dictionary, Pauvres Saltimbanques). Where those dates come from is everybody’s guess.

Charleville was, then as now, an industrial city, and its economy was based upon slate and coal and the hardware needed for these industries—notably iron nails. Baptiste’s parents were François Loisset, whose occupation was recorded as "nailsmith" in official documents, and Magdaleine, née Hugot. Circus lore, however, usually makes François Loisset an officer in Napoléon’s army, and has him wounded either at the battle of Wagram (1809) or at the battle of Marengo (1800).

The former assertion is not credible since the story also says that Baptiste lost his mother to yellow fever when he was four years old, and his father the following year—which would place François Loisset’s death in 1802 at the latest, seven years before the battle of Wagram. One may surmise that there has been some confusion between the elder Loissets: Baptiste’s uncle (François’s brother) served in Napoléon’s army, was wounded near Alessandria, in Piedmont, at the battle of Marengo, and is said to have settled thereafter in that Italian city.

If none of Baptiste’s given birthdates can validate the story of François Loisset in Wagram, it works certainly better with Marengo. But then, why would have his occupation been recorded posthumously as "nailsmith" if he had been an officer in the French army? It is quite likely that the legend of François’s military career has been borrowed from his brother’s. (more...)

New Biographies

New Videos

2018 Circopedia Award

New Oral Histories

New Circopedia Books

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