Circopedia - User contributions [en]

Val De Fun

2009-02-26T05:53:50Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==VALERY SEREBRIAKOV, Jr. – Clown==

''By Dominique Jando''

Vallery (Valery Serebriakov, Jr.) was born into a family of circus performers on November 11, 1969 in Semferopol, Ukraine. While growing up, he was trained in a wide range of circus skills and learned even more by watching his grandfather and his father perform. His father was one of Russia's greatest clowns, the legendary [[Valery Serebriakov]], who for many years delighted Soviet and international audiences with his partner, [[Stanislav Shchukin]].

In 1984, at the age of fourteen, Vallery followed in his mother's footsteps: he became an acrobat on horseback in the legendary equestrian troupe of Natalia [[Troupe Alexandre-Serge|Alexandre-Serge]]. But his father's influence eventually won out: three years later, Vallery began his apprenticeship with a Russian clown, Vladimir Egorov (not to be confused with his homonym, the founder of the [[Egorov Troupe]]).

In 1992, after two years in the Russian Army and a brief stint as a solo clown, Vallery teamed up with his childhood friend, Ludwig Shchukin, the son of his father's partner, and together they recreated most of their fathers' repertoire. They began touring abroad, notably in South America, before eventually separating. Ludwig returned to Russia, while Vallery found an engagement at [[Circus Vargas]] in the United States and settled in Los Angeles.

Vallery has since performed extensively in the U.S., including two seasons with the [[Big Apple Circus]] and a long association with Tuffy Nicholas's Circus Hawaii.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Vallery_BAC_2003_Video|Vallery, Teeterboard Entrée]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Carnevale'' (2003)
* Video: [[Vallery_Clown_Trapeze_BAC_2003_Video|Vellery, Trapeze Entrée]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Carnevale!'' (2003)
* Video: [[Vallery_BAC_2004_Video|Vallery, Water Entrée]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Picturesque'' (2004)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Vallery]][[Category:Clowns|Vallery]]

Tunga

2009-02-26T05:45:50Z

Reichorn:

==Contortionist==

''By Dominique Jando''

Tungalag (Tunga) Has-Ochyr was born in the northern region of the People’s Republic of Mongolia (Outer Mongolia) to a family that did not belong to the circus. Her father was a construction manager, her mother a housewife who raised ten children.

Tunga joined the State Circus School of Ulan-Bator when she was twelve years old. She specialized in the art of contortion under Ms. Majigsurenthe. In this remote Asian country (located between Russian Siberia and China), contortionists endowed with spiritual significance their unique ability to twist their bodies into intricate positions; for centuries, they were revered as sacred dancers.

Tunga began performing in 1978 with the Mongolian State Circus, both at home and on tours abroad. In 1985, she participated in the Circus Festival of Cuba, where she won the Silver medal. Subsequently, she was invited to perform at the [[Bolshoi Circus]] in Moscow, the Soviet circus’s most prestigious venue at a time when the Soviet circus was the world’s foremost proponent of circus arts.

In 1987, Tunga was featured at Berlin’s Friedrichstadt Palast Theater for the 750th-anniversary celebration of the German capital. Two years later, she made her debut in a Western circus, Germany's [[Circus Roncalli]]. After that, Tunga settled in Germany and appeared in many European circus and variety shows. She went to the United States for the first time in 1992, where she was featured in the [[Big Apple Circus]] production of ''Goin’ Places''.

When she returned to Germany, Tunga began to work with other Mongolian contortionists in ensemble acts that she choreographed. She took a break from performing in 1995 (after a last appearance in Sydney, Australia) and created her own company, Mongolian Fascination Ensemble. She trained and promoted groups of Mongolian contortionists for the numerous “Varieté” shows that were burgeoning in Germany.

After attending a school of cosmetology in Germany, Tunga resumed performing in 1997, appearing at the Loews Casino Hotel in Monte Carlo, at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City (U.S.A.), and in Germany. In 1998, she co-founded the International Contortion Convention and definitively retired from performing.

Since then, Tunga has re-settled in the United States, where she runs her own agency, Tunga Talent Agency, which promotes contortion acts for European and American shows and special events. She currently lives in Las Vegas.

==See Also==

*Video: [[Tunga_BAC_1992_Video|Tunga, Contortionist]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Goin' Places'' (1992)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Tunga]]
[[Category:Contortionists|Tunga]]

Tunga

2009-02-26T05:44:48Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Contortionist==

''By Dominique Jando''

Tungalag (Tunga) Has-Ochyr was born in the northern region of the People’s Republic of Mongolia (Outer Mongolia) to a family that was not related to the circus. Her father was a construction manager, her mother a housewife who raised ten children.

Tunga joined the State Circus School of Ulan-Bator when she was twelve years old. She specialized in the art of contortion under Ms. Majigsurenthe. In this remote Asian country (located between Russian Siberia and China), contortionists endowed with spiritual significance their unique ability to twist their bodies into intricate positions; for centuries, they were revered as sacred dancers.

Tunga began performing in 1978 with the Mongolian State Circus, both at home and on tours abroad. In 1985, she participated in the Circus Festival of Cuba, where she won the Silver medal. Subsequently, she was invited to perform at the [[Bolshoi Circus]] in Moscow, the Soviet circus’s most prestigious venue at a time when the Soviet circus was the world’s foremost proponent of circus arts.

In 1987, Tunga was featured at Berlin’s Friedrichstadt Palast Theater for the 750th-anniversary celebration of the German capital. Two years later, she made her debut in a Western circus, Germany's [[Circus Roncalli]]. After that, Tunga settled in Germany and appeared in many European circus and variety shows. She went to the United States for the first time in 1992, where she was featured in the [[Big Apple Circus]] production of ''Goin’ Places''.

When she returned to Germany, Tunga began to work with other Mongolian contortionists in ensemble acts that she choreographed. She took a break from performing in 1995 (after a last appearance in Sydney, Australia) and created her own company, Mongolian Fascination Ensemble. She trained and promoted groups of Mongolian contortionists for the numerous “Varieté” shows that were burgeoning in Germany.

After attending a school of cosmetology in Germany, Tunga resumed performing in 1997, appearing at the Loews Casino Hotel in Monte Carlo, at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City (U.S.A.), and in Germany. In 1998, she co-founded the International Contortion Convention and definitively retired from performing.

Since then, Tunga has re-settled in the United States, where she runs her own agency, Tunga Talent Agency, which promotes contortion acts for European and American shows and special events. She currently lives in Las Vegas.

==See Also==

*Video: [[Tunga_BAC_1992_Video|Tunga, Contortionist]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Goin' Places'' (1992)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Tunga]]
[[Category:Contortionists|Tunga]]

Cesare Togni

2009-02-26T05:30:39Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Circus Owner, Director, and Performer==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

When he passed away on October 1, 2008, Cesare Togni was the oldest member of the [[The Togni Family|Togni family]], one of Italy's foremost circus dynasties. He was a beloved circus director who made his mark on the history of the Italian and European circus.

Born in 1924, Cesare was the son of [[Ugo Togni]] (1897-1981) and Ugo's wife, a former acrobat, tumbler, and animal trainer. As an artist, Cesare is best remembered as the principal flyer in his family's flying-trapeze act: in 1956, he became the first flyer ever to execute a triple return pirouette from the catcher to the trapeze.

In the mid-1950s, Cesare founded his own circus with his brother [[Oscar Togni|Oscar]]. Originally called Circo Massimo, it was the largest three-ring circus ever seen in Europe; eventually it became the celebrated, albeit more modest, [[The Togni Family|Circo Cesare Togni]. For decades, Cesare's circus was the Italian destination for some of the world's finest circus acts, including trapeze legends [[Tony Steele]], [[Enzo Cardona]], [[the Palacios]], and the [[Flying Jimenez|Jimenez]].

It was at Circo Cesare Togni that [[David Larrible]] was given the opportunity to do his first steps as a clown. The elegant and classy Circo Cesare Togni toured extensively in Europe. In 1983, Cesare returned to the three-ring format, with a circus that was transported entirely in containers; he later reverted to the classic one-ring format.

Cesare trained his sons—Elvio, Alex, Italo, and Viviana—in all classic equestrian and acrobatic disciplines, as well as in elephant training. His circus ceased operation in the early 1990s, although its name was sometimes revived in associations between Cesare and other Italian families.

Cesare spent his last years at [[The Togni Family|Circo Americano]], led by his cousin [[Enis Togni|Enis]], where he supervised his sons' elephant acts and pyramids-on-horseback.

==See Also==

*History: [[The Togni Family]]

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Togni, Cesare]][[Category:Circus Owners and Directors|Togni, Cesare]][[Category:Flying Acts|Togni, Cesare]]

Ricardo Sosa

2009-02-26T05:21:08Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Hand Balancer==

''By Dominique Jando''

Ricardo Sosa was born in Havana, Cuba, on September 30, 1965. The son of a singer, Ricardo began studying ballet when he was six years old. At seventeen, he enrolled in the Yuri Mandich Circus School in Havana, the national, Russian-style state circus school. There, he trained for four years to be a professional circus performer. He graduated in 1986 with a remarkable hand-balancing and contortion act.

Three years into his career, Ricardo returned to his alma mater and became a circus teacher. He proved to be an unusually effective instructor. After his students began winning national circus competitions, he received a special teaching award from the Cuban Government. He also continued to perform, appearing at the Tropicana in Havana and touring with Cuban circus companies in South America.

In 1994, while performing in Colombia at [[Circo Egred Hermanos]], Ricardo and other performers in the Cuban troupe defected. It was a huge scandal in Havana: Never before had such an important group of performers defected. For Ricardo Sosa, it was the beginning of a new career. From 1994 to '98, he toured South and Central America with [[Circo Suarez]] and performed in Mexico City with [[Circo Union]]. There, he was spotted by a casting agent for [[Carson & Barnes Circus]] and was offered his first U.S. circus contract in 1999.

Ricardo has since settled in the United States, where he has worked extensively in nightclubs, casinos, and circuses, including Circus Circus and the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada; Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle, Washington and San Francisco, California; [[Universoul Circus]]; and [[Circus Sarasota]]. He has also embarked on an international career, appearing with [[Moira Orfei|Circo Moira Orfei]] in Italy and numerous variety shows in Germany, notably with GOP Varieté and Palazzo.

Now a U.S. citizen, Ricardo Sosa lives in Miami, Florida.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Sosa_Ricardo_Palazzo_2006_Video|Ricardo Sosa, hand-balancer]], at Palazzo in Hamburg, Germany (2006)

==External Links==

[http://www.ricardostand.com/ http://www.ricardostand.com]

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Sosa, Ricardo]][[Category:Hand Balancers|Sosa, Ricardo]][[Category:Contortionists|Sosa, Ricardo]]

Sophie and Virgile

2009-02-26T05:10:15Z

Reichorn: Added author credit

==Acrobatic Adagio==

''By Dominique Jando''

Paris-born Sophie Frrero was raised in the French city of Grenoble. As a child, she enrolled in a local circus school, where her schedule gradually intensified from one to five days a week. Eventually she decided to pursue a career as a circus artist.

She auditioned for, and was accepted by, the French state circus college, the [[Centre National des Arts du Cirque]] in Châlons-en-Champagne. There, she met her future partner, [[Virgile Peyramaure]]. Born in Châteauroux, France, Virgile entered the Centre National des Arts du Cirque in 1986, at age fifteen. He came from the circus: His father ran a small circus company.

Under the expert guidance of their teacher, [[Claude Victoria]], Sophie and Virgile spent four years developing their act. In 1995, they won a Gold Medal at the [[Festival Mondial]] du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris. Their act has been featured in such prestigious venues as [[Circus Knie]] in Switzerland, [[Circus Roncalli]] in Germany, Berlin's WinterGarten and Friedrichstadt Palast, TigerPalast in Frankfurt, and the Lido of Paris.

They appeared twice in the United States with the [[Big Apple Circus]], in 1996 and in 2000, when they made their farewell performance. Then Sophie and Virgile separated. Sophie returned to France to get married, while Virgile stayed with the Big Apple Circus and became a member of its permanent company.

==See Also==

* Biography: [[Virgile Peyramaure]]
* Video: [[Sophie_and_Virgile_BAC_Video_2000|Sophie & Virgile]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Clown Around Town'' (2000)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Sophie & Virgile]]

Sophie and Virgile

2009-02-26T05:09:19Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Acrobatic Adagio==

Paris-born Sophie Frrero was raised in the French city of Grenoble. As a child, she enrolled in a local circus school, where her schedule gradually intensified from one to five days a week. Eventually she decided to pursue a career as a circus artist.

She auditioned for, and was accepted by, the French state circus college, the [[Centre National des Arts du Cirque]] in Châlons-en-Champagne. There, she met her future partner, [[Virgile Peyramaure]]. Born in Châteauroux, France, Virgile entered the Centre National des Arts du Cirque in 1986, at age fifteen. He came from the circus: His father ran a small circus company.

Under the expert guidance of their teacher, [[Claude Victoria]], Sophie and Virgile spent four years developing their act. In 1995, they won a Gold Medal at the [[Festival Mondial]] du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris. Their act has been featured in such prestigious venues as [[Circus Knie]] in Switzerland, [[Circus Roncalli]] in Germany, Berlin's WinterGarten and Friedrichstadt Palast, TigerPalast in Frankfurt, and the Lido of Paris.

They appeared twice in the United States with the [[Big Apple Circus]], in 1996 and in 2000, when they made their farewell performance. Then Sophie and Virgile separated. Sophie returned to France to get married, while Virgile stayed with the Big Apple Circus and became a member of its permanent company.

==See Also==

* Biography: [[Virgile Peyramaure]]
* Video: [[Sophie_and_Virgile_BAC_Video_2000|Sophie & Virgile]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Clown Around Town'' (2000)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Sophie & Virgile]]

Paulina Schumann

2009-02-26T04:22:40Z

Reichorn: Added paragraph breaks

[[Image:Paulina_c1955.jpg|right|thumb|150px||Paulina Schumann (1955)]]
==Acrobat and Equestrienne==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

The elder daughter of [[Charlie Rivel]] (José Andreu), the famous Catalan clown, and Carmen Busto, herself the daughter of a clown, Paulina Luisa Andreu Busto was born in Barcelona, Spain on February 17, 1921. Her parents were in Barcelona as part of ''Circo Reina Victoria''; Paulina was, therefore, thrown into the circus world from the very moment she first opened her eyes.

==Early Days==

[[Image:Juanito_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Paulina and Juanito Rivel (c.1930)]]During a family engagement at Paris's [[Empire]] Circus-Theatre in November 1926, five-year-old Paulina performed a parody of Josephine Baker, accompanied by her younger brother, [[Juanito Rivel|Juanito]], on percussion. Around the same time, her father had begun presenting a famous parody, on the flying trapeze, of Charlie Chaplin. In London the following year, while her father was winning a competition of Chaplin impersonators, Paulina appeared dressed like Jackie Coogan in the movie ''The Kid''.

The family grew larger with the birth of two other brothers, Charlie Junior and Valentino. In 1930, the Rivels embarked on a long tour of Argentina, where Paulina learned to dance the tango and developed a dance act duet with Juanito. In 1932, in Vienna, she and Juanito impressed Austrian audiences with their stage rendition of the ''Blue Danube waltz''.

In the 1930s, the Rivels toured Europe, appearing in virtually every circus and variety house on the Continent. Then Charlie Rivel, who had performed his trapeze act with his brothers and had created with them a successful clown trio, the [[Andreu-Rivels]], decided to go his own way. He launched a solo career, with the help of his wife and sons. For these family engagements, Paulina developed a remarkable tight-wire act, which she would perform for about thirty years.

