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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
[[File:Chiarini_in_Japan.jpg|right|300px]]
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[[File:The_Lorch_Family_(c1890).jpeg|right|300px]]
===GIUSEPPE CHIARINI===
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===THE LORCH FAMILY===
  
Giuseppe Chiarini (1823-1897) was perhaps the most influential circus director of the nineteenth century: During a professional career that spanned fifty-eight years, his extensive and incessant international tours led him from Europe to North and South America, to India and Asia, and down to Australia. In many places that had not yet been exposed to the circus, Chiarini’s was the first circus the locals had ever seen—and this exposure sometimes triggered there the creation of an indigenous circus inspired by Chiarini’s shows.
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The Lorch family was a highly respected Jewish circus family that owned a circus in Germany intermittently from the nineteenth century until 1930. Founded by Hirsch Lorch (1817-1901) in the second half of the nineteenth century, Circus Lorch was continued by his sons, Adolf (1845-1918), who was born in Manheim on May 4, 1845, and Louis (1847-1924), born in Lörrach, in Baden-Württemberg, on July 14, 1847. Before the turn of the twentieth century, the brothers worked in partnership, and their Circus Gebrüder Lorch traveled principally in southern Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
  
Over the years, Chiarini performed for Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Emperors Maximilian I of Mexico, Dom Pedro of Brazil, Mitsuhito of Japan, King Rama V of Siam, an assortment of Indian Rajahs, and for various government officials and politicians. His Royal Italian Circus—which could become Royal Spanish Circus when needed—was in fact an American enterprise based in California. A true circus man, Chiarini was indubitably a citizen of the world.
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The family acts presented in the show included horsemanship and a remarkable Risley act performed by Louis’s children, which would acquire a towering reputation on the international circus and variety scene during the first half of the twentieth century. The circus maintained winter quarters in Eschollbrücken (today part of Pfungstadt, in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg) in southern Hessen, where Hirsch Lorch and his family had settled in 1870.
  
Giuseppe Chiarini came from a large and ancient Italian family of traveling entertainers, whose first recorded appearance was at the Foire Saint-Laurent, one of France’s oldest fairs, in 1580. Many Chiarinis, more or less directly related to Giuseppe, have since been chronicled in popular entertainment and circus history—a very diverse crowd of acrobats, ropedancers, puppeteers, ballet dancers, and equestrians.
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At the beginning of the twentieth century, while Adolf continued to manage the circus, Louis and his many children went on their own with their Risley act. (Under the sole management of Adolf, Circus Lorch lasted until the beginning of WWI.) With up to eleven performers (family members and partners or apprentices), and at times, horses, Louis’s Lorch Family act was one of the world’s biggest—and indeed one of the best—Risley acts. A true star attraction and very much sought after, it toured for nearly three decades with considerable success in Europe, the United States and South America.
  
In his novel ''Die Vagabunden'' (1895) the German poet Karl von Holtei immortalized one of them, Francesco Chiarini; in the 1780s, this Chiarini managed a company of acrobats and puppeteers, and ran a very successful ''Théâtre d’Ombres Chinoises'' (shadow puppet theater). His daughter, Angélique, a celebrated equestrienne, had been featured in 1793 at the Amphithéâtre Franconi—the former Amphithéâtre Astley—in Paris, and later in the troupe of Jacques Tourniaire. ([[Giuseppe Chiarini|more...]])
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In 1909, the Lorch Family troupe sailed to the New World, where their act was featured with the Ringling Bros. Circus; it remained there until 1912, working in American vaudeville during the winter months. Even after he stopped being an active participant in the act, Louis continued to travel with his family until his death in 1924—after which his eldest son, Julius (1875-1942), born December 11, 1875 in Neuwied-am-Rhein, succeeded him as head of the troupe. The most outstanding feats in the Lorch Family act were a series of three consecutive double somersaults that Julius’s son Egon (1900-1954) turned on his father’s feet, and an extremely rare triple somersault. ([[The Lorch Family|more...]])
  
