Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

From Circopedia

(32 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 17: Line 17:
  
 
==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
−
[[File:NC_Leopold_Loyal.jpg|right|350px]]
 
−
===THE NOUVEAU CIRQUE===
 
  
−
Located from 1886 to 1926 on the rue Saint Honoré in Paris, a chic shopping thoroughfare at a stone’s throw from the Place Vendôme, the Nouveau Cirque was the most elegant and innovative circus of the French capital—and, for that matter, of Europe. For many years, it was the High Society’s circus of choice. Its relatively small size gave it warmth and intimacy (it was sometimes referred to as a "bonbonniere"), but in time, the Nouveau Cirque’s limited capacity made it difficult to manage. It began to lose its prominence before the first World War and proved unable to adapt to the post-war era.
+
===MOIRA ORFEI===
 +
[[File:Moira_Orfei_and_elephants.jpg|right|400px]]
 +
Moira Orfei (born Miranda Orfei, 1931-2015) was an Italian pop-culture icon. A member of Italy's most famous circus family, she could compete in fame with any Italian music or movie legend. She was undoubtedly the only circus owner in the world who could get away (for forty years, no less!) with advertising her circus using posters that prominently displayed only her head shot and her first name. Much of her reputation was due to her long movie career, which coincided with the golden age of Italian cinema. But it was also due to the quality of her circus.
  
−
The Nouveau Cirque was built for its times—what is remembered today as the Parisian "Belle Époque" ("Beautiful Era"), of which it was one of the jewels. After WWI, Paris entered the Jazz Age. Then, in the early 1920s, the venerable Cirque d’Hiver, completely refurbished, returned to the presentation of circus shows after a rather futile hiatus as a movie-house and theater; the Cirque Medrano began to enjoy one of its more lucrative periods; and the brand-new Empire Music-Hall Cirque opened its doors Avenue de Wagram: The small "bonbonniere" that was the Nouveau Cirque looked suddenly like a remnant of another era. It faced a competition it was ill-equipped to fight. Once a revolutionary and trendsetting house whose rich and often glorious life had lasted forty years, the Nouveau Cirque finally called it quits.
+
The daughter of Riccardo Orfei and Violetta Arata, she was born in the family's living trailer on December 21, 1931 in Codriopo, Italy. As a child, Moira was trained in all the basic circus disciplines. In 1960—without ever leaving the circus—she began a movie career. Ultimately, she appeared in nearly forty films, including popular Italian comedies and a host of internationally successful Italian productions based on mythological themes, such as the ''Hercules'', ''Ursus'', and ''Samson'' series.
  
−
The Nouveau Cirque was created by Joseph Oller (1839-1922), an imaginative entrepreneur and prolific provider of Parisian amusements. He was born Josep Oller i Roca in Terrassa, in Spanish Catalonia, on February 10, 1839; his parents were Francesc Oller, a fabric merchant, and his wife, Teresa, née Roca. The family emigrated to France when Josep was two years old, and the Ollers settled in Paris where Josep, now Joseph, was raised. He eventually returned to Spain to study at the University of Bilbao in the Basque Country, and while there, he discovered cockfighting, which was still very popular in the nineteenth century. His passion for this gory game led him to become a bookmaker—his first entrepreneurial endeavor.
+
In 1961, she married the acrobat Walter Nones (1934-2016), the son of Giuseppe Nones and Adele Medini. A year later, they formed a company with the Austrian Swoboda sisters (of the Medrano-Swoboda circus) and began a long career as circus owners and directors. A year after that, the Orfeis and the Swobodas parted ways. Moira and Walter went on to create their own Circo Moira Orfei, which quickly drew attention, both for the elegance of its productions and its infrastructures and, above all, for the high quality of its acts.
−
 
+
−
Back to Paris, Oller transferred his bookmaking activities to horse racing. France had gained by then a new Emperor, Napoléon III, whose half-brother, the Duc de Morny, had been influential in the development of horse racing in France and had built the Deauville-La Touques racetrack in 1862. Morny died in 1865, but with his help, Oller had begun to develop the concept of the "pari mutuel" (literally meaning "mutual betting"), an innovative system in which bets are placed in a pool, and the winners share the losers' stakes—after the bookmaker has taken his commission. Oller put his new system to work in 1867; it replaced advantageously fixed-odds betting and made him a rich man indeed. Oller also launched ''Le Bulletin des Courses'', France’s first horse-racing journal.... ([[Nouveau Cirque (Paris)|more...]])
+
Moira and Walter launched the monumental ''Circo sul Ghiaccio'' ("Circus on Ice") in 1969. It was easily the most sophisticated circus-on-ice show ever undertaken; it had both a circus ring and a skating rink, and the show included elaborate set changes, a huge variety of costumes, and an international cast of circus and variety megastars. During this period, Moira's elephant presentations made her a legend, while Walter became an excellent lion and tiger trainer.... ([[Moira Orfei|more...]])
  