Prior to World War II, the Rivel family was a staple of German variety theatres, which were frequented by the era's top social and political figures. During one evening show, Paulina was asked to present flowers to Nazi leader Hermann Goering, who was sitting in a box.

During the war, the family escaped to neutral Scandinavia. There, Charlie Rivel began a series of return engagements with the [[The Schumann Dynasty|Schumann family]], owners of the famous Cirkus Schumann. The Schumanns were already renowned for their equestrian presentations, but Paulina would help make them the preeminent equestrian performing family in the world.

It was in Scandinavia that Paulina met [[Albert Schumann|Albert Maximilian Schumann]] (son of the circus's director, [[The Schumann Dynasty|Oskar Schumann]]); they married on November 28, 1946. Meanwhile, Paulina's brothers began a brilliant international career with an acrobatic/dance act, [[The Charlivels]], while their father continued his ascension to international stardom as a solo clown.

==Equestrian Diva==

Following the birth of her two sons, Benny (b. 1945) and Jacques (b. 1947), Paulina's father-in-law asked her to present a "liberty" act with six horses, even though she had no equestrian experience. She answered, "I will do it, but I will do it my way." The former acrobat and variety dancer was determined to bring her knowledge of the crafts and aesthetics of variety shows into the far more conservative world of classic equestrian circus. She began by introducing an uncommon sophistication in lighting, costume design, musical arrangements, and thematic presentations, demanding what was, at the time, an unusual amount of financial investment (especially in the costumes).

In 1947—the year of Paulina's equestrian debut—British producer [[Tom Arnold]] and director Clement Butson launched a huge winter circus show at the Harringay Arena in London. The Schumanns had just ended a ten-year collaboration with [[Bertram Mills' Circus]], the other great London winter circus, and they began an association with Tom Arnold, one that would help them establish their reputation as the world's foremost equestrian family.

The new producers were impressed by Paulina's ideas and her sense of showmanship. They agreed to invest in her expensive costumes and staging concepts. The results of this financial collaboration could be seen each year in the fully produced, brilliantly themed equestrian acts they presented in the circuses of Stockholm, Göteborg, Copenhagen, and Harringay. Working year-round in a series of circus buildings, with long stands in each, gave Paulina and Albert a comfortable laboratory in which they were able to experiment with new concepts in their equestrian presentations.

[[Image:Paulina_Schumann-Bertram_Mills_1960.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Paulina Schumann at Bertram Mills' Circus in London (1960)]]Inspired by international folklore themes, Paulina designed acts that were enhanced by Butson's staging gifts. They developed a host of high-school riding presentations and liberty acts, combining horses of different breeds and robes. They created some unusual novelties, such as an "Equestrian Potpourri" with forty horses in the ring simultaneously. Among other remarkable achievements was the production of ''The Troika''; ''Carnival in Venice''; ''Madame Bovary in the Bois de Boulogne''; and ''Fiesta en Sevilla'' (1951), which included the bareback riding troupe of [[Enrico Caroli]]. Her association with Tom Arnold's Harringay shows lasted until 1954.

In the winter of 1958, the Schumann family appeared again in London, this time with the Bertram Mills' Circus at the Olympia of Kensington (where the Schumanns had been featured from 1937 to 1946, before Paulina's arrival). The Schumanns' acts included Albert and Paulina; their sons [[Benny Schumann|Benny]] and Jacques; Albert's brother, [[Max Schumann|Max]], with Max's wife Vivi and their daughter [[Katja Schumann|Katja]]; and [[Douglas Kossmeyer]]. Benny was also integrated in Paulina's tight-wire act.

During this period, Paulina became the director-choreographer in title of the Schumanns' equestrian acts, most of which were inspired, musically as well as in costuming, by the great movies of the era. Always alternating high-school and liberty acts, the Schumanns staged superb equestrian impressions of ''Doctor Zhivago'', ''My Fair Lady'', ''Robin Hood'', ''Gigi'', as well as ''Schumanns in Mexico'' (1963), ''Feria de Primavera'' (1964), and ''From The Good Old Days: Paris 1900'' (1965).

In 1965, Paulina's most remarkable achievement was a liberty act based on Gershwin's ''Rhapsody in Blue'': It still stands today as a seminal presentation, with the use of "naked" horses, smoke effects, and a poetry then rarely seen in equestrian acts. Featuring a lavish high-school act based on ''My Fair Lady'', the Schumanns performed their final season with Bertram Mills in 1967, when the legendary British circus presented its final performances.

The Royal Families of Sweden and Denmark always attended the Schumanns' opening nights in Stockholm or Copenhagen. In London, Queen Elizabeth II never missed their performances, always visiting the stables with Paulina and Albert following the shows. In Sweden, Paulina also appeared in two movies: ''Gøngehøvdingen'' (1961) and ''Dronningens vagtmester'' (1963).

==Last Years In The Ring==

Cirkus Schumann didn't long survive Bertram Mills: it closed in 1969. By then, Paulina and Albert had separated. Paulina retired from equestrian arts and began a new circus career. In 1972, she began to act as "straight woman" to her father, Charlie Rivel, during the final decade of the legendary clown's rich international career. After her father's death in 1983, Paulina retired from performing.

Paulina Schumann retired in Cubelles, Spain, the Catalan village where her father had been born, like her, while his parents were on tour. In 2008, she received two awards: the Medalla de Oro de las Bellas Artes from the hands of H.M. Juan Carlos of Bourbon, King of Spain, and the Catalogna's Culture High Award for the Circus Arts.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Juanito_and_Paulina-Rivel_and_Polo_Charlie-Rogelio_Rene.jpg|Juanito & Paulina Rivel with the Andreu-Rivels (c.1930)
Image:Juanito_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|Juanito & Paulina Rivel in their dance act (c.1930)
Image:Paulina_Rivel.jpg|Paulina Rivel (c.1935)
Image:Juanito_Valentino_Charlie_Jr_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|The Charlivels with their sister, Paulina Rivel (c.1950)
Image:Cirkus_Schumann_(1953).JPG|Cirkus Schumann in Copenhagen, featuring Charlie Rivel (1952)
Image:Paulina_Schumann.jpg|Paulina Schumann (c.1960)
Image:Paulina_c1955.jpg|Paulina Schumann (c.1960)
Image:Paulina_Schumann-Bertram_Mills_1960.jpg|Paulina Schumann at Bertram Mills'Circus in London (1960)
Image:Paulina_and_Albert-Schumann_Cirkus-Schumann.jpg|Paulina and Albert Schumann, at Cirkus Schumann in Copenhagen
</gallery>

==See Also==

* Biographies: [[Charlie Rivel]], [[Katja Schumann]]

==External Links==

http://www.schumann.dk/real/historie/?lang=en

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Schumann, Paulina]]
[[Category:Equestrians|Schumann, Paulina]]
[[Category:Acrobats|Schumann, Paulina]]

Paulina Schumann

2009-02-26T04:17:35Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

[[Image:Paulina_c1955.jpg|right|thumb|150px||Paulina Schumann (1955)]]
==Acrobat and Equestrienne==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

The elder daughter of [[Charlie Rivel]] (José Andreu), the famous Catalan clown, and Carmen Busto, herself the daughter of a clown, Paulina Luisa Andreu Busto was born in Barcelona, Spain on February 17, 1921. Her parents were in Barcelona as part of ''Circo Reina Victoria''; Paulina was, therefore, thrown into the circus world from the very moment she first opened her eyes.

==Early Days==

[[Image:Juanito_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Paulina and Juanito Rivel (c.1930)]]During a family engagement at Paris's [[Empire]] Circus-Theatre in November 1926, five-year-old Paulina performed a parody of Josephine Baker, accompanied by her younger brother, [[Juanito Rivel|Juanito]], on percussion. Around the same time, her father had begun presenting a famous parody, on the flying trapeze, of Charlie Chaplin. In London the following year, while her father was winning a competition of Chaplin impersonators, Paulina appeared dressed like Jackie Coogan in the movie ''The Kid''. The family grew larger with the birth of two other brothers, Charlie Junior and Valentino. In 1930, the Rivels embarked on a long tour of Argentina, where Paulina learned to dance the tango and developed a dance act duet with Juanito. In 1932, in Vienna, she and Juanito impressed Austrian audiences with their stage rendition of the ''Blue Danube waltz''.

In the 1930s, the Rivels toured Europe, appearing in virtually every circus and variety house on the Continent. Then Charlie Rivel, who had performed his trapeze act with his brothers and had created with them a successful clown trio, the [[Andreu-Rivels]], decided to go his own way. He launched a solo career, with the help of his wife and sons. For these family engagements, Paulina developed a remarkable tight-wire act, which she would perform for about thirty years. Prior to World War II, the Rivel family was a staple of German variety theatres, which were frequented by the era's top social and political figures. During one evening show, Paulina was asked to present flowers to Nazi leader Hermann Goering, who was sitting in a box.

During the war, the family escaped to neutral Scandinavia. There, Charlie Rivel began a series of return engagements with the [[The Schumann Dynasty|Schumann family]], owners of the famous Cirkus Schumann. The Schumanns were already renowned for their equestrian presentations. It was in Scandinavia that Paulina met [[Albert Schumann|Albert Maximilian Schumann]] (son of the circus's director, [[The Schumann Dynasty|Oskar Schumann]]); they married on November 28, 1946. Meanwhile, Paulina's brothers began a brilliant international career with an acrobatic/dance act, [[The Charlivels]], while their father continued his ascension to international stardom as a solo clown.

==Equestrian Diva==

Following the birth of her two sons, Benny (b. 1945) and Jacques (b. 1947), Paulina's father-in-law asked her to present a "liberty" act with six horses, even though she had no equestrian experience. She answered, "I will do it, but I will do it my way." The former acrobat and variety dancer was determined to bring her knowledge of the crafts and aesthetics of variety shows into the far more conservative world of classic equestrian circus. She began by introducing an uncommon sophistication in lighting, costume design, musical arrangements, and thematic presentations, demanding what was, at the time, an unusual amount of financial investment (especially in the costumes).

In 1947—the year of Paulina's equestrian debut—British producer [[Tom Arnold]] and director Clement Butson launched a huge winter circus show at the Harringay Arena in London. The Schumanns had just ended a ten-year collaboration with [[Bertram Mills' Circus]], the other great London winter circus, and they began an association with Tom Arnold, one that would help them establish their reputation as the world's foremost equestrian family.

The new producers were impressed by Paulina's ideas and her sense of showmanship. They agreed to invest in her expensive costumes and staging concepts. The results of this financial collaboration could be seen each year in the fully produced, brilliantly themed equestrian acts they presented in the circuses of Stockholm, Göteborg, Copenhagen, and Harringay. Working year-round in a series of circus buildings, with long stands in each, gave Paulina and Albert a comfortable laboratory in which they were able to experiment with new concepts in their equestrian presentations.

[[Image:Paulina_Schumann-Bertram_Mills_1960.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Paulina Schumann at Bertram Mills' Circus in London (1960)]]Inspired by international folklore themes, Paulina designed acts that were enhanced by Butson's staging gifts. They developed a host of high-school riding presentations and liberty acts, combining horses of different breeds and robes. They created some unusual novelties, such as an "Equestrian Potpourri" with forty horses in the ring simultaneously. Among other remarkable achievements was the production of ''The Troika''; ''Carnival in Venice''; ''Madame Bovary in the Bois de Boulogne''; and ''Fiesta en Sevilla'' (1951), which included the bareback riding troupe of [[Enrico Caroli]]. Her association with Tom Arnold's Harringay shows lasted until 1954.

In the winter of 1958, the Schumann family appeared again in London, this time with the Bertram Mills' Circus at the Olympia of Kensington (where the Schumanns had been featured from 1937 to 1946, before Paulina's arrival). The Schumanns' acts included Albert and Paulina; their sons [[Benny Schumann|Benny]] and Jacques; Albert's brother, [[Max Schumann|Max]], with Max's wife Vivi and their daughter [[Katja Schumann|Katja]]; and [[Douglas Kossmeyer]]. Benny was also integrated in Paulina's tight-wire act.

During this period, Paulina became the director-choreographer in title of the Schumanns' equestrian acts, most of which were inspired, musically as well as in costuming, by the great movies of the era. Always alternating high-school and liberty acts, the Schumanns staged superb equestrian impressions of ''Doctor Zhivago'', ''My Fair Lady'', ''Robin Hood'', ''Gigi'', as well as ''Schumanns in Mexico'' (1963), ''Feria de Primavera'' (1964), and ''From The Good Old Days: Paris 1900'' (1965).

In 1965, Paulina's most remarkable achievement was a liberty act based on Gershwin's ''Rhapsody in Blue'': It still stands today as a seminal presentation, with the use of "naked" horses, smoke effects, and a poetry then rarely seen in equestrian acts. Featuring a lavish high-school act based on ''My Fair Lady'', the Schumanns performed their final season with Bertram Mills in 1967, when the legendary British circus presented its final performances.

The Royal Families of Sweden and Denmark always attended the Schumanns' opening nights in Stockholm or Copenhagen. In London, Queen Elizabeth II never missed their performances, always visiting the stables with Paulina and Albert following the shows. In Sweden, Paulina also appeared in two movies: ''Gøngehøvdingen'' (1961) and ''Dronningens vagtmester'' (1963).

==Last Years In The Ring==

Cirkus Schumann didn't long survive Bertram Mills: it closed in 1969. By then, Paulina and Albert had separated. Paulina retired from equestrian arts and began a new circus career. In 1972, she began to act as "straight woman" to her father, Charlie Rivel, during the final decade of the legendary clown's rich international career. After her father's death in 1983, Paulina retired from performing.

Paulina Schumann retired in Cubelles, Spain, the Catalan village where her father had been born, like her, while his parents were on tour. In 2008, she received two awards: the Medalla de Oro de las Bellas Artes from the hands of H.M. Juan Carlos of Bourbon, King of Spain, and the Catalogna's Culture High Award for the Circus Arts.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Juanito_and_Paulina-Rivel_and_Polo_Charlie-Rogelio_Rene.jpg|Juanito & Paulina Rivel with the Andreu-Rivels (c.1930)
Image:Juanito_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|Juanito & Paulina Rivel in their dance act (c.1930)
Image:Paulina_Rivel.jpg|Paulina Rivel (c.1935)
Image:Juanito_Valentino_Charlie_Jr_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|The Charlivels with their sister, Paulina Rivel (c.1950)
Image:Cirkus_Schumann_(1953).JPG|Cirkus Schumann in Copenhagen, featuring Charlie Rivel (1952)
Image:Paulina_Schumann.jpg|Paulina Schumann (c.1960)
Image:Paulina_c1955.jpg|Paulina Schumann (c.1960)
Image:Paulina_Schumann-Bertram_Mills_1960.jpg|Paulina Schumann at Bertram Mills'Circus in London (1960)
Image:Paulina_and_Albert-Schumann_Cirkus-Schumann.jpg|Paulina and Albert Schumann, at Cirkus Schumann in Copenhagen
</gallery>

==See Also==

* Biographies: [[Charlie Rivel]], [[Katja Schumann]]

==External Links==

http://www.schumann.dk/real/historie/?lang=en

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Schumann, Paulina]]
[[Category:Equestrians|Schumann, Paulina]]
[[Category:Acrobats|Schumann, Paulina]]

Charlie Rivel

2009-02-06T03:54:34Z

Reichorn:

==Clown==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Charlie Rivel]]Charlie Rivel (born José Andreu Lasserre, 1896-1983) is one of the few clowns ever to have achieved international stardom. Like [[Grock]] and the [[Fratellinis]] before him, Rivel was beloved all over Europe, feted by royalty and popular audiences alike. He inspired paintings and novels, movies and plays; his image was used for dolls and other souvenir items; and he received every honor and accolade open to a clown.

