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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
  
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===IRINA BUGRIMOVA===
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===LUISITA LEERS===
  
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[[File:Bugrimova_Poster.jpeg|right|300px]]A former competitive track and field champion with a taste for dangerous stunts, Irina Bugrimova (1910-2001) was a true legend of the Soviet circus. She had performed as a circus daredevil and a high-school rider before finding her true calling as a very successful lion trainer. She became a major star of the Soviet circus in an era where female cat trainers were unheard of in the USSR: For a time, Bugrimova's only competition in that domain was Margarita Nazarova (1926-2005), another Soviet circus legend, who began performing in the cage fourteen years after her!
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Luisita Leers (1909-1997) was born Luise Krökel in Wiesbaden, Germany, on October 14, 1909. Her mother, Gertrude, was a member of the [[Reichenback Family|Reichenbach]] circus family. A physically powerful woman, she acquired fame with an elegant and spectacular acrobatic act, Les [[Leandros]], in which she was the under-stander—an unusual occurrence for a woman. Luisita never knew her biological father, who left Gertrude when Luisita was only two years old. Her mother eventually remarried with Guido Krökel, an aerial contortionist who worked with the [[Leers-Arvello Troupe]]; their act, which combined Roman Rings and acrobatic pyramids, was mostly an aerial display of strength.
  
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Irina Nikolaevna Bugrimova (Ирина Николаевна Бугримова) was born March 13, 1910, in Kharkov in Ukraine, which was then part of the Russian Empire. Her father, Nikolai Bugrimov, was a professor of veterinary medicine. Her mother, Aleksandra, came from an aristocratic family: Her father, Iosif Iosifovich Fedorovich, had been Admiral of the Russian Fleet. Aleksandra had a strong artistic bent; she was an accomplished pianist, an artist, and showed a great interest in the art of photography. Irina was the fourth child of Nikolai and Aleksandra Bugrimovi, who, coincidentally, bore the first names of the Russian ill-fated Tsar and Tsarina; it is just as the Bolshevik revolution started that Irina, who was seven years old, began studying music and ballet at the Kharkov Opera studio.  
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Guido took care of Luisita's artistic education without too much tenderness and made of her an extraordinarily strong female athlete able to hold her own in the Leers-Arvellos's various exhibitions of strength. Luisita made her professional debut on March 8, 1920 in Cologne (Köln), working with the troupe on the Roman rings. She was eleven years old! Soon, she was able to accomplish a one-arm "plange" (or ''planche'') and an "iron cross" (which were then supposed to belong exclusively to a male repertoire) and to hold with one arm her hanging stepfather. Meanwhile, she was building a solo trapeze act in which to display her unusual strength. She began her solo career in 1926.
  
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A restive child, Irina became interested in competitive sports; she played hockey, did speed skating, and competed in track and field, from long and high jumps to discus, spear, and weight throwing. She won many competitions and, in 1927, became the weight throw Ukrainian champion, and in 1928, she won the same title for discus. Meanwhile, as a teenager, young Irina often helped her father when he treated horses and wild animals at the state circus of Kharkov, and she thus became familiar with animals of all sorts—as well as with the circus world, for which she developed a keen interest. ([[Irina Bugrimova|more...]])
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Her remarkable work on the trapeze quickly drew headlines. It took her to some of the world's most prestigious circuses and variety theaters, from the Wintergarten and the Scala in Berlin to the Roxy in New York, including a four-year contract with [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey]] from 1928 through 1933. There, she occupied a center-ring position in a program that was particularly rich in stellar aerialists: It included [[Winnie Colleano]] (swinging trapeze), the [[Alfredo Codona|Codonas]] and the [[The Siegrist-Silbons|Siegrist-Silbons]] (flying trapeze), and the undisputed star of the show, [[Lillian Leitzel]], on the Roman rings... ([[Luisita Leers|more...]])
  
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==

Revision as of 07:57, 1 June 2022

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Circopedia was originally inspired and funded by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.

In The Spotlight

LUISITA LEERS

Luisita Leers (1909-1997) was born Luise Krökel in Wiesbaden, Germany, on October 14, 1909. Her mother, Gertrude, was a member of the Reichenbach circus family. A physically powerful woman, she acquired fame with an elegant and spectacular acrobatic act, Les Leandros, in which she was the under-standerIn an acrobatic act, the person who is at the base, supporting other acrobats (for example, the base of a human pyramid). Also known as the "bottom Man" (or "Bottom Woman").—an unusual occurrence for a woman. Luisita never knew her biological father, who left Gertrude when Luisita was only two years old. Her mother eventually remarried with Guido Krökel, an aerial contortionist who worked with the Leers-Arvello Troupe; their act, which combined Roman Rings and acrobatic pyramids, was mostly an aerial display of strength.

Guido took care of Luisita's artistic education without too much tenderness and made of her an extraordinarily strong female athlete able to hold her own in the Leers-Arvellos's various exhibitions of strength. Luisita made her professional debut on March 8, 1920 in Cologne (Köln), working with the troupe on the Roman ringsA pair of small wooden or metallic rings hanging from ropes or straps, used by circus aerialists as well as competition gymnasts.. She was eleven years old! Soon, she was able to accomplish a one-arm "plange(American, From the French, ''planche'') Acrobatic figure in which one's body is held in a straight horizontal position." (or planche(French) Acrobatic figure in which one's body is held in a straight horizontal position.) and an "iron cross" (which were then supposed to belong exclusively to a male repertoire) and to hold with one arm her hanging stepfather. Meanwhile, she was building a solo trapeze act in which to display her unusual strength. She began her solo career in 1926.

Her remarkable work on the trapeze quickly drew headlines. It took her to some of the world's most prestigious circuses and variety theaters, from the Wintergarten and the Scala in Berlin to the Roxy in New York, including a four-year contract with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey from 1928 through 1933. There, she occupied a center-ring position in a program that was particularly rich in stellar aerialists: It included Winnie Colleano (swinging trapeze), the Codonas and the Siegrist-Silbons (flying trapezeAerial act in which an acrobat is propelled from a trapeze to a catcher, or to another trapeze. (See also: Short-distance Flying Trapeze)), and the undisputed star of the show, Lillian Leitzel, on the Roman ringsA pair of small wooden or metallic rings hanging from ropes or straps, used by circus aerialists as well as competition gymnasts.... (more...)

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A Message from the Founder

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
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