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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/>
 
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/>
 
<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/>
 
<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/>
<div style="text-align:center; font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">'''Follow Spiegelworld's "[[Circus Town]]" on YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@CircusTownOfficial/ @CircusTownOfficial]'''</div><br/>
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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
  
===THE SCHUMANN DYNASTY===
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===LE CIRQUE D'HIVER DE PARIS===
[[File:Schumann_Schaefers.jpg|right|300px]]
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[[File:Cirque_d'Hiver_-_Front_View_(2013).jpg|450px|right]]
Gotthold Wilhelm Daniel Schumann was born on November 25, 1824 in Weimar, in the state of Thuringia, then part of the German Confederation. His father was a saddle maker, and Gotthold became indeed familiarized with horses at an early age. Although he was not interested in following in his father’s footsteps, horses were his passion, and he often helped groom and taking care of the neighbourhood horses. Gotthold had a brother who shared the same passion, Gustav.
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Located in the heart of Paris, between the Place de la République and the Place de la Bastille, at the edge of the historical Marais, the Cirque d’Hiver is the world’s oldest extant circus building. It is also the world’s oldest circus still in activity: It opened its doors in 1852. Its address, at 110 rue Amelot, may seem inconspicuous, but at that precise point, the rue Amelot opens onto the Boulevard du Temple through the small Place Pasdeloup: The Cirque d’Hiver is therefore quite noticeable, practically "on the Boulevards."
  
Upon their father’s death in 1839, fifteen-year-old Gotthold and his brother Gustav joined the famous French company of Benoît and François Tourniaire, which was very popular in the German states since their father, Jacques Tourniaire (1772-1829), had established his company there at the beginning of the nineteenth century&mdash;before introducing the circus to Russia in 1825. Gotthold and Gustav became accomplished equestrians, as both bareback and high-school riders, and Gotthold also developed a very good juggling act on horseback. In 1841, they were hired by Eduard Wollschläger (1811-1875), whose company included such future circus luminaries as Wilhelm Carré, Wilhelm Salamonsky and Heinrich Herzog.
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The Cirque d’Hiver (literally, the ''winter circus'') was built for circus entrepreneur Louis Dejean (1786-1879) to serve as his circus company’s winter home. Dejean already managed the Cirque des Champs-Elysées in the fashionable ''Jardins des Champs-Elysées'', which he kept open from May through October. Up to 1846, his main establishment had been the Cirque Olympique, located some five hundred yards from his new circus, on the portion of the Boulevard du Temple that disappeared in 1862 during the renovation of Paris by the Baron Haussmann to give room to the present Place de la République.  
  
When Wollschläger’s future rival, Ernst Renz (1815-1892), created his own circus in 1845, he was joined by the Schumann brothers, who formed the bulk of the company together with Renz himself, his wife Antoinette, and a young equestrienne named Miss Adelina. But Renz’s enterprise quickly grew, and Gotthold became his Stable Master and principal horse trainer (that is to say, Renz's right hand), a position he kept for nearly two decades. Gotthold and his wife, Elise (of whom not much is known), had nine children: Max (1853-1933), Ernst, Albert (1858-1939), Adele, Louise, Adolf, Martha, Jacques (who became the circus’s music conductor) and Emil. Of Gotthold’s sons, only Max and Albert would truly make their mark in circus history, although Gotthold’s daughter Adele became a talented high-school rider.  
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Dejean had sold his old Cirque Olympique in 1847; although it had been built only twenty years earlier (in 1827), it had already lost its appeal and was not practical anymore. Like many circus buildings of its generation, it had been designed with both a circus ring and a full theater stage, and consequently, it was easy for its new owners to transform it into a legitimate theater, the ''Théâtre du Cirque Olympique''. With no permanent home in the winter, Dejean had taken to sending his troupe abroad, to London or Berlin, for the winter season. Although these forays into foreign lands had proved successful enough, having a new winter base in Paris still made more sense.
  
In 1863 or 1864 (the date is not sure), Gotthold finally created his own circus company, in partnership with a Swiss equestrian named Carl Antony. Unfortunately, in 1866, all their horses were requisitioned by the Prussian army, which was at war with Austria. Left without horses, which were the mainstay of all circus performances at the time, Gotthold’s venture came to an end. He restarted in 1871, this time in association with Heinrich Herzog, whom he had known when they were working together for Wollschläger. Circus Herzog-Schumann didn’t limit its tours to the German states: They expanded their route to Scandinavia.... ([[The Schumann Dynasty|more...]])
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Thus, Dejean asked Jacques-Ignace Hittorff (1792-1867), the City of Paris’s Chief Architect, to design the plans for a new circus. Hittorf had already built the Cirque des Champs-Elysées for Dejean, as well as its twin counterpart, the Panorama (today Théâtre du Rond-Point), which were part of the master plan for the renovation of the Chanps-Elysées gardens in the 1840s. Hittorff had also supervised the redesign of the Place de la Concorde (notably with the addition of his own monumental fountain, ''La Fontaine des Mers'') and he would later build Paris’s Gare du Nord, the twelve ''hôtels particuliers'' (townhouses) that surround the Arc de Triomphe on the Place de l'Étoile, and many other "classic revival" pieces of work&mdash;a style of which he was one of the most influential proponents.... ([[Cirque d'Hiver|more...]])
  
