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From Circopedia

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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
[[File:Dimitri_Knie_1979.jpg|right|300px]]
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[[[[File:Kio_Poster_Carriage.jpg|right|300px]]
===DIMITRI===
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===KIO===
  
Although he was mostly known internationally as a theater clown, Dimitri (1935-2016) had started his clown career in the ring of the legendary Cirque Medrano in Paris, and had been featured three times at Circus Knie in Switzerland and once at the Big Apple Circus in the United States. He had also inspired, and sometimes trained, many clowns who pursued a career in the circus and, therefore, he is indeed an important figure of circus history.
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From the 1920s to about 2010, three magic acts have been performed under the name "Kio," first by Emil Kio (1894-1965), then by his sons, Igor (1944-2006) and Emil (b.1938). Kio, whether the original Emil Kio or his sons, had an exceptionally brilliant career in the Soviet Union (and later, the Russian Federation) as well as around the world, where they performed extensively on international tours of the "Moscow Circus." Kio’s illusions had a unique particularity: they were created to be performed exclusively in the ring. Together, Emil Kio, Igor Kio and Emil Kio, Jr. have performed for an estimated audience of 180 million worldwide, which arguably makes theirs the most widely seen act in the history of Magic.
  
Born Dimitri Jakob Müller on September 18, 1935 in Ascona, on the Lake Maggiore, near Locarno in Switzerland, Dimitri was a clown, as well as a director, actor, musician, folk singer, and also an artist who expressed himself in pottery, sculpture and painting. The recipient of several international awards and celebrated worldwide as an outstanding performer, he attained a rare international popularity for a clown, and was considered in Switzerland a cultural ambassador of his country.
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Even more than their illustrious father, who was a bona fide star of the Soviet circus, Emil, Jr. and Igor became celebrities in their own right; they appeared on television, either as program hosts or in their own magic shows, and on film, and they were regularly and, sometimes, opulently chronicled in the Russian press—and by the Soviet gossipmongers, who showed a tabloid interest for the peculiar intricacies of their multiple marriages, notably Igor’s matrimonial and extra-marital adventures.  
  
With a solid background in post-war Europe's emerging physical theater community, he had a major influence in reshaping the western clown image. Merging traditional circus clown techniques and classic theatrical pantomime, while escaping the clichés attached to these two specialties, he gave a new legitimacy to the clown’s role in the contemporary culture, both on stage and in the ring.
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Advertised simply as "KIO," the various Kio magic acts were what the Russians call an ''attraction'', a presentation that can fill up to the entire second half of a circus performance. Kio’s original act had been created by magician Emil Hirschfeld-Renard in 1932. After his death in 1965, the act was inherited by Emil's younger son and assistant, Igor (who presented it in his father’s version until 1976, and then completely revamped it), and was reproduced in 1966 as a second Kio unit presented until the early twenty-first century by Igor’s elder brother, Emil, Jr.... ([[Kio|more...]])
 
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Dimitri’s art was rooted in the ancient and versatile bases of true clown technique: Pantomime, acrobatics, dance, music, and even work with animals. His own research had led to an essential aesthetic of purity, discreetly balancing seemingly separate influences such as western clowning and pantomime, various ethnic traditions, popular rituals, Japanese theater, Commedia dell’ Arte, folk music, and storytelling. His talents as an artist and craftsman also helped him create a theatrical universe of remarkable fertility, conceiving the clown as a multi-faceted expression of life itself.... ([[Dimitri|more...]])
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==New Biographies==
 
==New Biographies==

Revision as of 22:17, 1 December 2019

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Circopedia was originally created with the support of the Big Apple Circus
and inspired and funded by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.

In The Spotlight

[[
Kio Poster Carriage.jpg

KIO

From the 1920s to about 2010, three magic acts have been performed under the name "Kio," first by Emil Kio (1894-1965), then by his sons, Igor (1944-2006) and Emil (b.1938). Kio, whether the original Emil Kio or his sons, had an exceptionally brilliant career in the Soviet Union (and later, the Russian Federation) as well as around the world, where they performed extensively on international tours of the "Moscow Circus." Kio’s illusions had a unique particularity: they were created to be performed exclusively in the ring. Together, Emil Kio, Igor Kio and Emil Kio, Jr. have performed for an estimated audience of 180 million worldwide, which arguably makes theirs the most widely seen act in the history of Magic.

Even more than their illustrious father, who was a bona fide star of the Soviet circus, Emil, Jr. and Igor became celebrities in their own right; they appeared on television, either as program hosts or in their own magic shows, and on film, and they were regularly and, sometimes, opulently chronicled in the Russian press—and by the Soviet gossipmongers, who showed a tabloid interest for the peculiar intricacies of their multiple marriages, notably Igor’s matrimonial and extra-marital adventures.

Advertised simply as "KIO," the various Kio magic acts were what the Russians call an attraction(Russian) A circus act that can occupy up to the entire second half of a circus performance., a presentation that can fill up to the entire second half of a circus performance. Kio’s original act had been created by magician Emil Hirschfeld-Renard in 1932. After his death in 1965, the act was inherited by Emil's younger son and assistant, Igor (who presented it in his father’s version until 1976, and then completely revamped it), and was reproduced in 1966 as a second Kio unit presented until the early twenty-first century by Igor’s elder brother, Emil, Jr.... (more...)

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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—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.

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