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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="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 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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<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:90%;"> Circopedia was originally created with the support of the [http://www.bigapplecircus.com/ Big Apple Circus]<br />and inspired and funded by the [http://www.sdrubin.org/ Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation].</div>
 
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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
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[[File:Oleg_Popov_Tent_Background.jpeg|right|300px]]
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===OLEG POPOV===
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From the second half of the twentieth century to the first decades of the twenty-first century, Oleg Popov (1930-2016) was perhaps the most recognizable clown name in the world. Popov was, during his Russian career when he toured the world with the Moscow Circus, the Soviet Union’s de facto "Goodwill Ambassador." After the fall of the Soviet Union, with Russia in turmoil, he decided to settle in Germany, where he toured for a while with his own ''Moscow Circus''. Yet, his return to Russia in 2015, for the first (and short-lived) Master Festival in Sochi, became a national cultural event of first magnitude.
  
===THE CIRCUSES OF MOSCOW===
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Oleg Konstantinovich Popov was born on July 31, 1930 in the small village of Vyrubov, in the Kuntsevo District of the Moscow Region. (Today, the village has become part of an urban settlement.) When Oleg was about five years old, his parents moved to Moscow, where his grandparents lived. They settled in an apartment on Leningradsky Avenue, near the old Dynamo Central Stadium. Oleg’s father, Konstantin, made a living as a watch repairman. According to Oleg, he drank heavily&mdash;which unfortunately was not a rare occurrence in Russia then.
[[File:Circus_Salamonsky_in_Moscow.jpg|right|450px]]
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Although the name Moscow Circus is familiar to the public all over the world, there has never been one specific “Moscow Circus” whose troupe toured internationally. The name was a generic term for the circus shows from the USSR traveling abroad during the Soviet Era. It has, over time, become synonymous with “Russian circus.” Yet, there are today (2017) two resident circuses in Moscow, Circus Nikulin on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, and the Bolshoi Circus (bolshoi means big, in Russian) on Vernadsky Avenue—and there have been indeed several others before them.
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The first circus built in Russia was established by the French equestrian Jacques Tourniaire, who settled in 1827 in what was then the Russian capital, St. Petersburg. The building, designed by the architect Smaragd Shustov and named Cirque Olympique, was located near the Fontanka canal, practically where St. Petersburg’s Circus Ciniselli stands today. Tourniaire’s circus had only a short existence: it was bought back by the government of St. Petersburg in 1828 to be transformed into a theater. Still, the event didn’t fail to catch the attention of the Muscovites, who always took exception to the influence of Peter The Great’s Baltic capital.
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In 1941, when Oleg was eleven years old, his father was arrested for unknown reasons. Two years later, in 1943, the family learned that he had died, probably one of the many victims of Stalin’s purges. This situation, added to war privations, had put Oleg’s mother in a dire financial state and, at age thirteen, he had to leave school and get a job to help her. He found a place as an apprentice mechanic in the printing plant of the Communist Party’s daily, ''Pravda'', which was the Soviet era’s newspaper of record.  
  
The previous year, Tourniaire had exhibited his equestrian prowess in Moscow, in the manège of the Pashkov mansion (today the Russian State Library), on Mokhovaya Street. Another famous trick rider, Jacob Bates, had long preceded him in the former Russian capital, where he performed in 1864, and since then, Moscow had welcomed several equestrian companies—among which that of Pierre Mayheu, the famous Spanish rider, in 1790&mdash;but contrary to most European major cities, the great Russian metropolis didn’t have a permanent circus of its own.... ([[The Circuses Of Moscow|more...]])
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Young Oleg was a very physical kid. Living near the Dynamo Stadium, he had taken a strong interest in football (soccer). The Dynamo Sports Society (which was affiliated with the KGB) was home to the famous Dynamo Football Club, Moscow’s celebrated team, and every day, Oleg and his friends tried to emulate its star players in their building’s courtyard.  Then, when he began working at the Pravda plant, he joined the ''Krilya Sovietov'' (Крылья Советов, "Wings of the Soviets") gymnastics club, where he started training in basic acrobatics.... ([[Oleg Popov|more...]])
  