Spanning eighty-two years, Rivel's career took him from rags to riches. Deftly blending superb artistic skills, a talent for pantomime, and a flair for public relations, he developed a totally original clown character that stands today as one of the twentieth century's greatest circus icons.

==Origins==

Rivel's father, Pedro Jaime Andreu Pausas (d. 1957), was the son of a cabinetmaker from Barcelona, Spain. In the 1880s, when he was fifteen years old, Pedro and his brother Juan left home to follow Circo Milá. As members of the circus, the brothers began performing a trapeze act. Pedro later joined another circus, Circo Alegría, where he met—and later married—a French acrobat, Marie-Louise Lasserre Seguino. Spain had fallen on hard times, and in order to survive, the young family decided to cross into France, where they hoped to find work. As they made their way toward the border, they performed in village squares across Catalonia.

They were traveling in a hand-drawn wagon when Marie-Louise gave birth to José (the future Charlie) in Cubelles, a village near Barcelona. Surviving as best they could, they finally reached France three months later. They soon secured an engagement with the small Cirque Dusoulier. This was the first circus ring little José stepped into. At age two, he appeared in his father's risley act. The following year, the family was with Cirque Caignac, where José performed both a solo parody of a strong-man act and a hand-to-hand balancing act with his elder sister, Neña (Maria Luisa Andreu, 1897-1915), in which he sometimes dressed as a girl—which made the act look more impressive to agents and directors.

The Cirque Caignac was destroyed by a storm in 1904, and the Andreu family again fell to performing in village squares—José doing acrobatic dancing, perch-pole balancing, and a hand-balancing act—before joining the Cirque Caron in Grenoble. There, José learned trick riding and began to play the guitar, violin, and mandolin.

The Andreu family went on to other small circuses, where José appeared in a balancing trio called ''Los Pepitos'' with his sister Neña and his brother Polo (Paul, 1899-1977). It was probably in 1905, at the circuses [[Zanfretta]] and [[Lambert]], that the three siblings began work on their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, with Neña as the catcher. The following year, in 1906, José got a first taste of clowning, when the director, Monsieur Lambert, called on Jose to replace the house clown, Carleto. Meanwhile, three other Andreu brothers were born: René (Renato, 1903-76), Marcel (Celito, 1906-70), and Roger (Rogelio, 1909-91), who would soon become part of the family acts.

After finally being accepted by a talent agency, the Andreus began to work regularly in French circuses. In 1910-12, they appeared in several minor variety theaters in Paris and on the stage of various Italian theaters. In 1913, during an engagement with the French Cirque [[Alphonse Rancy]], they performed for the first time in their native Catalonia, at Barcelona's Tivoli, before opening their own Circo Reina Victoria in 1915. José performed his first clown entrée in the new family circus, under the name Boby, with his brother Polo.

The Andreus' new circus venture lasted about ten years, alternating with foreign contracts. The family's main act remained their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, in which José started developing a comic character. Their second act was a large risley presentation (a widely popular specialty at the time), which included their father and another catcher.

==Charlie and The Rivels==

In the late 1910s, circus and variety shows were invaded by parodies of Charlie Chaplin, whose extremely popular movie character, the Tramp, had become a customary comic addition to specialty acts in need of a comedy boost. José, who already used comedy in his trapeze act, introduced his Charlie character in 1916. To distinguish their trapeze act from the Andreus' risley act on the bills, the family titled it ''Charlie and the Rivels'' (''Charlot et les Rivels''). As legend has it, they simply made up the name Rivel. From then on, José Andreu would be known as Charlie Rivel.

On January 15, 1920, in Valencia, Spain, Charlie married Carmen Busto, a performer in his family's circus. She was the daughter of an equestrian clown, Gregorio Busto. During a tour in Morocco, Charlie became Boby again, playing the auguste to his brother René, the white-faced clown, in the clown act René usually performed with their brother Polo. Since Charlie had a gift for comedy, they decided to form a clown trio, in the fashion of the successful Fratellini brothers, the shining stars of Paris's [[Cirque Medrano]]. Their father helped them develop an entrée that made good use of their exceptional acrobatic skills. It became the brothers' second act.

The success of the Rivels' comedy-trapeze act, coupled with the Andreu clown trio, propelled them into big-time circuses and variety theaters: the London Coliseum in 1923 and, the following year, [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, where they were a sensation with the savvy Parisian circus audiences. [[Bertram Mills' Circus]] at London's Olympia quickly followed.

During his stay in London, Charlie is said to have won a competition of Chaplin impersonators at the Royal Albert Hall (which is plausible, since his Tramp character was eerily similar to the original). The event, true or false, started the oft-heard tale that he had outdone Chaplin himself during the competition—an unlikely occurrence, since Chaplin didn't visit Europe in those years.

The Rivels were allegedly sued by United Artists for using the Chaplin movie persona without permission (perhaps simply for doing it too well and too successfully, for there were hundreds of Chaplin impersonators in the business). Charlie consequently performed his trapeze act as a generic drunk character. In any event, the Rivels continued to work in the most prestigious houses, including: Cirque Medrano in Paris (1925), the Scala in Berlin (1927), and Cirkus Schumann (1928).

Soon their Andreu clown trio began to gain preeminence over their Rivels trapeze act. Although they were clearly inspired by the Fratellinis' trio structure, the Andreus had the advantage of their acrobatic talents, and they were soon recognized as one of the best clown trios of their time. René was the whiteface clown; Polo was the first auguste, or ''contre-pitre''; and Charlie was the second auguste. They had two main entrées in their repertoire: an egg routine, and their famous acrobatic sketch, ''The Little Bridge'', in which they tried to build (eventually succeeding) what is known in circus acrobatics as a bridge—a sort of moving human bridge.

Their clown act could easily last up to thirty-five minutes; clowns, in the European circus, are often the stars of the show. Charlie, like Albert Fratellini, quickly became the central figure of the trio, and like Albert Fratellini, he developed an eccentric character with exaggerated makeup and costume. Charlie's signature red hair, large square red nose, long red T-shirt, oversized black shoes, and childish behavior became familiar all over Northern Europe.

In 1930, the trio embarked on a one-year South American tour before returning to the vast German circus and variety circuit. But the working atmosphere between the siblings had deteriorated. Charlie, the most identifiable of the brothers, was the star, and he knew it. In 1935, at the Circus-Varieté Schumann of Frankfurt, Charlie decided to part ways with his father and brothers and to build a career with his sons and his wife.

==The Andreu-Rivels==

After Charlie Rivel's departure, his brothers continued to perform the same acts in German variety theaters, with no less success than they had enjoyed before. Celito replaced Charlie in the flying-trapeze act and the clown entrée, and the younger Rogelio joined the act too in 1937. Then, in 1941, it was Polo's turn to leave the family acts. He worked for a time with the well-known French clown Alex Bugny, then with Andreff and Comotti at Circus [[Knie]] in 1943, before teaming up again with Alex Bugny and finally embarking on a solo-clown career with the help of his sons.

After World War II, René, Celito, and Rogelio continued to perform the traditional Andreu-Rivels acts in major European circuses, including: [[Hagenbeck]], [[Williams]], [[Scott]], [[Strassburger]], [[Pinder]], [[Amar]], and several engagements with Circus [[Knie]] in Switzerland. It was there, in 1952, that Celito, in front of an appreciative Charlie Chaplin, performed a Tramp parody on the trapeze, the act with which his brother Charlie had made a name for himself.

After his death, Celito was replaced by the Portuguese clown Fernando Marquez. Then, in the late 1970s, René and Rogelio Andreu-Rivel opened their own Circo Rivel in Spain, with their many children and with the Dubsky family. In the 1990s, Rogelio opened the first circus school in Barcelona, which is still active today.

==Charlie Rivel and World War II==

In the 1930s, two nearly identical Andreu-Rivels troupes were in business, each performing a clown entrée and a comedy-trapeze act: one was the original Andreu family troupe; the other was Charlie's. Like Grock, who was always billed as "Grock ''and Partner''", Charlie's partners were always billed anonymously, ensuring that he, Charlie, was the star of the act.

As this suggests, Charlie Rivel was not easy to work with. He changed partners often during these years. Among his partners were Paul and Alfredino, the Duo Reos, and the clowns Pauli and Johnny. Charlie and his wife, Carmen, had four children: [[Paulina Schumann|Paulina]], born in Barcelona in 1921; Juanito (Jorge-Juan), born on a ship sailing between Valencia and Palma in 1922; Charlie, Jr., born in London in 1925; and Valentino, born in Brussels in 1927. Charlie's children performed in a third family act, ''The Charlie Rivel's Babies''.

Now a wealthy star, Charlie bought a large house in Chenevières-sur-Marne, near Paris. Yet he worked mostly on the German variety circuit, which proved lucrative. He also appeared in Scandinavia, with Bertram Mills' Circus at London's Olympia, and in South America during a 1936 tour.

After the Nazis seized power in Germany, and even during World War II itself, Charlie remained one of the biggest draws in the top German variety theaters: Wintergarten, Apollo, Scala, and Plaza. In Berlin, he starred in a movie directed by Wolfgang Staudte, ''Akrobat Schööön!'' (which was Charlie's catch phrase in the ''Little Bridge'' entrée). The film was released in 1943, and it revealed Charlie as a genuine screen talent. In later years, a telegram that Charlie had sent to Hitler for his birthday in 1942 would became the subject of wild speculations. Like many traveling performers little acquainted with international politics, Charlie had been dangerously naïve.

Following the Allied victory, Charlie had to sneak out of Germany. He found refuge in Scandinavia before returning to his house near Paris. Shunned by agents and directors in the postwar years, he fell into a prolonged period of depression. "Who can laugh now," he wrote, "after so much tragedy?" He would not return to the ring until 1952.

==The Comeback and the Making of a Living Legend==

In the 1950s, the idea of a celebrity clown was beginning to look like a thing of the past. Grock himself decided to retire—though not before launching a long series of farewell tours. In time, Charlie became the one true international clown star of the postwar era.

Back in the ring in 1952, Charlie performed principally in Germany and Scandinavia, where he enjoyed a renewed success. His old acrobatic clown entrée was revived with two new partners: Armand Miehe, as his ''contre-pitre'', and Bernhard Brasso as his whiteface clown. The new version started with a musical routine involving a chair and a guitar, followed by the ''Little Bridge'' acrobatic routine, and ending with a parody of an opera diva. (The routine would be eventually known as ''Maria Callas''.) They also revived the flying-trapeze act, with Charlie as a drunk in tuxedo and top hat.

Meanwhile, in 1947, Charlie's sons had sailed to the United States, where they performed a remarkable acrobatic act as [[Les Charlivels]], which quickly became one of the greatest nightclub acts of the era. Daughter Paulina married [[Albert Schumann]], of the illustrious [[Cirkus Schumann]], and embarked on an outstanding equestrian career.

Charlie had worked mostly in Northern Europe when Spanish impresario Juan Carcellé decided to bring him to his native country, where he was virtually unknown. In 1954, having used the press to drum up a fan following for the northern clown, Carcellé made Charlie the star of one of his [[Circo Price]] Spanish tours. This led the Spanish national television to produce a program about Charlie in 1962. The following year, his birthplace of Cubelles named a street after him. Thus began a long period of honors and awards in Spain, Germany, and Scandinavia, where Charlie was becoming a living legend. Film director Manuel Esteba had him star in a Spanish movie about himself, ''El aprendiz de clown'' (''The Clown Apprentice'', 1968).

==The Solo Years==

Charlie gradually shifted from the clown-trio format to solo work. Abandoning forever his flying-trapeze act, he began developing two pieces that would become clowning classics: his musical entrée with chair and guitar, and his parody of an opera diva. He was assisted in the ring by his son Juanito and later, after Cirkus Schumann had ceased to exist, by his daughter, Paulina. The two sketches remain masterpieces of clowning, among the few that are impossible to replicate.

Charlie published his autobiography in Denmark in 1971, titled ''Stakkels Klovn'' (''Poor Clown''). The manuscript was immediately translated into several languages. In 1972, he appeared as himself in a sequence for Federico Fellini's film ''I Clowns''. In December 1974, he was the very first recipient of the Gold Clown award at the 1st [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]]. He was seventy-eight years old.

By then, he was approaching the end of his career. He continued to work in carefully selected events or for limited engagements in prestigious circus buildings, such as Munich's Kronebau, Madrid's Circo Price, or Copenhagen's old Cirkus Schumann, which had become [[Cirkus Benneweis]]. He also appeared on television in Sweden and Spain, either as guest, host, or as the subject of movie shorts and documentaries.

In 1979, Charlie's son Juanito started his own clown career at Circus Knie, where he revived the Andreu-Rivels' legendary ''Little Bridge'' entrée with [[Gaston Hani]] and [[Rolf Knie, Jr.]] Charlie's wife, Carmen, passed away in 1972. Ten years later, he married Margarita Camas in Barcelona; he was eighty-six. That same year, in 1982, he agreed to travel to Madrid to perform with the famous [[Circo de Los Muchachos]], a remarkable children's circus, whose performers were young orphans. It would be his last performance.

In his later years, Charlie Rivel was plagued with respiratory ailments, and on July 26, 1983, he passed away at the hospital of St. Pere de Ribes. The following morning, photographs of the great clown were prominently displayed, surrounded by flowers, in the shop windows of Stockholm.

Statues of Charlie Rivel stand in Munich (near Circus [[Kronebau]]), Barcelona, and Cubelles.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Pedro_and_Juan_Andreu_With_Jose_and_Nena.jpg|Pedro Andreu and brother Juan, with José and Neña (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Perch_Act.jpg|Neña & José (top) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Girl_HandToHand.jpg|Neña & José (top, as a girl) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña & José Andreu in their balancing act (c.1907)
Image:Nena_and_Polo_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña, Polo, and José Andreu (c.1910)
Image:Les_Andreu.jpg|Les Andreu, Acrobatic Troupe: José is third from the right (c.1915)
Image:Polo_Rene_and_Jose_Bobby.jpg|The Andreus: Polo, René, and Boby (Charlie), c.1915
Image:Polo_Charlie_and_Rene_Rivels.jpg|The Rivels: Polo, Charlie, and René (c.1920)
Image:Jose_Rivel_as_Charlie.jpg|José Rivel as "Charlie" (c.1920)
Image:Rene_Polo_and_Charlie_Andreu_Rivels_and_Children.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels and their children (c.1925)
Image:Charlie_René_and_Polo_Rivels.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels: Charlie, René, and Polo (c.1925)
Image:Juanito_and_Paulina-Rivel_and_Polo_Charlie-Rogelio_Rene.jpg|The Andreu Rivels with Charlie's children, Juanito and Paulina (c.1930)
Image:Juanito_Valentino_Charlie_Jr_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|Charlie's children: Juanito, Valentino, Charlie, Jr., and Paulina (c.1950)
Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|Charlie Rivel uttering his catchphrase, "Akrobat, Schööön!" (c.1960)
Image:Charlie Rivel Chair.jpg|Charlie Rivel in his chair and guitar entrée (c.1975)
Image:Charlie Rivel Guitar.jpg|Charlie Rivel Playing the Guitar (c.1975)
</gallery>

==Suggested Reading==

Sebastià Gasch, ''Charlie Rivel, pallasso català'' (Barcelona, Ed.Alcides, 1962)

Charlie Rivel, ''Stakkes Klovn'' (Copenhagen and Stockholm, Nordisk Forlag a.s., 1971)

Charlie Rivel, ''Poor Clown'' (London, Michael Joseph, Ltd., 1973)

Josep Vinyes Sabatés, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, , Thor, 1983)

Jordi Jané, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, Generalitat de Catalunya, 1996)

==See Also==

* Biography: [[Paulina Schumann]]

==External Links==

Charlie Rivel Museum in Cubelles: http://www.cubelles.cat/content/view/2491/8/

Charlie Rivel Tribute Album: http://www.clownplanet.com/fotoshtm1/rivel.htm

Andreu-Rivels Tribute: http://www.andreu-rivel.com

Benny Schumann: http://www.schumann.dk/real/historie/?lang=en

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Rivel, Charlie]]
[[Category:Clowns|Rivel, Charlie]]

Charlie Rivel

2009-02-06T03:54:25Z

Reichorn:

Charlie Rivel

2009-02-06T03:52:36Z

Reichorn:

Charlie Rivel

2009-02-06T03:51:47Z

Reichorn:

==Clown==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Charlie Rivel]]Charlie Rivel (born José Andreu Lasserre, 1896-1983) is one of the few clowns ever to have achieved international stardom. Like [[Grock]] and the [[Fratellinis]] before him, Rivel was a beloved all over Europe, feted by royalty and popular audiences alike. He inspired paintings and novels, movies and plays; his image was used for dolls and other souvenir items; and he received every honor and accolade open to a clown.

