Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

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==In the Spotlight==
 
==In the Spotlight==
  
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===RUSSIA'S FIRST NATIONAL CIRCUS===  
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===LEONID ENGIBAROV===  
  
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[[Image:Alessandro_Guerra_(1838).jpg|right|120px]]On November 22, 1845, the Italian equestrian Alessandro Guerra and his troupe gave their first performance in the circus they had just built on the old Place des Manèges—the "merry-go-round square", today’s Theatre Square—in St. Petersburg, in the shadow of the stately Kamennyi Theatre (the "stone theatre"). The Kamennyi was also known as the Bolshoi Theatre (the "grand" theatre), and like its homonym in Moscow, it housed the Imperial Ballet and Opera companies. For a long time, the vast Place des Manèges had welcomed visiting fairs and their merry-go-rounds, but the presence of the theater had since redeemed the square's prestige, and Guerra found himself in ideal surroundings. Guerra was fifty-five in 1845. Born in Rome, Italy, he had started his career at Vienna's Circus Gymnasticus, under the management of the Latvian equestrian Christopher de Bach, whose daughter, Elisa, Alessandro had seduced and married. Then, in 1826, he had created his own company, which toured under the name (fashionable at the time) of ''Cirque Olympique''. After the death of his father-in-law, Guerra engaged into a bitter rivalry with de Bach's widow, the beautiful Laura de Bach, and then went to compete against Ernst Renz in Berlin before settling in the Capital of All Russias. Guerra was a remarkable trick-rider, famous for his aggressive manner in the ring (which he also displayed in private life), and which got him a nickname: ''Il Furioso''....  ([[Russia's First National Circus|more...]])
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[[Image:Alessandro_Guerra_(1838).jpg|right|120px]]Although he had a meteoric career that lasted only twelve years, the influence of Leonid Engibarov (1935-1972) on modern clowning has been considerable. His untimely death also propelled him into the realm of show business legends, in the rarefied atmosphere shared by prematurely disappeared young artists who helped define a generation: James Dean for the American cinema, Gérard Philippe for the French theater, Vladimir Visotskiy for Russian pop music—among others. And Leonid Engibarov for the Russian circus. In the ring, Engibarov’s character reflected his true off-stage persona: A fiercely independent young man, mischievous, belligerent, in constant revolt against the powers that be—whether the ringmaster in the circus ring, or SoyuzGosTsirk, the central Soviet circus organization, in real life. In this, he embodied the moods of a new Soviet youth, which danced the twist, listened to the Beatles, and tried to erase three decades of Stalinist tyranny....  ([[Leonid Engibarov|more...]])
  
 
==New Biographies==
 
==New Biographies==

Revision as of 00:51, 4 February 2011

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

LEONID ENGIBAROV

Alessandro Guerra (1838).jpg
Although he had a meteoric career that lasted only twelve years, the influence of Leonid Engibarov (1935-1972) on modern clowning has been considerable. His untimely death also propelled him into the realm of show business legends, in the rarefied atmosphere shared by prematurely disappeared young artists who helped define a generation: James Dean for the American cinema, Gérard Philippe for the French theater, Vladimir Visotskiy for Russian pop music—among others. And Leonid Engibarov for the Russian circus. In the ring, Engibarov’s character reflected his true off-stage persona: A fiercely independent young man, mischievous, belligerent, in constant revolt against the powers that be—whether the ringmaster(American, English) The name given today to the old position of Equestrian Director, and by extension, to the presenter of the show. in the circus ring, or SoyuzGosTsirk, the central Soviet circus organization, in real life. In this, he embodied the moods of a new Soviet youth, which danced the twist, listened to the Beatles, and tried to erase three decades of Stalinist tyranny.... (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!
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