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
  
 +
* [[Totti Alexis]], Clown
 
* [[Ross Mollison]], Circus Producer
 
* [[Ross Mollison]], Circus Producer
 
* [[Don Saunders]], Clown
 
* [[Don Saunders]], Clown
 
* [[Jo-Ann Jennier]], Aerialist, Animal Trainer
 
* [[Jo-Ann Jennier]], Aerialist, Animal Trainer
 
* [[Ethel Jennier]], Aerialist, Animal Trainer
 
* [[Ethel Jennier]], Aerialist, Animal Trainer
* [[Walter Jennier]], Sea Lion Trainer
 
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Rodion_Video_(2004)|The Rodion Troupe]], Russian barre (2004)
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* [[Totti_Alexis_Video_(2019)|Totti & Charlie Alexis]], musical clowns (2019)
* [[Without_Socks_Video_Video_(2023)|Without Socks]], clowns &mdash; '''''2023 [[Circopedia Award]]'''''
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* [[Collins_Brothers_Video_(1993)|The Collins Brothers]], comedy trapeze act (1993)
* [[Bogdanov_Chagall_Video_(2023)|Stas Bogdanov Troupe, ''Nostagy for Chagall'']], flying act (2023)
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* [[Totti_Alexis_Video_(2015)|Totti Alexis]], musical clown (2015)
* [[Koechlin_Twins_Hoop_Video_(2023)|Koechlin Twins]], aerial hoop (2023)
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* [[Totti_Alexis_Video_(2010)|Totti Alexis]], clown (2010)
* [[Koechlin_Twins_Video_(2022)|Koechlin Twins]], double hoop (2022)
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* [[Peter_Shub_Video_(2015)|Peter Shub]], clown (2015)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==

Latest revision as of 23:52, 7 December 2023


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

LE CIRQUE D'HIVER DE PARIS

Cirque d'Hiver - Front View (2013).jpg

Located in the heart of Paris, between the Place de la République and the Place de la Bastille, at the edge of the historical Marais, the Cirque d’Hiver is the world’s oldest extant circus building. It is also the world’s oldest circus still in activity: It opened its doors in 1852. Its address, at 110 rue Amelot, may seem inconspicuous, but at that precise point, the rue Amelot opens onto the Boulevard du Temple through the small Place Pasdeloup: The Cirque d’Hiver is therefore quite noticeable, practically "on the Boulevards."

The Cirque d’Hiver (literally, the winter circus) was built for circus entrepreneur Louis Dejean (1786-1879) to serve as his circus company’s winter home. Dejean already managed the Cirque des Champs-Elysées in the fashionable Jardins des Champs-Elysées, which he kept open from May through October. Up to 1846, his main establishment had been the Cirque Olympique, located some five hundred yards from his new circus, on the portion of the Boulevard du Temple that disappeared in 1862 during the renovation of Paris by the Baron Haussmann to give room to the present Place de la République.

Dejean had sold his old Cirque Olympique in 1847; although it had been built only twenty years earlier (in 1827), it had already lost its appeal and was not practical anymore. Like many circus buildings of its generation, it had been designed with both a circus ring and a full theater stage, and consequently, it was easy for its new owners to transform it into a legitimate theater, the Théâtre du Cirque Olympique. With no permanent home in the winter, Dejean had taken to sending his troupe abroad, to London or Berlin, for the winter season. Although these forays into foreign lands had proved successful enough, having a new winter base in Paris still made more sense.

Thus, Dejean asked Jacques-Ignace Hittorff (1792-1867), the City of Paris’s Chief Architect, to design the plans for a new circus. Hittorf had already built the Cirque des Champs-Elysées for Dejean, as well as its twin counterpart, the Panorama (today Théâtre du Rond-Point), which were part of the master plan for the renovation of the Chanps-Elysées gardens in the 1840s. Hittorff had also supervised the redesign of the Place de la Concorde (notably with the addition of his own monumental fountain, La Fontaine des Mers) and he would later build Paris’s Gare du Nord, the twelve hôtels particuliers (townhouses) that surround the Arc de Triomphe on the Place de l'Étoile, and many other "classic revival" pieces of work—a style of which he was one of the most influential proponents.... (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