Spanning eighty-two years, Rivel's career took him from rags to riches. Deftly blending superb artistic skills, a talent for pantomime, and a flair for public relations, he developed a totally original clown character that stands today as one of the twentieth century's greatest circus icons.

==Origins==

Rivel's father, Pedro Jaime Andreu Pausas (d. 1957), was the son of a cabinetmaker from Barcelona, Spain. In the 1880s, when he was fifteen years old, Pedro and his brother Juan left home to follow Circo Milá. As members of the circus, the brothers began performing a trapeze act. Pedro later joined another circus, Circo Alegría, where he met—and later married—a French acrobat, Marie-Louise Lasserre Seguino. Spain had fallen on hard times, and in order to survive, the young family decided to cross into France, where they hoped to find work. As they made their way toward the border, they performed in village squares across Catalonia.

They were traveling in a hand-drawn wagon when Marie-Louise gave birth to José (the future Charlie) in Cubelles, a village near Barcelona. Surviving as best they could, they finally reached France three months later. They soon secured an engagement with the small Cirque Dusoulier. This was the first circus ring little José stepped into. At age two, he appeared in his father's risley act. The following year, the family was with Cirque Caignac, where José performed both a solo parody of a strong-man act and a hand-to-hand balancing act with his elder sister, Neña (Maria Luisa Andreu, 1897-1915), in which he sometimes dressed as a girl—which made the act look more impressive to agents and directors.

The Cirque Caignac was destroyed by a storm in 1904, and the Andreu family again fell to performing in village squares—José doing acrobatic dancing, perch-pole balancing, and a hand-balancing act—before joining the Cirque Caron in Grenoble. There, José learned trick riding and began to play the guitar, violin, and mandolin.

The Andreu family went on to other small circuses, where José appeared in a balancing trio called ''Los Pepitos'' with his sister Neña and his brother Polo (Paul, 1899-1977). It was probably in 1905, at the circuses [[Zanfretta]] and [[Lambert]], that the three siblings began work on their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, with Neña as the catcher. The following year, in 1906, José got a first taste of clowning, when the director, Monsieur Lambert, called on Jose to replace the house clown, Carleto. Meanwhile, three other Andreu brothers were born: René (Renato, 1903-76), Marcel (Celito, 1906-70), and Roger (Rogelio, 1909-91), who would soon become part of the family acts.

After finally being accepted by a talent agency, the Andreus began to work regularly in French circuses. In 1910-12, they appeared in several minor variety theaters in Paris and on the stage of various Italian theaters. In 1913, during an engagement with the French Cirque [[Alphonse Rancy]], they performed for the first time in their native Catalonia, at Barcelona's Tivoli, before opening their own Circo Reina Victoria in 1915. José performed his first clown entrée in the new family circus, under the name Boby, with his brother Polo.

The Andreus' new circus venture lasted about ten years, alternating with foreign contracts. The family's main act remained their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, in which José started developing a comic character. Their second act was a large risley presentation (a widely popular specialty at the time), which included their father and another catcher.

==Charlie and The Rivels==

In the late 1910s, circus and variety shows were invaded by parodies of Charlie Chaplin, whose extremely popular movie character, the Tramp, had become a customary comic addition to specialty acts in need of a comedy boost. José, who already used comedy in his trapeze act, introduced his Charlie character in 1916. To distinguish their trapeze act from the Andreus' risley act on the bills, the family titled it ''Charlie and the Rivels'' (''Charlot et les Rivels''). As legend has it, they simply made up the name Rivel. From then on, José Andreu would be known as Charlie Rivel.

On January 15, 1920, in Valencia, Spain, Charlie married Carmen Busto, a performer in his family's circus. She was the daughter of an equestrian clown, Gregorio Busto. During a tour in Morocco, Charlie became Boby again, playing the auguste to his brother René, the white-faced clown, in the clown act René usually performed with their brother Polo. Since Charlie had a gift for comedy, they decided to form a clown trio, in the fashion of the successful Fratellini brothers, the shining stars of Paris's [[Cirque Medrano]]. Their father helped them develop an entrée that made good use of their exceptional acrobatic skills. It became the brothers' second act.

The success of the Rivels' comedy-trapeze act, coupled with the Andreu clown trio, propelled them into big-time circuses and variety theaters: the London Coliseum in 1923 and, the following year, [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, where they were a sensation with the savvy Parisian circus audiences. [[Bertram Mills' Circus]] at London's Olympia quickly followed.

During his stay in London, Charlie is said to have won a competition of Chaplin impersonators at the Royal Albert Hall (which is plausible, since his Tramp character was eerily similar to the original). The event, true or false, started the oft-heard tale that he had outdone Chaplin himself during the competition—an unlikely occurrence, since Chaplin didn't visit Europe in those years.

The Rivels were allegedly sued by United Artists for using the Chaplin movie persona without permission (perhaps simply for doing it too well and too successfully, for there were hundreds of Chaplin impersonators in the business). Charlie consequently performed his trapeze act as a generic drunk character. In any event, the Rivels continued to work in the most prestigious houses, including: Cirque Medrano in Paris (1925), the Scala in Berlin (1927), and Cirkus Schumann (1928).

Soon their Andreu clown trio began to gain preeminence over their Rivels trapeze act. Although they were clearly inspired by the Fratellinis' trio structure, the Andreus had the advantage of their acrobatic talents, and they were soon recognized as one of the best clown trios of their time. René was the whiteface clown; Polo was the first auguste, or ''contre-pitre''; and Charlie was the second auguste. They had two main entrées in their repertoire: an egg routine, and their famous acrobatic sketch, ''The Little Bridge'', in which they tried to build (eventually succeeding) what is known in circus acrobatics as a bridge—a sort of moving human bridge.

Their clown act could easily last up to thirty-five minutes; clowns, in the European circus, are often the stars of the show. Charlie, like Albert Fratellini, quickly became the central figure of the trio, and like Albert Fratellini, he developed an eccentric character with exaggerated makeup and costume. Charlie's signature red hair, large square red nose, long red T-shirt, oversized black shoes, and childish behavior became familiar all over Northern Europe.

In 1930, the trio embarked on a one-year South American tour before returning to the vast German circus and variety circuit. But the working atmosphere between the siblings had deteriorated. Charlie, the most identifiable of the brothers, was the star, and he knew it. In 1935, at the Circus-Varieté Schumann of Frankfurt, Charlie decided to part ways with his father and brothers and to build a career with his sons and his wife.

==The Andreu-Rivels==

After Charlie Rivel's departure, his brothers continued to perform the same acts in German variety theaters, with no less success than they had enjoyed before. Celito replaced Charlie in the flying-trapeze act and the clown entrée, and the younger Rogelio joined the act too in 1937. Then, in 1941, it was Polo's turn to leave the family acts. He worked for a time with the well-known French clown Alex Bugny, then with Andreff and Comotti at Circus [[Knie]] in 1943, before teaming up again with Alex Bugny and finally embarking on a solo-clown career with the help of his sons.

After World War II, René, Celito, and Rogelio continued to perform the traditional Andreu-Rivels acts in major European circuses, including: [[Hagenbeck]], [[Williams]], [[Scott]], [[Strassburger]], [[Pinder]], [[Amar]], and several engagements with Circus [[Knie]] in Switzerland. It was there, in 1952, that Celito, in front of an appreciative Charlie Chaplin, performed a Tramp parody on the trapeze, the act with which his brother Charlie had made a name for himself.

After his death, Celito was replaced by the Portuguese clown Fernando Marquez. Then, in the late 1970s, René and Rogelio Andreu-Rivel opened their own Circo Rivel in Spain, with their many children and with the Dubsky family. In the 1990s, Rogelio opened the first circus school in Barcelona, which is still active today.

==Charlie Rivel and World War II==

In the 1930s, two nearly identical Andreu-Rivels troupes were in business, each performing a clown entrée and a comedy-trapeze act: one was the original Andreu family troupe; the other was Charlie's. Like Grock, who was always billed as "Grock ''and Partner''", Charlie's partners were always billed anonymously, ensuring that he, Charlie, was the star of the act.

As this suggests, Charlie Rivel was not easy to work with. He changed partners often during these years. Among his partners were Paul and Alfredino, the Duo Reos, and the clowns Pauli and Johnny. Charlie and his wife, Carmen, had four children: [[Paulina Schumann|Paulina]], born in Barcelona in 1921; Juanito (Jorge-Juan), born on a ship sailing between Valencia and Palma in 1922; Charlie, Jr., born in London in 1925; and Valentino, born in Brussels in 1927. Charlie's children performed in a third family act, ''The Charlie Rivel's Babies''.

Now a wealthy star, Charlie bought a large house in Chenevières-sur-Marne, near Paris. Yet he worked mostly on the German variety circuit, which proved lucrative. He also appeared in Scandinavia, with Bertram Mills' Circus at London's Olympia, and in South America during a 1936 tour.

After the Nazis seized power in Germany, and even during World War II itself, Charlie remained one of the biggest draws in the top German variety theaters: Wintergarten, Apollo, Scala, and Plaza. In Berlin, he starred in a movie directed by Wolfgang Staudte, ''Akrobat Schööön!'' (which was Charlie's catch phrase in the ''Little Bridge'' entrée). The film was released in 1943, and it revealed Charlie as a genuine screen talent. In later years, a telegram that Charlie had sent to Hitler for his birthday in 1942 would became the subject of wild speculations. Like many traveling performers little acquainted with international politics, Charlie had been dangerously naïve.

Following the Allied victory, Charlie had to sneak out of Germany. He found refuge in Scandinavia before returning to his house near Paris. Shunned by agents and directors in the postwar years, he fell into a prolonged period of depression. "Who can laugh now," he wrote, "after so much tragedy?" He would not return to the ring until 1952.

==The Comeback and the Making of a Living Legend==

In the 1950s, the idea of a celebrity clown was beginning to look like a thing of the past. Grock himself decided to retire—though not before launching a long series of farewell tours. In time, Charlie became the one true international clown star of the postwar era.

Back in the ring in 1952, Charlie performed principally in Germany and Scandinavia, where he enjoyed a renewed success. His old acrobatic clown entrée was revived with two new partners: Armand Miehe, as his ''contre-pitre'', and Bernhard Brasso as his whiteface clown. The new version started with a musical routine involving a chair and a guitar, followed by the ''Little Bridge'' acrobatic routine, and ending with a parody of an opera diva. (The routine would be eventually known as ''Maria Callas''.) They also revived the flying-trapeze act, with Charlie as a drunk in tuxedo and top hat.

Meanwhile, in 1947, Charlie's sons had sailed to the United States, where they performed a remarkable acrobatic act as [[Les Charlivels]], which quickly became one of the greatest nightclub acts of the era. Daughter Paulina married [[Albert Schumann]], of the illustrious [[Cirkus Schumann]], and embarked on an outstanding equestrian career.

Charlie had worked mostly in Northern Europe when Spanish impresario Juan Carcellé decided to bring him to his native country, where he was virtually unknown. In 1954, having used the press to drum up a fan following for the northern clown, Carcellé made Charlie the star of one of his [[Circo Price]] Spanish tours. This led the Spanish national television to produce a program about Charlie in 1962. The following year, his birthplace of Cubelles named a street after him. Thus began a long period of honors and awards in Spain, Germany, and Scandinavia, where Charlie was becoming a living legend. Film director Manuel Esteba had him star in a Spanish movie about himself, ''El aprendiz de clown'' (''The Clown Apprentice'', 1968).

==The Solo Years==

Charlie gradually shifted from the clown-trio format to solo work. Abandoning forever his flying-trapeze act, he began developing two pieces that would become clowning classics: his musical entrée with chair and guitar, and his parody of an opera diva. He was assisted in the ring by his son Juanito and later, after Cirkus Schumann had ceased to exist, by his daughter, Paulina. The two sketches remain masterpieces of clowning, among the few that are impossible to replicate.

Charlie published his autobiography in Denmark in 1971, titled ''Stakkels Klovn'' (''Poor Clown''). The manuscript was immediately translated into several languages. In 1972, he appeared as himself in a sequence for Federico Fellini's film ''I Clowns''. In December 1974, he was the very first recipient of the Gold Clown award at the 1st [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]]. He was seventy-eight years old.

By then, he was approaching the end of his career. He continued to work in carefully selected events or for limited engagements in prestigious circus buildings, such as Munich's Kronebau, Madrid's Circo Price, or Copenhagen's old Cirkus Schumann, which had become [[Cirkus Benneweis]]. He also appeared on television in Sweden and Spain, either as guest, host, or as the subject of movie shorts and documentaries.

In 1979, Charlie's son Juanito started his own clown career at Circus Knie, where he revived the Andreu-Rivels' legendary ''Little Bridge'' entrée with [[Gaston Hani]] and [[Rolf Knie, Jr.]] Charlie's wife, Carmen, passed away in 1972. Ten years later, he married Margarita Camas in Barcelona; he was eighty-six. That same year, in 1982, he agreed to travel to Madrid to perform with the famous [[Circo de Los Muchachos]], a remarkable children's circus, whose performers were young orphans. It would be his last performance.

In his later years, Charlie Rivel was plagued with respiratory ailments, and on July 26, 1983, he passed away at the hospital of St. Pere de Ribes. The following morning, photographs of the great clown were prominently displayed, surrounded by flowers, in the shop windows of Stockholm.