 
==New Biographies==
 
==New Biographies==
  
* [[Victor Fomine]], Acrobat, Circus Coach
+
* [[Rudy Horn]], Juggler
* [[Annie Fratellini]], Clown, Circus Director
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* [[Albert Rebla]], Juggler
* [[Joel Baker]], Clown
+
* [[Baptiste Loisset]], Circus Owner and Equestrian
* [[Irina Naumenko]], Hand Balancer
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* [[The Kornilov Dynasty]], Elephant Trainers
* [[The Owl and The Pussycat]], Trapeze Act
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* [[Sergei Korolev]], Acrobat
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Irina_Zapashnaya_Video_(2000)|Irina Zapashnaya]], Sea Lion Act (2000)
+
* [[Shenyang_"Fan_Dance"_Video_(2016)|Shenyang Acrobatic Troupe]], Head-Balancing (2016)
* [[Askaryan_Video_(2000)|Asis Askaryan]], Chimpanzee Act (2000)
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* [[Selyna_Bogino_Video_(2018)|Selyna Bogino]], Foot Juggler (2018)
* [[Kirilenko_Trio_Video_(2000)|Trio Kirilenko]], Inclined Pole Balancing (2000)
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* [[Eva_Vida_Video_(1983)|Eva Vida]], Juggler (1983)
* [[Emma_Henshall_Video_(2008)|Emma Henshall]] ,Swinging Trapeze (2008)
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* [[Rudy_Horn_Video_(1960)|Rudy Horn]], Juggler (1960)
* [[Zemskov_Russian_Barre_Video_(1995)|The Zemskov Troupe]], Russian Barre (1995)
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* [[LunaStorme_Video_(2017)|LunaStorme]], Aerial Hoop (2017)
  
==Featured Oral Histories==
+
==New Oral Histories==
  
* [[Circo_Price_Video_(2017)|A Short History of Madrid's Old Circo Price]], Circus History (1970)
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* [[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)
 
  
==Featured Circopedia Book==
+
==2018 Circopedia Award==
 +
 
 +
* [[Dandies_Video_(2018)|''Dandies'' (Yury Kreer, Johnny Gasser, Kirill Ivanov)]], Russian Barre
 +
 
 +
==New Circopedia Books==
  
 
* [[Circopedia Books|Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus]], by Dominique Jando (2018)
 
* [[Circopedia Books|Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus]], by Dominique Jando (2018)

Revision as of 02:24, 16 December 2018

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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

The Lorch Family (c1890).jpeg

THE LORCH FAMILY

The Lorch family was a highly respected Jewish circus family that owned a circus in Germany intermittently from the nineteenth century until 1930. Founded by Hirsch Lorch (1817-1901) in the second half of the nineteenth century, Circus Lorch was continued by his sons, Adolf (1845-1918), who was born in Manheim on May 4, 1845, and Louis (1847-1924), born in Lörrach, in Baden-Württemberg, on July 14, 1847. Before the turn of the twentieth century, the brothers worked in partnership, and their Circus Gebrüder Lorch traveled principally in southern Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.

The family acts presented in the show included horsemanship and a remarkable Risley actAct performed by Icarists, in which one acrobat, lying on his back, juggles another acrobat with his feet. (Named after Richard Risley Carlisle, who developed this type of act.) performed by Louis’s children, which would acquire a towering reputation on the international circus and variety scene during the first half of the twentieth century. The circus maintained winter quarters in Eschollbrücken (today part of Pfungstadt, in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg) in southern Hessen, where Hirsch Lorch and his family had settled in 1870.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, while Adolf continued to manage the circus, Louis and his many children went on their own with their Risley actAct performed by Icarists, in which one acrobat, lying on his back, juggles another acrobat with his feet. (Named after Richard Risley Carlisle, who developed this type of act.). (Under the sole management of Adolf, Circus Lorch lasted until the beginning of WWI.) With up to eleven performers (family members and partners or apprentices), and at times, horses, Louis’s Lorch Family act was one of the world’s biggest—and indeed one of the best—Risley acts. A true star attraction(Russian) A circus act that can occupy up to the entire second half of a circus performance. and very much sought after, it toured for nearly three decades with considerable success in Europe, the United States and South America.

In 1909, the Lorch Family troupe sailed to the New World, where their act was featured with the Ringling Bros. Circus; it remained there until 1912, working in American vaudeville during the winter months. Even after he stopped being an active participant in the act, Louis continued to travel with his family until his death in 1924—after which his eldest son, Julius (1875-1942), born December 11, 1875 in Neuwied-am-Rhein, succeeded him as head of the troupe. The most outstanding feats in the Lorch Family act were a series of three consecutive double somersaults that Julius’s son Egon (1900-1954) turned on his father’s feet, and an extremely rare triple somersault. (more...)

New Biographies

New Videos

New Oral Histories

2018 Circopedia Award

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