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==In the Spotlight==
 
==In the Spotlight==
  
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===CIRCUS OZ===  
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===BERTRAM MILLS===  
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[[Image:Circus_Oz_Acrobats_(2010).jpg|right|85px]]Founded in December 1977, with its first performance season in March 1978, Circus Oz was the amalgamation of two already well known groups—Soapbox Circus, a roadshow set up by the Australian Performing Group (APG) in 1976, and the New Ensemble Circus, a continuation of the New Circus, established in Adelaide in 1974. Between them, these two groups had performed over seven hundred times to an audience of more than 300,000. None of the original twenty five members had a traditional circus background, although some had worked in circuses in order to learn particular skills firsthand. Rather, the group chose circus as its medium through an intellectual (and somewhat romantic) process. The circus form, at least theoretically, provided the perfect context in which to develop the sort of performance and, as important at the time, the sort of life, that the group wanted...  ([[Circus Oz|more...]])
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[[Image:Circus_Oz_Acrobats_(2010).jpg|right|85px]]The death of Bertram W. Mills (1873-1938) from pneumonia on April 16, 1938—the date on which his tenting circus was due to open at Luton for its 1938 tour—was a momentous event in the history of the British circus. Within five hours of the announcement, the hoardings for the evening newspapers in London were proclaiming "Bertram Mills Dead." His name was truly a household one: One national newspaper announced the "Death of Britain’s Nº 1 Showman" and the "King of the Modern Circus," indicating the unrivalled position in which the showman was revered. The status in which he was regarded led to a French circus critic describing him as "the renovator of the British circus," and throughout the British Isles, the show he had created in 1920 had become known as "The Quality Show"—a title it bore proudly until its closure in 1967. Without a shadow of doubt, Mills did indeed prove to be the saviour of the British circus for his generation, and perhaps, the United Kingdom will never see another era in which this form of entertainment was held in such reverence...  ([[Bertram Mills|more...]])
  
 
==New Biographies==
 
==New Biographies==

Revision as of 19:41, 31 October 2010

Welcome to Circopedia,
the free encyclopedia of the international circus.
A project of the Big Apple Circus,
inspired and funded by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.


In the Spotlight

BERTRAM MILLS

Circus Oz Acrobats (2010).jpg
The death of Bertram W. Mills (1873-1938) from pneumonia on April 16, 1938—the date on which his tenting circus was due to open at Luton for its 1938 tour—was a momentous event in the history of the British circus. Within five hours of the announcement, the hoardings for the evening newspapers in London were proclaiming "Bertram Mills Dead." His name was truly a household one: One national newspaper announced the "Death of Britain’s Nº 1 Showman" and the "King of the Modern Circus," indicating the unrivalled position in which the showman was revered. The status in which he was regarded led to a French circus critic describing him as "the renovator of the British circus," and throughout the British Isles, the show he had created in 1920 had become known as "The Quality Show"—a title it bore proudly until its closure in 1967. Without a shadow of doubt, Mills did indeed prove to be the saviour of the British circus for his generation, and perhaps, the United Kingdom will never see another era in which this form of entertainment was held in such reverence... (more...)

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CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding encyclopedia 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!
Dominique Jando
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