Statues of Charlie Rivel stand in Munich (near Circus [[Kronebau]]), Barcelona, and Cubelles.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Pedro_and_Juan_Andreu_With_Jose_and_Nena.jpg|Pedro Andreu and brother Juan, with José and Neña (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Perch_Act.jpg|Neña & José (top) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Girl_HandToHand.jpg|Neña & José (top, as a girl) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña & José Andreu in their balancing act (c.1907)
Image:Nena_and_Polo_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña, Polo, and José Andreu (c.1910)
Image:Les_Andreu.jpg|Les Andreu, Acrobatic Troupe: José is third from the right (c.1915)
Image:Polo_Rene_and_Jose_Bobby.jpg|The Andreus: Polo, René, and Boby (Charlie), c.1915
Image:Polo_Charlie_and_Rene_Rivels.jpg|The Rivels: Polo, Charlie, and René (c.1920)
Image:Jose_Rivel_as_Charlie.jpg|José Rivel as "Charlie" (c.1920)
Image:Rene_Polo_and_Charlie_Andreu_Rivels_and_Children.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels and their children (c.1925)
Image:Charlie_René_and_Polo_Rivels.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels: Charlie, René, and Polo (c.1925)
Image:Juanito_and_Paulina-Rivel_and_Polo_Charlie-Rogelio_Rene.jpg|The Andreu Rivels with Charlie's children, Juanito and Paulina (c.1930)
Image:Juanito_Valentino_Charlie_Jr_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|Charlie's children: Juanito, Valentino, Charlie, Jr., and Paulina (c.1950)
Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|Charlie Rivel uttering his catchphrase, "Akrobat, Schööön!" (c.1960)
Image:Charlie Rivel Chair.jpg|Charlie Rivel in his chair and guitar entrée (c.1975)
Image:Charlie Rivel Guitar.jpg|Charlie Rivel Playing the Guitar (c.1975)
</gallery>

==Suggested Reading==

Sebastià Gasch, ''Charlie Rivel, pallasso català'' (Barcelona, Ed.Alcides, 1962)

Charlie Rivel, ''Stakkes Klovn'' (Copenhagen and Stockholm, Nordisk Forlag a.s., 1971)

Charlie Rivel, ''Poor Clown'' (London, Michael Joseph, Ltd., 1973)

Josep Vinyes Sabatés, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, , Thor, 1983)

Jordi Jané, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, Generalitat de Catalunya, 1996)

==See Also==

* Biography: [[Paulina Schumann]]

==External Links==

Charlie Rivel Museum in Cubelles: http://www.cubelles.cat/content/view/2491/8/

Charlie Rivel Tribute Album: http://www.clownplanet.com/fotoshtm1/rivel.htm

Andreu-Rivels Tribute: http://www.andreu-rivel.com

Benny Schumann: http://www.schumann.dk/real/historie/?lang=en

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Rivel, Charlie]]
[[Category:Clowns|Rivel, Charlie]]

Charlie Rivel

2009-02-06T03:51:14Z

Reichorn:

==Clown==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Charlie Rivel]]Charlie Rivel (born José Andreu Lasserre, 1896-1983) is one of the few clowns ever to have achieved international stardom. Like [[Grock]] and the [[Fratellinis]] before him, Rivel was a beloved all over Europe, feted by royalty and popular audiences alike. He inspired paintings and novels, movies and plays; his image was used for dolls and other souvenir items; and he received every honor and accolade open to a clown.

Spanning eighty-two years, Rivel's career took him from rags to riches. Deftly blending superb artistic skills, a talent for pantomime, and a flair for public relations, he developed a totally original clown character that stands today as one of the twentieth century's greatest circus icons.

==Origins==

Rivel's father, Pedro Jaime Andreu Pausas (d. 1957), was the son of a cabinetmaker from Barcelona, Spain. In the 1880s, when he was fifteen years old, Pedro and his brother Juan left home to follow Circo Milá. As members of the circus, the brothers began performing a trapeze act. Pedro later joined another circus, Circo Alegría, where he met—and later married—a French acrobat, Marie-Louise Lasserre Seguino. Spain had fallen on hard times, and in order to survive, the young family decided to cross into France, where they hoped to find work. As they made their way toward the border, they performed in village squares across Catalonia.

They were traveling in a hand-drawn wagon when Marie-Louise gave birth to José (the future Charlie) in Cubelles, a village near Barcelona. Surviving as best they could, they finally reached France three months later. They soon secured an engagement with the small Cirque Dusoulier. This was the first circus ring little José stepped into. At age two, he appeared in his father's risley act. The following year, the family was with Cirque Caignac, where José performed both a solo parody of a strong-man act and a hand-to-hand balancing act with his elder sister, Neña (Maria Luisa Andreu, 1897-1915), in which he sometimes dressed as a girl—which made the act look more impressive to agents and directors.

The Cirque Caignac was destroyed by a storm in 1904, and the Andreu family again fell to performing in village squares—José doing acrobatic dancing, perch-pole balancing, and a hand-balancing act—before joining the Cirque Caron in Grenoble. There, José learned trick riding and began to play the guitar, violin, and mandolin.

The Andreu family went on to other small circuses, where José appeared in a balancing trio called ''Los Pepitos'' with his sister Neña and his brother Polo (Paul, 1899-1977). It was probably in 1905, at the circuses [[Zanfretta]] and [[Lambert]], that the three siblings began work on their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, with Neña as the catcher. The following year, in 1906, José got a first taste of clowning, when the director, Monsieur Lambert, called on Jose to replace the house clown, Carleto. Meanwhile, three other Andreu brothers were born: René (Renato, 1903-76), Marcel (Celito, 1906-70), and Roger (Rogelio, 1909-91), who would soon become part of the family acts.

After finally being accepted by a talent agency, the Andreus began to work regularly in French circuses. In 1910-12, they appeared in several minor variety theaters in Paris and on the stage of various Italian theaters. In 1913, during an engagement with the French Cirque [[Alphonse Rancy]], they performed for the first time in their native Catalonia, at Barcelona's Tivoli, before opening their own Circo Reina Victoria in 1915. José performed his first clown entrée in the new family circus, under the name Boby, with his brother Polo.

The Andreus' new circus venture lasted about ten years, alternating with foreign contracts. The family's main act remained their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, in which José started developing a comic character. Their second act was a large risley presentation (a widely popular specialty at the time), which included their father and another catcher.

==Charlie and The Rivels==

In the late 1910s, circus and variety shows were invaded by parodies of Charlie Chaplin, whose extremely popular movie character, the Tramp, had become a customary comic addition to specialty acts in need of a comedy boost. José, who already used comedy in his trapeze act, introduced his Charlie character in 1916. To distinguish their trapeze act from the Andreus' risley act on the bills, the family titled it ''Charlie and the Rivels'' (''Charlot et les Rivels''). As legend has it, they simply made up the name Rivel. From then on, José Andreu would be known as Charlie Rivel.

On January 15, 1920, in Valencia, Spain, Charlie married Carmen Busto, a performer in his family's circus. She was the daughter of an equestrian clown, Gregorio Busto. During a tour in Morocco, Charlie became Boby again, playing the auguste to his brother René, the white-faced clown, in the clown act René usually performed with their brother Polo. Since Charlie had a gift for comedy, they decided to form a clown trio, in the fashion of the successful Fratellini brothers, the shining stars of Paris's [[Cirque Medrano]]. Their father helped them develop an entrée that made good use of their exceptional acrobatic skills. It became the brothers' second act.

The success of the Rivels' comedy-trapeze act, coupled with the Andreu clown trio, propelled them into big-time circuses and variety theaters: the London Coliseum in 1923 and, the following year, [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, where they were a sensation with the savvy Parisian circus audiences. [[Bertram Mills' Circus]] at London's Olympia quickly followed.

During his stay in London, Charlie is said to have won a competition of Chaplin impersonators at the Royal Albert Hall (which is plausible, since his Tramp character was eerily similar to the original). The event, true or false, started the oft-heard tale that he had outdone Chaplin himself during the competition—an unlikely occurrence, since Chaplin didn't visit Europe in those years.

The Rivels were allegedly sued by United Artists for using the Chaplin movie persona without permission (perhaps simply for doing it too well and too successfully, for there were hundreds of Chaplin impersonators in the business). Charlie consequently performed his trapeze act as a generic drunk character. In any event, the Rivels continued to work in the most prestigious houses, including: Cirque Medrano in Paris (1925), the Scala in Berlin (1927), and Cirkus Schumann (1928).

Soon their Andreu clown trio began to gain preeminence over their Rivels trapeze act. Although they were clearly inspired by the Fratellinis' trio structure, the Andreus had the advantage of their acrobatic talents, and they were soon recognized as one of the best clown trios of their time. René was the whiteface clown; Polo was the first auguste, or ''contre-pitre''; and Charlie was the second auguste. They had two main entrées in their repertoire: an egg routine, and their famous acrobatic sketch, ''The Little Bridge'', in which they tried to build (eventually succeeding) what is known in circus acrobatics as a bridge—a sort of moving human bridge.

Their clown act could easily last up to thirty-five minutes; clowns, in the European circus, are often the stars of the show. Charlie, like Albert Fratellini, quickly became the central figure of the trio, and like Albert Fratellini, he developed an eccentric character with exaggerated makeup and costume. Charlie's signature red hair, large square red nose, long red T-shirt, oversized black shoes, and childish behavior became familiar all over Northern Europe.

In 1930, the trio embarked on a one-year South American tour before returning to the vast German circus and variety circuit. But the working atmosphere between the siblings had deteriorated. Charlie, the most identifiable of the brothers, was the star, and he knew it. In 1935, at the Circus-Varieté Schumann of Frankfurt, Charlie decided to part ways with his father and brothers and to build a career with his sons and his wife.

==The Andreu-Rivels==

After Charlie Rivel's departure, his brothers continued to perform the same acts in German variety theaters, with no less success than they had enjoyed before. Celito replaced Charlie in the flying-trapeze act and the clown entrée, and the younger Rogelio joined the act too in 1937. Then, in 1941, it was Polo's turn to leave the family acts. He worked for a time with the well-known French clown Alex Bugny, then with Andreff and Comotti at Circus [[Knie]] in 1943, before teaming up again with Alex Bugny and finally embarking on a solo-clown career with the help of his sons.

After World War II, René, Celito, and Rogelio continued to perform the traditional Andreu-Rivels acts in major European circuses, including: [[Hagenbeck]], [[Williams]], [[Scott]], [[Strassburger]], [[Pinder]], [[Amar]], and several engagements with Circus [[Knie]] in Switzerland. It was there, in 1952, that Celito, in front of an appreciative Charlie Chaplin, performed a Tramp parody on the trapeze, the act with which his brother Charlie had made a name for himself.

After his death, Celito was replaced by the Portuguese clown Fernando Marquez. Then, in the late 1970s, René and Rogelio Andreu-Rivel opened their own Circo Rivel in Spain, with their many children and with the Dubsky family. In the 1990s, Rogelio opened the first circus school in Barcelona, which is still active today.

==Charlie Rivel and World War II==

In the 1930s, two nearly identical Andreu-Rivels troupes were in business, each performing a clown entrée and a comedy-trapeze act: one was the original Andreu family troupe; the other was Charlie's. Like Grock, who was always billed as "Grock ''and Partner''", Charlie's partners were always billed anonymously, ensuring that he, Charlie, was the star of the act.

As this suggests, Charlie Rivel was not easy to work with. He changed partners often during these years. Among his partners were Paul and Alfredino, the Duo Reos, and the clowns Pauli and Johnny. Charlie and his wife, Carmen, had four children: [[Paulina Schumann|Paulina]], born in Barcelona in 1921; Juanito (Jorge-Juan), born on a ship sailing between Valencia and Palma in 1922; Charlie, Jr., born in London in 1925; and Valentino, born in Brussels in 1927. Charlie's children performed in a third family act, ''The Charlie Rivel's Babies''.

Now a wealthy star, Charlie bought a large house in Chenevières-sur-Marne, near Paris. Yet he worked mostly on the German variety circuit, which proved lucrative. He also appeared in Scandinavia, with Bertram Mills' Circus at London's Olympia, and in South America during a 1936 tour.

After the Nazis seized power in Germany, and even during World War II itself, Charlie remained one of the biggest draws in the top German variety theaters: Wintergarten, Apollo, Scala, and Plaza. In Berlin, he starred in a movie directed by Wolfgang Staudte, ''Akrobat Schööön!'' (which was Charlie's catch phrase in the ''Little Bridge'' entrée). The film was released in 1943, and it revealed Charlie as a genuine screen talent. In later years, a telegram that Charlie had sent to Hitler for his birthday in 1942 would became the subject of wild speculations. Like many traveling performers little acquainted with international politics, Charlie had been dangerously naïve.

Following the Allied victory, Charlie had to sneak out of Germany. He found refuge in Scandinavia before returning to his house near Paris. Shunned by agents and directors in the postwar years, he fell into a prolonged period of depression. "Who can laugh now," he wrote, "after so much tragedy?" He would not return to the ring until 1952.

==The Comeback and the Making of a Living Legend==

In the 1950s, the idea of a celebrity clown was beginning to look like a thing of the past. Grock himself decided to retire—though not before launching a long series of farewell tours. In time, Charlie became the one true international clown star of the postwar era.

Back in the ring in 1952, Charlie performed principally in Germany and Scandinavia, where he enjoyed a renewed success. His old acrobatic clown entrée was revived with two new partners: Armand Miehe, as his ''contre-pitre'', and Bernhard Brasso as his whiteface clown. The new version started with a musical routine involving a chair and a guitar, followed by the ''Little Bridge'' acrobatic routine, and ending with a parody of an opera diva. (The routine would be eventually known as ''Maria Callas''.) They also revived the flying-trapeze act, with Charlie as a drunk in tuxedo and top hat.

Meanwhile, in 1947, Charlie's sons had sailed to the United States, where they performed a remarkable acrobatic act as [[Les Charlivels]], which quickly became one of the greatest nightclub acts of the era. Daughter Paulina married [[Albert Schumann]], of the illustrious [[Cirkus Schumann]], and embarked on an outstanding equestrian career.

Charlie had worked mostly in Northern Europe when Spanish impresario Juan Carcellé decided to bring him to his native country, where he was virtually unknown. In 1954, having used the press to drum up a fan following for the northern clown, Carcellé made Charlie the star of one of his [[Circo Price]] Spanish tours. This led the Spanish national television to produce a program about Charlie in 1962. The following year, his birthplace of Cubelles named a street after him. Thus began a long period of honors and awards in Spain, Germany, and Scandinavia, where Charlie was becoming a living legend. Film director Manuel Esteba had him star in a Spanish movie about himself, ''El aprendiz de clown'' (''The Clown Apprentice'', 1968).

==The Solo Years==

Charlie gradually shifted from the clown-trio format to solo work. Abandoning forever his flying-trapeze act, he began developing two pieces that would become clowning classics: his musical entrée with chair and guitar, and his parody of an opera diva. He was assisted in the ring by his son Juanito and later, after Cirkus Schumann had ceased to exist, by his daughter, Paulina. The two sketches remain masterpieces of clowning, among the few that are impossible to replicate.

Charlie published his autobiography in Denmark in 1971, titled ''Stakkels Klovn'' (''Poor Clown''). The manuscript was immediately translated into several languages. In 1972, he appeared as himself in a sequence for Federico Fellini's film ''I Clowns''. In December 1974, he was the very first recipient of the Gold Clown award at the 1st [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]]. He was seventy-eight years old.

By then, he was approaching the end of his career. He continued to work in carefully selected events or for limited engagements in prestigious circus buildings, such as Munich's Kronebau, Madrid's Circo Price, or Copenhagen's old Cirkus Schumann, which had become [[Cirkus Benneweis]]. He also appeared on television in Sweden and Spain, either as guest, host, or as the subject of movie shorts and documentaries.

In 1979, Charlie's son Juanito started his own clown career at Circus Knie, where he revived the Andreu-Rivels' legendary ''Little Bridge'' entrée with [[Gaston Hani]] and [[Rolf Knie, Jr.]] Charlie's wife, Carmen, passed away in 1972. Ten years later, he married Margarita Camas in Barcelona; he was eighty-six. That same year, in 1982, he agreed to travel to Madrid to perform with the famous [[Circo de Los Muchachos]], a remarkable children's circus, whose performers were young orphans. It would be his last performance.

In his later years, Charlie Rivel was plagued with respiratory ailments, and on July 26, 1983, he passed away at the hospital of St. Pere de Ribes. The following morning, photographs of the great clown were prominently displayed, surrounded by flowers, in the shop windows of Stockholm.