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
  
 +
* [[Cedric Walker]], Circus Owner
 +
* [[The Aragón Family]], Clown Dynasty
 
* [[Totti Alexis]], Clown
 
* [[Totti Alexis]], Clown
 
* [[Ross Mollison]], Circus Producer
 
* [[Ross Mollison]], Circus Producer
 
* [[Don Saunders]], Clown
 
* [[Don Saunders]], Clown
−
* [[Jo-Ann Jennier]], Aerialist, Animal Trainer
 
−
* [[Ethel Jennier]], Aerialist, Animal Trainer
 
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
−
* [[Big_Apple_Circus_Teaser_Video_(2023)|Promotional Teaser]] for the Big Apple Circus/Circus-Theater Roncalli (2023)
+
* [[Duo_Gold_Video_(2020)|Ambra & Yves Nicols]], Silks (2020)
−
* [[Serov_Demidova_Video_(2023)|Vladimir Serov & Elizabeta Demidova]], Aerial Perch (2023)
+
* [[Mantchev_Trapeze_BAC_Video_(2012)|Andrey Mantchev]], Swinging Trapeze (2012)
−
* [[Totti_Alexis_Video_(2019)|Totti & Charlie Alexis]], musical clowns (2019)
+
* [[Roman_Tomanov_Video_(2021)|Roman Tomanov]], aerial straps (2021)
−
* [[Collins_Brothers_Video_(1993)|The Collins Brothers]], comedy trapeze act (1993)
+
* [[Marinoni_Video_(2024)|Marica Marinoni]], Cyr wheel (2024)  
−
* [[Peter_Shub_Video_(2015)|Peter Shub]], clown (2015)
+
* [[Monte_Carlo_Video_(2016)| International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]], 40th Anniversary Gala (excerpts) (2016)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==

Revision as of 22:45, 25 March 2024


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

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

In The Spotlight

MOIRA ORFEI

Moira Orfei and elephants.jpg

Moira Orfei (born Miranda Orfei, 1931-2015) was an Italian pop-culture icon. A member of Italy's most famous circus family, she could compete in fame with any Italian music or movie legend. She was undoubtedly the only circus owner in the world who could get away (for forty years, no less!) with advertising her circus using posters that prominently displayed only her head shot and her first name. Much of her reputation was due to her long movie career, which coincided with the golden age of Italian cinema. But it was also due to the quality of her circus.

The daughter of Riccardo Orfei and Violetta Arata, she was born in the family's living trailer on December 21, 1931 in Codriopo, Italy. As a child, Moira was trained in all the basic circus disciplines. In 1960—without ever leaving the circus—she began a movie career. Ultimately, she appeared in nearly forty films, including popular Italian comedies and a host of internationally successful Italian productions based on mythological themes, such as the Hercules, Ursus, and Samson series.

In 1961, she married the acrobat Walter Nones (1934-2016), the son of Giuseppe Nones and Adele Medini. A year later, they formed a company with the Austrian Swoboda sisters (of the Medrano-Swoboda circus) and began a long career as circus owners and directors. A year after that, the Orfeis and the Swobodas parted ways. Moira and Walter went on to create their own Circo Moira Orfei, which quickly drew attention, both for the elegance of its productions and its infrastructures and, above all, for the high quality of its acts.

Moira and Walter launched the monumental Circo sul Ghiaccio ("Circus on Ice") in 1969. It was easily the most sophisticated circus-on-ice show ever undertaken; it had both a circus ring and a skating rink, and the show included elaborate set changes, a huge variety of costumes, and an international cast of circus and variety megastars. During this period, Moira's elephant presentations made her a legend, while Walter became an excellent lion and tiger trainer.... (more...)

New Essays and Biographies

New Videos

New Oral Histories

Circopedia Books

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
Retrieved from "http://www.circopedia.org/index.php?title=Main_Page&oldid=41081"