Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

From Circopedia

 
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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/>
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<br><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Bienvenida! ✫ Benvenuto! ✫ 歡迎 ! ✫ Vítejte! ✫ Καλώς ήρθατ
<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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ε!</div><div style="font-size:175%; 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/>
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<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:98%;"> ''Circopedia was originally inspired and funded by the [http://www.sdrubin.org/ Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation]''.</div><br/>
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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
[[File:The_Lorch_Family_(c1890).jpeg|right|300px]]
 
===THE LORCH FAMILY===
 
  
The Lorch family was a highly respected Jewish circus family that owned a circus in Germany intermittently from the nineteenth century until 1930. Founded by Hirsch Lorch (1817-1901) in the second half of the nineteenth century, Circus Lorch was continued by his sons, Adolf (1845-1918), who was born in Manheim on May 4, 1845, and Louis (1847-1924), born in Lörrach, in Baden-Württemberg, on July 14, 1847. Before the turn of the twentieth century, the brothers worked in partnership, and their Circus Gebrüder Lorch traveled principally in southern Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
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===MOIRA ORFEI===
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[[File:Moira_Orfei_and_elephants.jpg|right|400px]]
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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 family acts presented in the show included horsemanship and a remarkable Risley act performed by Louis’s children, which would acquire a towering reputation on the international circus and variety scene during the first half of the twentieth century. The circus maintained winter quarters in Eschollbrücken (today part of Pfungstadt, in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg) in southern Hessen, where Hirsch Lorch and his family had settled in 1870.
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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&mdash;without ever leaving the circus&mdash;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.
  
At the beginning of the twentieth century, while Adolf continued to manage the circus, Louis and his many children went on their own with their Risley act. (Under the sole management of Adolf, Circus Lorch lasted until the beginning of WWI.) With up to eleven performers (family members and partners or apprentices), and at times, horses, Louis’s Lorch Family act was one of the world’s biggest—and indeed one of the best—Risley acts. A true star attraction and very much sought after, it toured for nearly three decades with considerable success in Europe, the United States and South America.
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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.
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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...]])
  
In 1909, the Lorch Family troupe sailed to the New World, where their act was featured with the Ringling Bros. Circus; it remained there until 1912, working in American vaudeville during the winter months. Even after he stopped being an active participant in the act, Louis continued to travel with his family until his death in 1924—after which his eldest son, Julius (1875-1942), born December 11, 1875 in Neuwied-am-Rhein, succeeded him as head of the troupe. The most outstanding feats in the Lorch Family act were a series of three consecutive double somersaults that Julius’s son Egon (1900-1954) turned on his father’s feet, and an extremely rare triple somersault. ([[The Lorch Family|more...]])
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==New Essays and Biographies==
  
==New Biographies==
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* [[Cedric Walker]], Circus Owner
 
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* [[The Aragón Family]], Clown Dynasty
* [[Albert Rebla]], Juggler
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* [[Totti Alexis]], Clown
* [[Baptiste Loisset]], Circus Owner and Equestrian
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* [[Ross Mollison]], Circus Producer
* [[The Kornilov Dynasty]], Elephant Trainers
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* [[Don Saunders]], Clown
* [[Sergei Korolev]], Acrobat
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* [[Victor Fomine]], Acrobat, Circus Coach
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==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[LunaStorme_Video_(2017)|LunaStorme]], Aerial Hoop (2017)
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* [[Duo_Gold_Video_(2020)|Ambra & Yves Nicols]], Silks (2020)
* [[Rebla_Video_(1938)|Rebla]], Comedy Juggling (1938)
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* [[Mantchev_Trapeze_BAC_Video_(2012)|Andrey Mantchev]], Swinging Trapeze (2012)
* [[Togo_Video_(1937)|Togo]], juggler (1937)
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* [[Roman_Tomanov_Video_(2021)|Roman Tomanov]], aerial straps (2021)
* [[Lavin_and_Kanarskiy_Video_(1973)|Lavin & Kanarskiy]], Hand-to-Hand Balancing (1973)
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* [[Marinoni_Video_(2024)|Marica Marinoni]], Cyr wheel (2024)  
* [[Bela_Kremo_Video_(1966)|Béla Kremo]], Juggler (1966)
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* [[Monte_Carlo_Video_(2016)| International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]], 40th Anniversary Gala (excerpts) (2016)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==
  
* [[Rosa_Bouglione_Video_(2012)|Rosa Bouglione]]'s interview on Franch Television (2012)
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* [[BAC_Blumberg_Video_(1977)|''For A Moment You Fly'']], The First Season of The Big Apple Circus (1977)
* [[Circo_Price_Video_(2017)|A Short History of Madrid's Old Circo Price]], Documentary (1970)
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* [[Durov_Documentary_Video_(c.2000)|Vladimir Durov Documentary]] on Russian Television (c.2000)
* [[Anastasia_Dementieva_Video_(2017)|Anastasia Dementieva-Kornilova]] – Vadim Vernik Interview (2017)
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* [[Dolly_Jacobs_Interview_Video_(2018)|Dolly Jacobs Interview]] at The Ringling (2018)
* [[Freres_Knie_Video_(1962)|''Les Frères Knie'']], Documentary (1962)
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* [[Pinito_del_Oro_RTE_Video_(1970)|Pinito del Oro's Interview]] on Spanish Television (1970)
* [[Jean_Richard_Video_(1979)|Jean Richard and Jean-Pierre Richard]] at the Cirque Jean Richard – Christian Boner Interview (1979)
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* [[Eradze_Video_(2015)|Gia Eradze]]'s Interview on SSU TV (2015)
 
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==2018 Circopedia Award==
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* [[Dandies_Video_(2018)|''Dandies'' (Yury Kreer, Johnny Gasser, Kirill Ivanov)]], Russian Barre
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==New Circopedia Books==
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==Circopedia Books==
  
 
* [[Circopedia Books|Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus]], by Dominique Jando (2018)
 
* [[Circopedia Books|Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus]], by Dominique Jando (2018)
  
==A Message from the Editor==
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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&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.''  
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''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

Latest revision as of 21:45, 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