Statues of Charlie Rivel stand in Munich (near Circus [[Kronebau]]), Barcelona, and Cubelles.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Pedro_and_Juan_Andreu_With_Jose_and_Nena.jpg|Pedro Andreu and brother Juan, with José and Neña (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Perch_Act.jpg|Neña & José (top) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Girl_HandToHand.jpg|Neña & José (top, as a girl) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña & José Andreu in their balancing act (c.1907)
Image:Nena_and_Polo_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña, Polo, and José Andreu (c.1910)
Image:Les_Andreu.jpg|Les Andreu, Acrobatic Troupe: José is third from the right (c.1915)
Image:Polo_Rene_and_Jose_Bobby.jpg|The Andreus: Polo, René, and Boby (Charlie), c.1915
Image:Polo_Charlie_and_Rene_Rivels.jpg|The Rivels: Polo, Charlie, and René (c.1920)
Image:Jose_Rivel_as_Charlie.jpg|José Rivel as "Charlie" (c.1920)
Image:Rene_Polo_and_Charlie_Andreu_Rivels_and_Children.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels and their children (c.1925)
Image:Charlie_René_and_Polo_Rivels.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels: Charlie, René, and Polo (c.1925)
Image:Juanito_and_Paulina-Rivel_and_Polo_Charlie-Rogelio_Rene.jpg|The Andreu Rivels with Charlie's children, Juanito and Paulina (c.1930)
Image:Juanito_Valentino_Charlie_Jr_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|Charlie's children: Juanito, Valentino, Charlie, Jr., and Paulina (c.1950)
Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|Charlie Rivel uttering his catchphrase, "Akrobat, Schööön!" (c.1960)
Image:Charlie Rivel Chair.jpg|Charlie Rivel in his chair and guitar entrée (c.1975)
Image:Charlie Rivel Guitar.jpg|Charlie Rivel Playing the Guitar (c.1975)
</gallery>

==Suggested Reading==

Sebastià Gasch, ''Charlie Rivel, pallasso català'' (Barcelona, Ed.Alcides, 1962)

Charlie Rivel, ''Stakkes Klovn'' (Copenhagen and Stockholm, Nordisk Forlag a.s., 1971)

Charlie Rivel, ''Poor Clown'' (London, Michael Joseph, Ltd., 1973)

Josep Vinyes Sabatés, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, , Thor, 1983)

Jordi Jané, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, Generalitat de Catalunya, 1996)

==See Also==

* Biography: [[Paulina Schumann]]

==External Links==

Charlie Rivel Museum in Cubelles: http://www.cubelles.cat/content/view/2491/8/

Charlie Rivel Tribute Album: http://www.clownplanet.com/fotoshtm1/rivel.htm

Andreu-Rivels Tribute: http://www.andreu-rivel.com

Benny Schumann: http://www.schumann.dk/real/historie/?lang=en

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Rivel, Charlie]]
[[Category:Clowns|Rivel, Charlie]]

Charlie Rivel

2009-02-06T03:50:45Z

Reichorn:

==Clown==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Charlie Rivel]]Charlie Rivel (born José Andreu Lasserre, 1896-1983) is one of the few clowns ever to have achieved international stardom. Like [[Grock]] and the [[Fratellinis]] before him, Rivel was a beloved all over Europe, feted by royalty and popular audiences alike. He inspired paintings and novels, movies and plays; his image was used for dolls and other souvenir items; and he received every honor and accolade open to a clown.

Spanning eighty-two years, Rivel's career took him from rags to riches. Deftly blending superb artistic skills, a talent for pantomime, and a flair for public relations, he developed a totally original clown character that stands today as one of the twentieth century's greatest circus icons.

==Origins==

Rivel's father, Pedro Jaime Andreu Pausas (d. 1957), was the son of a cabinetmaker from Barcelona, Spain. In the 1880s, when he was fifteen years old, Pedro and his brother Juan left home to follow Circo Milá. As members of the circus, the brothers began performing a trapeze act. Pedro later joined another circus, Circo Alegría, where he met—and later married—a French acrobat, Marie-Louise Lasserre Seguino. Spain had fallen on hard times, and in order to survive, the young family decided to cross into France, where they hoped to find work. As they made their way toward the border, they performed in village squares across Catalonia.

They were traveling in a hand-drawn wagon when Marie-Louise gave birth to José (the future Charlie) in Cubelles, a village near Barcelona. Surviving as best they could, they finally reached France three months later. They soon secured an engagement with the small Cirque Dusoulier. This was the first circus ring little José stepped into. At age two, he appeared in his father's risley act. The following year, the family was with Cirque Caignac, where José performed both a solo parody of a strong-man act and a hand-to-hand balancing act with his elder sister, Neña (Maria Luisa Andreu, 1897-1915), in which he sometimes dressed as a girl—which made the act look more impressive to agents and directors.

The Cirque Caignac was destroyed by a storm in 1904, and the Andreu family again fell to performing in village squares—José doing acrobatic dancing, perch-pole balancing, and a hand-balancing act—before joining the Cirque Caron in Grenoble. There, José learned trick riding and began to play the guitar, violin, and mandolin.

The Andreu family went on to other small circuses, where José appeared in a balancing trio called ''Los Pepitos'' with his sister Neña and his brother Polo (Paul, 1899-1977). It was probably in 1905, at the circuses [[Zanfretta]] and [[Lambert]], that the three siblings began work on their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, with Neña as the catcher. The following year, in 1906, José got a first taste of clowning, when the director, Monsieur Lambert, called on Jose to replace the house clown, Carleto. Meanwhile, three other Andreu brothers were born: René (Renato, 1903-76), Marcel (Celito, 1906-70), and Roger (Rogelio, 1909-91), who would soon become part of the family acts.

After finally being accepted by a talent agency, the Andreus began to work regularly in French circuses. In 1910-12, they appeared in several minor variety theaters in Paris and on the stage of various Italian theaters. In 1913, during an engagement with the French Cirque [[Alphonse Rancy]], they performed for the first time in their native Catalonia, at Barcelona's Tivoli, before opening their own Circo Reina Victoria in 1915. José performed his first clown entrée in the new family circus, under the name Boby, with his brother Polo.

The Andreus' new circus venture lasted about ten years, alternating with foreign contracts. The family's main act remained their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, in which José started developing a comic character. Their second act was a large risley presentation (a widely popular specialty at the time), which included their father and another catcher.

==Charlie and The Rivels==

In the late 1910s, circus and variety shows were invaded by parodies of Charlie Chaplin, whose extremely popular movie character, the Tramp, had become a customary comic addition to specialty acts in need of a comedy boost. José, who already used comedy in his trapeze act, introduced his Charlie character in 1916. To distinguish their trapeze act from the Andreus' risley act on the bills, the family titled it ''Charlie and the Rivels'' (''Charlot et les Rivels''). As legend has it, they simply made up the name Rivel. From then on, José Andreu would be known as Charlie Rivel.

On January 15, 1920, in Valencia, Spain, Charlie married Carmen Busto, a performer in his family's circus. She was the daughter of an equestrian clown, Gregorio Busto. During a tour in Morocco, Charlie became Boby again, playing the auguste to his brother René, the white-faced clown, in the clown act René usually performed with their brother Polo. Since Charlie had a gift for comedy, they decided to form a clown trio, in the fashion of the successful Fratellini brothers, the shining stars of Paris's [[Cirque Medrano]]. Their father helped them develop an entrée that made good use of their exceptional acrobatic skills. It became the brothers' second act.

The success of the Rivels' comedy-trapeze act, coupled with the Andreu clown trio, propelled them into big-time circuses and variety theaters: the London Coliseum in 1923 and, the following year, [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, where they were a sensation with the savvy Parisian circus audiences. [[Bertram Mills' Circus]] at London's Olympia quickly followed.

During his stay in London, Charlie is said to have won a competition of Chaplin impersonators at the Royal Albert Hall (which is plausible, since his Tramp character was eerily similar to the original). The event, true or false, started the oft-heard tale that he had outdone Chaplin himself during the competition—an unlikely occurrence, since Chaplin didn't visit Europe in those years.

The Rivels were allegedly sued by United Artists for using the Chaplin movie persona without permission (perhaps simply for doing it too well and too successfully, for there were hundreds of Chaplin impersonators in the business). Charlie consequently performed his trapeze act as a generic drunk character. In any event, the Rivels continued to work in the most prestigious houses, including: Cirque Medrano in Paris (1925), the Scala in Berlin (1927), and Cirkus Schumann (1928).

Soon their Andreu clown trio began to gain preeminence over their Rivels trapeze act. Although they were clearly inspired by the Fratellinis' trio structure, the Andreus had the advantage of their acrobatic talents, and they were soon recognized as one of the best clown trios of their time. René was the whiteface clown; Polo was the first auguste, or ''contre-pitre''; and Charlie was the second auguste. They had two main entrées in their repertoire: an egg routine, and their famous acrobatic sketch, ''The Little Bridge'', in which they tried to build (eventually succeeding) what is known in circus acrobatics as a bridge—a sort of moving human bridge.

Their clown act could easily last up to thirty-five minutes; clowns, in the European circus, are often the stars of the show. Charlie, like Albert Fratellini, quickly became the central figure of the trio, and like Albert Fratellini, he developed an eccentric character with exaggerated makeup and costume. Charlie's signature red hair, large square red nose, long red T-shirt, oversized black shoes, and childish behavior became familiar all over Northern Europe.

In 1930, the trio embarked on a one-year South American tour before returning to the vast German circus and variety circuit. But the working atmosphere between the siblings had deteriorated. Charlie, the most identifiable of the brothers, was the star, and he knew it. In 1935, at the Circus-Varieté Schumann of Frankfurt, Charlie decided to part ways with his father and brothers and to build a career with his sons and his wife.

==The Andreu-Rivels==

After Charlie Rivel's departure, his brothers continued to perform the same acts in German variety theaters, with no less success than they had enjoyed before. Celito replaced Charlie in the flying-trapeze act and the clown entrée, and the younger Rogelio joined the act too in 1937. Then, in 1941, it was Polo's turn to leave the family acts. He worked for a time with the well-known French clown Alex Bugny, then with Andreff and Comotti at Circus [[Knie]] in 1943, before teaming up again with Alex Bugny and finally embarking on a solo-clown career with the help of his sons.

After World War II, René, Celito, and Rogelio continued to perform the traditional Andreu-Rivels acts in major European circuses, including: [[Hagenbeck]], [[Williams]], [[Scott]], [[Strassburger]], [[Pinder]], [[Amar]], and several engagements with Circus [[Knie]] in Switzerland. It was there, in 1952, that Celito, in front of an appreciative Charlie Chaplin, performed a Tramp parody on the trapeze, the act with which his brother Charlie had made a name for himself.

After his death, Celito was replaced by the Portuguese clown Fernando Marquez. Then, in the late 1970s, René and Rogelio Andreu-Rivel opened their own Circo Rivel in Spain, with their many children and with the Dubsky family. In the 1990s, Rogelio opened the first circus school in Barcelona, which is still active today.

==Charlie Rivel and World War II==

In the 1930s, two nearly identical Andreu-Rivels troupes were in business, each performing a clown entrée and a comedy-trapeze act: one was the original Andreu family troupe; the other was Charlie's. Like Grock, who was always billed as "Grock ''and Partner''", Charlie's partners were always billed anonymously, ensuring that he, Charlie, was the star of the act.

As this suggests, Charlie Rivel was not easy to work with. He changed partners often during these years. Among his partners were Paul and Alfredino, the Duo Reos, and the clowns Pauli and Johnny. Charlie and his wife, Carmen, had four children: [[Paulina Schumann|Paulina]], born in Barcelona in 1921; Juanito (Jorge-Juan), born on a ship sailing between Valencia and Palma in 1922; Charlie, Jr., born in London in 1925; and Valentino, born in Brussels in 1927. Charlie's children performed in a third family act, ''The Charlie Rivel's Babies''.

Now a wealthy star, Charlie bought a large house in Chenevières-sur-Marne, near Paris. Yet he worked mostly on the German variety circuit, which proved lucrative. He also appeared in Scandinavia, with Bertram Mills' Circus at London's Olympia, and in South America during a 1936 tour.

After the Nazis seized power in Germany, and even during World War II itself, Charlie remained one of the biggest draws in the top German variety theaters: Wintergarten, Apollo, Scala, and Plaza. In Berlin, he starred in a movie directed by Wolfgang Staudte, ''Akrobat Schööön!'' (which was Charlie's catch phrase in the ''Little Bridge'' entrée). The film was released in 1943, and it revealed Charlie as a genuine screen talent. In later years, a telegram that Charlie had sent to Hitler for his birthday in 1942 would became the subject of wild speculations. Like many traveling performers little acquainted with international politics, Charlie had been dangerously naïve.

Following the Allied victory, Charlie had to sneak out of Germany. He found refuge in Scandinavia before returning to his house near Paris. Shunned by agents and directors in the postwar years, he fell into a prolonged period of depression. "Who can laugh now," he wrote, "after so much tragedy?" He would not return to the ring until 1952.

==The Comeback and the Making of a Living Legend==

In the 1950s, the idea of a celebrity clown was beginning to look like a thing of the past. Grock himself decided to retire—though not before launching a long series of farewell tours. In time, Charlie became the one true international clown star of the postwar era.

Back in the ring in 1952, Charlie performed principally in Germany and Scandinavia, where he enjoyed a renewed success. His old acrobatic clown entrée was revived with two new partners: Armand Miehe, as his ''contre-pitre'', and Bernhard Brasso as his whiteface clown. The new version started with a musical routine involving a chair and a guitar, followed by the ''Little Bridge'' acrobatic routine, and ending with a parody of an opera diva. (The routine would be eventually known as ''Maria Callas''.) They also revived the flying-trapeze act, with Charlie as a drunk in tuxedo and top hat.

Meanwhile, in 1947, Charlie's sons had sailed to the United States, where they performed a remarkable acrobatic act as [[Les Charlivels]], which quickly became one of the greatest nightclub acts of the era. Daughter Paulina married [[Albert Schumann]], of the illustrious [[Cirkus Schumann]], and embarked on an outstanding equestrian career.

Charlie had worked mostly in Northern Europe when Spanish impresario Juan Carcellé decided to bring him to his native country, where he was virtually unknown. In 1954, having used the press to drum up a fan following for the northern clown, Carcellé made Charlie the star of one of his [[Circo Price]] Spanish tours. This led the Spanish national television to produce a program about Charlie in 1962. The following year, his birthplace of Cubelles named a street after him. Thus began a long period of honors and awards in Spain, Germany, and Scandinavia, where Charlie was becoming a living legend. Film director Manuel Esteba had him star in a Spanish movie about himself, ''El aprendiz de clown'' (''The Clown Apprentice'', 1968).

==The Solo Years==

Charlie gradually shifted from the clown-trio format to solo work. Abandoning forever his flying-trapeze act, he began developing two pieces that would become clowning classics: his musical entrée with chair and guitar, and his parody of an opera diva. He was assisted in the ring by his son Juanito and later, after Cirkus Schumann had ceased to exist, by his daughter, Paulina. The two sketches remain masterpieces of clowning, among the few that are impossible to replicate.

Charlie published his autobiography in Denmark in 1971, titled ''Stakkels Klovn'' (''Poor Clown''). The manuscript was immediately translated into several languages. In 1972, he appeared as himself in a sequence for Federico Fellini's film ''I Clowns''. In December 1974, he was the very first recipient of the Gold Clown award at the 1st [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]]. He was seventy-eight years old.