 
==New Biographies==
 
==New Biographies==
+
 
* [[Norman Crider]], Juggler
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* [[Oleg Popov]], Clown
* [[Zhejiang Acrobatic Troupe]], Chinese Acrobatics
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* [[The Steben Sisters]], Aerialists
* [[Gene Mendez]], High Wire Artist
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* [[Gilbert Houcke]], Equestrian, Animal Trainer
* [[Franz Czeisler (Tihany)]], Magician, Circus Owner
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* [[Alisher Aliyev]], Acrobat, Equestrian, Aerialist
* [[Cirque_Medrano_(Paris)|Circuses Fernando and Medrano]], History
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* [[Gia Eradze]], Circus Director, Animal Trainer
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Nikobatze_Video_(1966)|Nikobatze Troupe]], Tumbling Act (1966)
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* [[Isabella_Nock_Video_(1986)|Isabella Nock]], Swinging Trapeze (1986)
* [[Emil_Kio,_Jr._Video_(1966)|Emil Kio, Jr.]], Magic Act (1966)
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* [[Frederic_Perant_Video_(2018)|Frédéric Pérant]], Comedy Juggler (2018)
* [[Togni_Trapeze_Video_(2017)|Adriana & Sarah Togni]], Double Trapeze (2017)
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* [[Bubnova_Video_(1953)|Elena Bubnova Troupe]], Aerial Act (1953)
* [[Fredy_Knie,_Sr._Video_(1977)|Fredy Knie, Sr.]], Horses at Liberty (1977)
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* [[Fudi_Video_(1981)|Suzanne & Fudi]], Jugglers (1981)
* [[Golovko_Video_(1966)|Vil Golovko]], Aerial Straps and Washington Trapeze (1966)
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* [[Isabella_Enoch_Video_(1985)|Isabella Enoch]], Trapeze Act (1985)
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 +
==New Oral Histories==
 +
 
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* [[Durov_Documentary_Video_(c.2000)|Vladimir Durov Documentary]] on Russian Television (c.2000)
 +
* [[Dolly_Jacobs_Interview_Video_(2018)|Dolly Jacobs Interview]] at The Ringling (2018)
 +
* [[Pinito_del_Oro_RTE_Video_(1970)|Pinito del Oro's Interview]] on Spanish Television (1970)
 +
* [[Eradze_Video_(2015)|Gia Eradze]]'s Interview on SSU TV (2015)
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* [[Rosa_Bouglione_Video_(2012)|Rosa Bouglione]]'s interview on Franch Television (2012)
  
==Featured Oral Histories==
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==Circopedia Books==
  
* [[Anastasia_Dementieva_Video_(2017)|Anastasia Dementieva-Kornilova]] – Vadim Vernik Interview (2017)
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* [[Circopedia Books|Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus]], by Dominique Jando (2018)
* [[Freres_Knie_Video_(1962)|''Les Frères Knie'']], Documentary (1962)
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* [[Jean_Richard_Video_(1979)|Jean Richard and Jean-Pierre Richard]] at the Cirque Jean Richard – Christian Boner Interview (1979)
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* [[Buster_Keaton_Video_(1947)|Jérôme Medrano about Buster Keaton]] at the Cirque Medrano (1947)
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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 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.''  
+
''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 [[Circopedia:Contact|contact us]]: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.''  
  
 
:'''Dominique Jando'''
 
:'''Dominique Jando'''
 
:Founder and Curator
 
:Founder and Curator

Revision as of 23:30, 17 September 2019

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 inspired and funded by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.

In The Spotlight

Oleg Popov Tent Background.jpeg

OLEG POPOV

From the second half of the twentieth century to the first decades of the twenty-first century, Oleg Popov (1930-2016) was perhaps the most recognizable clown name in the world. Popov was, during his Russian career when he toured the world with the Moscow Circus, the Soviet Union’s de facto "Goodwill Ambassador." After the fall of the Soviet Union, with Russia in turmoil, he decided to settle in Germany, where he toured for a while with his own Moscow Circus. Yet, his return to Russia in 2015, for the first (and short-lived) Master Festival in Sochi, became a national cultural event of first magnitude.

Oleg Konstantinovich Popov was born on July 31, 1930 in the small village of Vyrubov, in the Kuntsevo District of the Moscow Region. (Today, the village has become part of an urban settlement.) When Oleg was about five years old, his parents moved to Moscow, where his grandparents lived. They settled in an apartment on Leningradsky Avenue, near the old Dynamo Central Stadium. Oleg’s father, Konstantin, made a living as a watch repairman. According to Oleg, he drank heavily—which unfortunately was not a rare occurrence in Russia then.

In 1941, when Oleg was eleven years old, his father was arrested for unknown reasons. Two years later, in 1943, the family learned that he had died, probably one of the many victims of Stalin’s purges. This situation, added to war privations, had put Oleg’s mother in a dire financial state and, at age thirteen, he had to leave school and get a job to help her. He found a place as an apprentice mechanic in the printing plant of the Communist Party’s daily, Pravda, which was the Soviet era’s newspaper of record.

Young Oleg was a very physical kid. Living near the Dynamo Stadium, he had taken a strong interest in football (soccer). The Dynamo Sports Society (which was affiliated with the KGB) was home to the famous Dynamo Football Club, Moscow’s celebrated team, and every day, Oleg and his friends tried to emulate its star players in their building’s courtyard. Then, when he began working at the Pravda plant, he joined the Krilya Sovietov (Крылья Советов, "Wings of the Soviets") gymnastics clubA juggling pin., where he started training in basic acrobatics.... (more...)

New Biographies

New Videos

New Oral Histories

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