By then, he was approaching the end of his career. He continued to work in carefully selected events or for limited engagements in prestigious circus buildings, such as Munich's Kronebau, Madrid's Circo Price, or Copenhagen's old Cirkus Schumann, which had become [[Cirkus Benneweis]]. He also appeared on television in Sweden and Spain, either as guest, host, or as the subject of movie shorts and documentaries.

In 1979, Charlie's son Juanito started his own clown career at Circus Knie, where he revived the Andreu-Rivels' legendary ''Little Bridge'' entrée with [[Gaston Hani]] and [[Rolf Knie, Jr.]] Charlie's wife, Carmen, passed away in 1972. Ten years later, he married Margarita Camas in Barcelona; he was eighty-six. That same year, in 1982, he agreed to travel to Madrid to perform with the famous [[Circo de Los Muchachos]], a remarkable children's circus, whose performers were young orphans. It would be his last performance.

In his later years, Charlie Rivel was plagued with respiratory ailments, and on July 26, 1983, he passed away at the hospital of St. Pere de Ribes. The following morning, photographs of the great clown were prominently displayed, surrounded by flowers, in the shop windows of Stockholm.

Statues of Charlie Rivel stand in Munich (near Circus [[Kronebau]]), Barcelona, and Cubelles.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Pedro_and_Juan_Andreu_With_Jose_and_Nena.jpg|Pedro Andreu and brother Juan, with José and Neña (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Perch_Act.jpg|Neña & José (top) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Girl_HandToHand.jpg|Neña & José (top, as a girl) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña & José Andreu in their balancing act (c.1907)
Image:Nena_and_Polo_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña, Polo, and José Andreu (c.1910)
Image:Les_Andreu.jpg|Les Andreu, Acrobatic Troupe: José is third from the right (c.1915)
Image:Polo_Rene_and_Jose_Bobby.jpg|The Andreus: Polo, René, and Boby (Charlie), c.1915
Image:Polo_Charlie_and_Rene_Rivels.jpg|The Rivels: Polo, Charlie, and René (c.1920)
Image:Jose_Rivel_as_Charlie.jpg|José Rivel as "Charlie" (c.1920)
Image:Rene_Polo_and_Charlie_Andreu_Rivels_and_Children.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels and their children (c.1925)
Image:Charlie_René_and_Polo_Rivels.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels: Charlie, René, and Polo (c.1925)
Image:Juanito_and_Paulina-Rivel_and_Polo_Charlie-Rogelio_Rene.jpg|The Andreu Rivels with Charlie's children, Juanito and Paulina (c.1930)
Image:Juanito_Valentino_Charlie_Jr_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|Charlie's children: Juanito, Valentino, Charlie, Jr., and Paulina (c.1950)
Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|Charlie Rivel uttering his catchphrase, "Akrobat, Schööön!" (c.1960)
Image:Charlie Rivel Chair.jpg|Charlie Rivel in his chair and guitar entrée (c.1975)
Image:Charlie Rivel Guitar.jpg|Charlie Rivel Playing the Guitar (c.1975)
</gallery>

==Suggested Reading==

Sebastià Gasch, ''Charlie Rivel, pallasso català'' (Barcelona, Ed.Alcides, 1962)

Charlie Rivel, ''Stakkes Klovn'' (Copenhagen and Stockholm, Nordisk Forlag a.s., 1971)

Charlie Rivel, ''Poor Clown'' (London, Michael Joseph, Ltd., 1973)

Josep Vinyes Sabatés, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, , Thor, 1983)

Jordi Jané, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, Generalitat de Catalunya, 1996)

==See Also==

* Biography: [[Paulina Schumann]]

==External Links==

Charlie Rivel Museum in Cubelles: http://www.cubelles.cat/content/view/2491/8/

Charlie Rivel Tribute Album: http://www.clownplanet.com/fotoshtm1/rivel.htm

Andreu-Rivels Tribute: http://www.andreu-rivel.com

Benny Schumann: http://www.schumann.dk/real/historie/?lang=en

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Rivel, Charlie]]
[[Category:Clowns|Rivel, Charlie]]

Charlie Rivel

2009-02-06T03:50:28Z

Reichorn: Added paragraph break: use previous edit to compare

==Clown==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Charlie Rivel]]Charlie Rivel (born José Andreu Lasserre, 1896-1983) is one of the few clowns ever to have achieved international stardom. Like [[Grock]] and the [[Fratellinis]] before him, Rivel was a beloved all over Europe, feted by royalty and popular audiences alike. He inspired paintings and novels, movies and plays; his image was used for dolls and other souvenir items; and he received every honor and accolade open to a clown.

Spanning eighty-two years, Rivel's career took him from rags to riches. Deftly blending superb artistic skills, a talent for pantomime, and a flair for public relations, he developed a totally original clown character that stands today as one of the twentieth century's greatest circus icons.

==Origins==

Rivel's father, Pedro Jaime Andreu Pausas (d. 1957), was the son of a cabinetmaker from Barcelona, Spain. In the 1880s, when he was fifteen years old, Pedro and his brother Juan left home to follow Circo Milá. As members of the circus, the brothers began performing a trapeze act. Pedro later joined another circus, Circo Alegría, where he met—and later married—a French acrobat, Marie-Louise Lasserre Seguino. Spain had fallen on hard times, and in order to survive, the young family decided to cross into France, where they hoped to find work. As they made their way toward the border, they performed in village squares across Catalonia.

They were traveling in a hand-drawn wagon when Marie-Louise gave birth to José (the future Charlie) in Cubelles, a village near Barcelona. Surviving as best they could, they finally reached France three months later. They soon secured an engagement with the small Cirque Dusoulier. This was the first circus ring little José stepped into. At age two, he appeared in his father's risley act. The following year, the family was with Cirque Caignac, where José performed both a solo parody of a strong-man act and a hand-to-hand balancing act with his elder sister, Neña (Maria Luisa Andreu, 1897-1915), in which he sometimes dressed as a girl—which made the act look more impressive to agents and directors.

The Cirque Caignac was destroyed by a storm in 1904, and the Andreu family again fell to performing in village squares—José doing acrobatic dancing, perch-pole balancing, and a hand-balancing act—before joining the Cirque Caron in Grenoble. There, José learned trick riding and began to play the guitar, violin, and mandolin.

The Andreu family went on to other small circuses, where José appeared in a balancing trio called ''Los Pepitos'' with his sister Neña and his brother Polo (Paul, 1899-1977). It was probably in 1905, at the circuses [[Zanfretta]] and [[Lambert]], that the three siblings began work on their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, with Neña as the catcher. The following year, in 1906, José got a first taste of clowning, when the director, Monsieur Lambert, called on Jose to replace the house clown, Carleto. Meanwhile, three other Andreu brothers were born: René (Renato, 1903-76), Marcel (Celito, 1906-70), and Roger (Rogelio, 1909-91), who would soon become part of the family acts.

After finally being accepted by a talent agency, the Andreus began to work regularly in French circuses. In 1910-12, they appeared in several minor variety theaters in Paris and on the stage of various Italian theaters. In 1913, during an engagement with the French Cirque [[Alphonse Rancy]], they performed for the first time in their native Catalonia, at Barcelona's Tivoli, before opening their own Circo Reina Victoria in 1915. José performed his first clown entrée in the new family circus, under the name Boby, with his brother Polo.

The Andreus' new circus venture lasted about ten years, alternating with foreign contracts. The family's main act remained their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, in which José started developing a comic character. Their second act was a large risley presentation (a widely popular specialty at the time), which included their father and another catcher.

==Charlie and The Rivels==

In the late 1910s, circus and variety shows were invaded by parodies of Charlie Chaplin, whose extremely popular movie character, the Tramp, had become a customary comic addition to specialty acts in need of a comedy boost. José, who already used comedy in his trapeze act, introduced his Charlie character in 1916. To distinguish their trapeze act from the Andreus' risley act on the bills, the family titled it ''Charlie and the Rivels'' (''Charlot et les Rivels''). As legend has it, they simply made up the name Rivel. From then on, José Andreu would be known as Charlie Rivel.

On January 15, 1920, in Valencia, Spain, Charlie married Carmen Busto, a performer in his family's circus. She was the daughter of an equestrian clown, Gregorio Busto. During a tour in Morocco, Charlie became Boby again, playing the auguste to his brother René, the white-faced clown, in the clown act René usually performed with their brother Polo. Since Charlie had a gift for comedy, they decided to form a clown trio, in the fashion of the successful Fratellini brothers, the shining stars of Paris's [[Cirque Medrano]]. Their father helped them develop an entrée that made good use of their exceptional acrobatic skills. It became the brothers' second act.

The success of the Rivels' comedy-trapeze act, coupled with the Andreu clown trio, propelled them into big-time circuses and variety theaters: the London Coliseum in 1923 and, the following year, [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, where they were a sensation with the savvy Parisian circus audiences. [[Bertram Mills' Circus]] at London's Olympia quickly followed.

During his stay in London, Charlie is said to have won a competition of Chaplin impersonators at the Royal Albert Hall (which is plausible, since his Tramp character was eerily similar to the original). The event, true or false, started the oft-heard tale that he had outdone Chaplin himself during the competition—an unlikely occurrence, since Chaplin didn't visit Europe in those years.

The Rivels were allegedly sued by United Artists for using the Chaplin movie persona without permission (perhaps simply for doing it too well and too successfully, for there were hundreds of Chaplin impersonators in the business). Charlie consequently performed his trapeze act as a generic drunk character. In any event, the Rivels continued to work in the most prestigious houses, including: Cirque Medrano in Paris (1925), the Scala in Berlin (1927), and Cirkus Schumann (1928).

Soon their Andreu clown trio began to gain preeminence over their Rivels trapeze act. Although they were clearly inspired by the Fratellinis' trio structure, the Andreus had the advantage of their acrobatic talents, and they were soon recognized as one of the best clown trios of their time. René was the whiteface clown; Polo was the first auguste, or ''contre-pitre''; and Charlie was the second auguste. They had two main entrées in their repertoire: an egg routine, and their famous acrobatic sketch, ''The Little Bridge'', in which they tried to build (eventually succeeding) what is known in circus acrobatics as a bridge—a sort of moving human bridge.

Their clown act could easily last up to thirty-five minutes; clowns, in the European circus, are often the stars of the show. Charlie, like Albert Fratellini, quickly became the central figure of the trio, and like Albert Fratellini, he developed an eccentric character with exaggerated makeup and costume. Charlie's signature red hair, large square red nose, long red T-shirt, oversized black shoes, and childish behavior became familiar all over Northern Europe.

In 1930, the trio embarked on a one-year South American tour before returning to the vast German circus and variety circuit. But the working atmosphere between the siblings had deteriorated. Charlie, the most identifiable of the brothers, was the star, and he knew it. In 1935, at the Circus-Varieté Schumann of Frankfurt, Charlie decided to part ways with his father and brothers and to build a career with his sons and his wife.

==The Andreu-Rivels==

After Charlie Rivel's departure, his brothers continued to perform the same acts in German variety theaters, with no less success than they had enjoyed before. Celito replaced Charlie in the flying-trapeze act and the clown entrée, and the younger Rogelio joined the act too in 1937. Then, in 1941, it was Polo's turn to leave the family acts. He worked for a time with the well-known French clown Alex Bugny, then with Andreff and Comotti at Circus [[Knie]] in 1943, before teaming up again with Alex Bugny and finally embarking on a solo-clown career with the help of his sons.

After World War II, René, Celito, and Rogelio continued to perform the traditional Andreu-Rivels acts in major European circuses, including: [[Hagenbeck]], [[Williams]], [[Scott]], [[Strassburger]], [[Pinder]], [[Amar]], and several engagements with Circus [[Knie]] in Switzerland. It was there, in 1952, that Celito, in front of an appreciative Charlie Chaplin, performed a Tramp parody on the trapeze, the act with which his brother Charlie had made a name for himself.

After his death, Celito was replaced by the Portuguese clown Fernando Marquez. Then, in the late 1970s, René and Rogelio Andreu-Rivel opened their own Circo Rivel in Spain, with their many children and with the Dubsky family. In the 1990s, Rogelio opened the first circus school in Barcelona, which is still active today.

==Charlie Rivel and World War II==

In the 1930s, two nearly identical Andreu-Rivels troupes were in business, each performing a clown entrée and a comedy-trapeze act: one was the original Andreu family troupe; the other was Charlie's. Like Grock, who was always billed as "Grock ''and Partner''", Charlie's partners were always billed anonymously, ensuring that he, Charlie, was the star of the act.

As this suggests, Charlie Rivel was not easy to work with. He changed partners often during these years. Among his partners were Paul and Alfredino, the Duo Reos, and the clowns Pauli and Johnny. Charlie and his wife, Carmen, had four children: [[Paulina Schumann|Paulina]], born in Barcelona in 1921; Juanito (Jorge-Juan), born on a ship sailing between Valencia and Palma in 1922; Charlie, Jr., born in London in 1925; and Valentino, born in Brussels in 1927. Charlie's children performed in a third family act, ''The Charlie Rivel's Babies''.

Now a wealthy star, Charlie bought a large house in Chenevières-sur-Marne, near Paris. Yet he worked mostly on the German variety circuit, which proved lucrative. He also appeared in Scandinavia, with Bertram Mills' Circus at London's Olympia, and in South America during a 1936 tour.

After the Nazis seized power in Germany, and even during World War II itself, Charlie remained one of the biggest draws in the top German variety theaters: Wintergarten, Apollo, Scala, and Plaza. In Berlin, he starred in a movie directed by Wolfgang Staudte, ''Akrobat Schööön!'' (which was Charlie's catch phrase in the ''Little Bridge'' entrée). The film was released in 1943, and it revealed Charlie as a genuine screen talent. In later years, a telegram that Charlie had sent to Hitler for his birthday in 1942 would became the subject of wild speculations. Like many traveling performers little acquainted with international politics, Charlie had been dangerously naïve.

Following the Allied victory, Charlie had to sneak out of Germany. He found refuge in Scandinavia before returning to his house near Paris. Shunned by agents and directors in the postwar years, he fell into a prolonged period of depression. "Who can laugh now," he wrote, "after so much tragedy?" He would not return to the ring until 1952.

==The Comeback and the Making of a Living Legend==

In the 1950s, the idea of a celebrity clown was beginning to look like a thing of the past. Grock himself decided to retire—though not before launching a long series of farewell tours. In time, Charlie became the one true international clown star of the postwar era.

Back in the ring in 1952, Charlie performed principally in Germany and Scandinavia, where he enjoyed a renewed success. His old acrobatic clown entrée was revived with two new partners: Armand Miehe, as his ''contre-pitre'', and Bernhard Brasso as his whiteface clown. The new version started with a musical routine involving a chair and a guitar, followed by the ''Little Bridge'' acrobatic routine, and ending with a parody of an opera diva. (The routine would be eventually known as ''Maria Callas''.) They also revived the flying-trapeze act, with Charlie as a drunk in tuxedo and top hat.

Meanwhile, in 1947, Charlie's sons had sailed to the United States, where they performed a remarkable acrobatic act as [[Les Charlivels]], which quickly became one of the greatest nightclub acts of the era. Daughter Paulina married [[Albert Schumann]], of the illustrious [[Cirkus Schumann]], and embarked on an outstanding equestrian career.

Charlie had worked mostly in Northern Europe when Spanish impresario Juan Carcellé decided to bring him to his native country, where he was virtually unknown. In 1954, having used the press to drum up a fan following for the northern clown, Carcellé made Charlie the star of one of his [[Circo Price]] Spanish tours. This led the Spanish national television to produce a program about Charlie in 1962. The following year, his birthplace of Cubelles named a street after him. Thus began a long period of honors and awards in Spain, Germany, and Scandinavia, where Charlie was becoming a living legend. Film director Manuel Esteba had him star in a Spanish movie about himself, ''El aprendiz de clown'' (''The Clown Apprentice'', 1968).

==The Solo Years==

Charlie gradually shifted from the clown-trio format to solo work. Abandoning forever his flying-trapeze act, he began developing two pieces that would become clowning classics: his musical entrée with chair and guitar, and his parody of an opera diva. He was assisted in the ring by his son Juanito and later, after Cirkus Schumann had ceased to exist, by his daughter, Paulina. The two sketches remain masterpieces of clowning, among the few that are impossible to replicate.

Charlie published his autobiography in Denmark in 1971, titled ''Stakkels Klovn'' (''Poor Clown''). The manuscript was immediately translated into several languages. In 1972, he appeared as himself in a sequence for Federico Fellini's film ''I Clowns''. In December 1974, he was the very first recipient of the Gold Clown award at the 1st [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]]. He was seventy-eight years old.

By then, he was approaching the end of his career. He continued to work in carefully selected events or for limited engagements in prestigious circus buildings, such as Munich's Kronebau, Madrid's Circo Price, or Copenhagen's old Cirkus Schumann, which had become [[Cirkus Benneweis]]. He also appeared on television in Sweden and Spain, either as guest, host, or as the subject of movie shorts and documentaries.

In 1979, Charlie's son Juanito started his own clown career at Circus Knie, where he revived the Andreu-Rivels' legendary ''Little Bridge'' entrée with [[Gaston Hani]] and [[Rolf Knie, Jr.]] Charlie's wife, Carmen, passed away in 1972. Ten years later, he married Margarita Camas in Barcelona; he was eighty-six. That same year, in 1982, he agreed to travel to Madrid to perform with the famous [[Circo de Los Muchachos]], a remarkable children's circus, whose performers were young orphans. It would be his last performance.

In his later years, Charlie Rivel was plagued with respiratory ailments, and on July 26, 1983, he passed away at the hospital of St. Pere de Ribes. The following morning, photographs of the great clown were prominently displayed, surrounded by flowers, in the shop windows of Stockholm.

Statues of Charlie Rivel stand in Munich (near Circus [[Kronebau]]), Barcelona, and Cubelles.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Pedro_and_Juan_Andreu_With_Jose_and_Nena.jpg|Pedro Andreu and brother Juan, with José and Neña (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Perch_Act.jpg|Neña & José (top) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Girl_HandToHand.jpg|Neña & José (top, as a girl) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña & José Andreu in their balancing act (c.1907)
Image:Nena_and_Polo_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña, Polo, and José Andreu (c.1910)
Image:Les_Andreu.jpg|Les Andreu, Acrobatic Troupe: José is third from the right (c.1915)
Image:Polo_Rene_and_Jose_Bobby.jpg|The Andreus: Polo, René, and Boby (Charlie), c.1915
Image:Polo_Charlie_and_Rene_Rivels.jpg|The Rivels: Polo, Charlie, and René (c.1920)
Image:Jose_Rivel_as_Charlie.jpg|José Rivel as "Charlie" (c.1920)
Image:Rene_Polo_and_Charlie_Andreu_Rivels_and_Children.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels and their children (c.1925)
Image:Charlie_René_and_Polo_Rivels.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels: Charlie, René, and Polo (c.1925)
Image:Juanito_and_Paulina-Rivel_and_Polo_Charlie-Rogelio_Rene.jpg|The Andreu Rivels with Charlie's children, Juanito and Paulina (c.1930)
Image:Juanito_Valentino_Charlie_Jr_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|Charlie's children: Juanito, Valentino, Charlie, Jr., and Paulina (c.1950)
Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|Charlie Rivel uttering his catchphrase, "Akrobat, Schööön!" (c.1960)
Image:Charlie Rivel Chair.jpg|Charlie Rivel in his chair and guitar entrée (c.1975)
Image:Charlie Rivel Guitar.jpg|Charlie Rivel Playing the Guitar (c.1975)
</gallery>

==Suggested Reading==

Sebastià Gasch, ''Charlie Rivel, pallasso català'' (Barcelona, Ed.Alcides, 1962)

Charlie Rivel, ''Stakkes Klovn'' (Copenhagen and Stockholm, Nordisk Forlag a.s., 1971)

Charlie Rivel, ''Poor Clown'' (London, Michael Joseph, Ltd., 1973)

Josep Vinyes Sabatés, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, , Thor, 1983)

Jordi Jané, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, Generalitat de Catalunya, 1996)

==See Also==

* Biography: [[Paulina Schumann]]

==External Links==

Charlie Rivel Museum in Cubelles: http://www.cubelles.cat/content/view/2491/8/

Charlie Rivel Tribute Album: http://www.clownplanet.com/fotoshtm1/rivel.htm

Andreu-Rivels Tribute: http://www.andreu-rivel.com

Benny Schumann: http://www.schumann.dk/real/historie/?lang=en

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Rivel, Charlie]]
[[Category:Clowns|Rivel, Charlie]]

Charlie Rivel

2009-02-06T03:49:35Z

Reichorn:

==Clown==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Charlie Rivel]]Charlie Rivel (born José Andreu Lasserre, 1896-1983) is one of the few clowns ever to have achieved international stardom. Like [[Grock]] and the [[Fratellinis]] before him, Rivel was a beloved all over Europe, feted by royalty and popular audiences alike. He inspired paintings and novels, movies and plays; his image was used for dolls and other souvenir items; and he received every honor and accolade open to a clown. Spanning eighty-two years, Rivel's career took him from rags to riches. Deftly blending superb artistic skills, a talent for pantomime, and a flair for public relations, he developed a totally original clown character that stands today as one of the twentieth century's greatest circus icons.

==Origins==

Rivel's father, Pedro Jaime Andreu Pausas (d. 1957), was the son of a cabinetmaker from Barcelona, Spain. In the 1880s, when he was fifteen years old, Pedro and his brother Juan left home to follow Circo Milá. As members of the circus, the brothers began performing a trapeze act. Pedro later joined another circus, Circo Alegría, where he met—and later married—a French acrobat, Marie-Louise Lasserre Seguino. Spain had fallen on hard times, and in order to survive, the young family decided to cross into France, where they hoped to find work. As they made their way toward the border, they performed in village squares across Catalonia.

They were traveling in a hand-drawn wagon when Marie-Louise gave birth to José (the future Charlie) in Cubelles, a village near Barcelona. Surviving as best they could, they finally reached France three months later. They soon secured an engagement with the small Cirque Dusoulier. This was the first circus ring little José stepped into. At age two, he appeared in his father's risley act. The following year, the family was with Cirque Caignac, where José performed both a solo parody of a strong-man act and a hand-to-hand balancing act with his elder sister, Neña (Maria Luisa Andreu, 1897-1915), in which he sometimes dressed as a girl—which made the act look more impressive to agents and directors.

The Cirque Caignac was destroyed by a storm in 1904, and the Andreu family again fell to performing in village squares—José doing acrobatic dancing, perch-pole balancing, and a hand-balancing act—before joining the Cirque Caron in Grenoble. There, José learned trick riding and began to play the guitar, violin, and mandolin.

The Andreu family went on to other small circuses, where José appeared in a balancing trio called ''Los Pepitos'' with his sister Neña and his brother Polo (Paul, 1899-1977). It was probably in 1905, at the circuses [[Zanfretta]] and [[Lambert]], that the three siblings began work on their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, with Neña as the catcher. The following year, in 1906, José got a first taste of clowning, when the director, Monsieur Lambert, called on Jose to replace the house clown, Carleto. Meanwhile, three other Andreu brothers were born: René (Renato, 1903-76), Marcel (Celito, 1906-70), and Roger (Rogelio, 1909-91), who would soon become part of the family acts.

After finally being accepted by a talent agency, the Andreus began to work regularly in French circuses. In 1910-12, they appeared in several minor variety theaters in Paris and on the stage of various Italian theaters. In 1913, during an engagement with the French Cirque [[Alphonse Rancy]], they performed for the first time in their native Catalonia, at Barcelona's Tivoli, before opening their own Circo Reina Victoria in 1915. José performed his first clown entrée in the new family circus, under the name Boby, with his brother Polo.

The Andreus' new circus venture lasted about ten years, alternating with foreign contracts. The family's main act remained their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, in which José started developing a comic character. Their second act was a large risley presentation (a widely popular specialty at the time), which included their father and another catcher.

==Charlie and The Rivels==

In the late 1910s, circus and variety shows were invaded by parodies of Charlie Chaplin, whose extremely popular movie character, the Tramp, had become a customary comic addition to specialty acts in need of a comedy boost. José, who already used comedy in his trapeze act, introduced his Charlie character in 1916. To distinguish their trapeze act from the Andreus' risley act on the bills, the family titled it ''Charlie and the Rivels'' (''Charlot et les Rivels''). As legend has it, they simply made up the name Rivel. From then on, José Andreu would be known as Charlie Rivel.

On January 15, 1920, in Valencia, Spain, Charlie married Carmen Busto, a performer in his family's circus. She was the daughter of an equestrian clown, Gregorio Busto. During a tour in Morocco, Charlie became Boby again, playing the auguste to his brother René, the white-faced clown, in the clown act René usually performed with their brother Polo. Since Charlie had a gift for comedy, they decided to form a clown trio, in the fashion of the successful Fratellini brothers, the shining stars of Paris's [[Cirque Medrano]]. Their father helped them develop an entrée that made good use of their exceptional acrobatic skills. It became the brothers' second act.

The success of the Rivels' comedy-trapeze act, coupled with the Andreu clown trio, propelled them into big-time circuses and variety theaters: the London Coliseum in 1923 and, the following year, [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, where they were a sensation with the savvy Parisian circus audiences. [[Bertram Mills' Circus]] at London's Olympia quickly followed. During his stay in London, Charlie is said to have won a competition of Chaplin impersonators at the Royal Albert Hall (which is plausible, since his Tramp character was eerily similar to the original). The event, true or false, started the oft-heard tale that he had outdone Chaplin himself during the competition—an unlikely occurrence, since Chaplin didn't visit Europe in those years.

The Rivels were allegedly sued by United Artists for using the Chaplin movie persona without permission (perhaps simply for doing it too well and too successfully, for there were hundreds of Chaplin impersonators in the business). Charlie consequently performed his trapeze act as a generic drunk character. In any event, the Rivels continued to work in the most prestigious houses, including: Cirque Medrano in Paris (1925), the Scala in Berlin (1927), and Cirkus Schumann (1928).

Soon their Andreu clown trio began to gain preeminence over their Rivels trapeze act. Although they were clearly inspired by the Fratellinis' trio structure, the Andreus had the advantage of their acrobatic talents, and they were soon recognized as one of the best clown trios of their time. René was the whiteface clown; Polo was the first auguste, or ''contre-pitre''; and Charlie was the second auguste. They had two main entrées in their repertoire: an egg routine, and their famous acrobatic sketch, ''The Little Bridge'', in which they tried to build (eventually succeeding) what is known in circus acrobatics as a bridge—a sort of moving human bridge.

Their clown act could easily last up to thirty-five minutes; clowns, in the European circus, are often the stars of the show. Charlie, like Albert Fratellini, quickly became the central figure of the trio, and like Albert Fratellini, he developed an eccentric character with exaggerated makeup and costume. Charlie's signature red hair, large square red nose, long red T-shirt, oversized black shoes, and childish behavior became familiar all over Northern Europe.

In 1930, the trio embarked on a one-year South American tour before returning to the vast German circus and variety circuit. But the working atmosphere between the siblings had deteriorated. Charlie, the most identifiable of the brothers, was the star, and he knew it. In 1935, at the Circus-Varieté Schumann of Frankfurt, Charlie decided to part ways with his father and brothers and to build a career with his sons and his wife.

==The Andreu-Rivels==

After Charlie Rivel's departure, his brothers continued to perform the same acts in German variety theaters, with no less success than they had enjoyed before. Celito replaced Charlie in the flying-trapeze act and the clown entrée, and the younger Rogelio joined the act too in 1937. Then, in 1941, it was Polo's turn to leave the family acts. He worked for a time with the well-known French clown Alex Bugny, then with Andreff and Comotti at Circus [[Knie]] in 1943, before teaming up again with Alex Bugny and finally embarking on a solo-clown career with the help of his sons.

After World War II, René, Celito, and Rogelio continued to perform the traditional Andreu-Rivels acts in major European circuses, including: [[Hagenbeck]], [[Williams]], [[Scott]], [[Strassburger]], [[Pinder]], [[Amar]], and several engagements with Circus [[Knie]] in Switzerland. It was there, in 1952, that Celito, in front of an appreciative Charlie Chaplin, performed a Tramp parody on the trapeze, the act with which his brother Charlie had made a name for himself.

After his death, Celito was replaced by the Portuguese clown Fernando Marquez. Then, in the late 1970s, René and Rogelio Andreu-Rivel opened their own Circo Rivel in Spain, with their many children and with the Dubsky family. In the 1990s, Rogelio opened the first circus school in Barcelona, which is still active today.

==Charlie Rivel and World War II==

In the 1930s, two nearly identical Andreu-Rivels troupes were in business, each performing a clown entrée and a comedy-trapeze act: one was the original Andreu family troupe; the other was Charlie's. Like Grock, who was always billed as "Grock ''and Partner''", Charlie's partners were always billed anonymously, ensuring that he, Charlie, was the star of the act.

As this suggests, Charlie Rivel was not easy to work with. He changed partners often during these years. Among his partners were Paul and Alfredino, the Duo Reos, and the clowns Pauli and Johnny. Charlie and his wife, Carmen, had four children: [[Paulina Schumann|Paulina]], born in Barcelona in 1921; Juanito (Jorge-Juan), born on a ship sailing between Valencia and Palma in 1922; Charlie, Jr., born in London in 1925; and Valentino, born in Brussels in 1927. Charlie's children performed in a third family act, ''The Charlie Rivel's Babies''.

Now a wealthy star, Charlie bought a large house in Chenevières-sur-Marne, near Paris. Yet he worked mostly on the German variety circuit, which proved lucrative. He also appeared in Scandinavia, with Bertram Mills' Circus at London's Olympia, and in South America during a 1936 tour.

After the Nazis seized power in Germany, and even during World War II itself, Charlie remained one of the biggest draws in the top German variety theaters: Wintergarten, Apollo, Scala, and Plaza. In Berlin, he starred in a movie directed by Wolfgang Staudte, ''Akrobat Schööön!'' (which was Charlie's catch phrase in the ''Little Bridge'' entrée). The film was released in 1943, and it revealed Charlie as a genuine screen talent. In later years, a telegram that Charlie had sent to Hitler for his birthday in 1942 would became the subject of wild speculations. Like many traveling performers little acquainted with international politics, Charlie had been dangerously naïve.

Following the Allied victory, Charlie had to sneak out of Germany. He found refuge in Scandinavia before returning to his house near Paris. Shunned by agents and directors in the postwar years, he fell into a prolonged period of depression. "Who can laugh now," he wrote, "after so much tragedy?" He would not return to the ring until 1952.

==The Comeback and the Making of a Living Legend==

In the 1950s, the idea of a celebrity clown was beginning to look like a thing of the past. Grock himself decided to retire—though not before launching a long series of farewell tours. In time, Charlie became the one true international clown star of the postwar era.

Back in the ring in 1952, Charlie performed principally in Germany and Scandinavia, where he enjoyed a renewed success. His old acrobatic clown entrée was revived with two new partners: Armand Miehe, as his ''contre-pitre'', and Bernhard Brasso as his whiteface clown. The new version started with a musical routine involving a chair and a guitar, followed by the ''Little Bridge'' acrobatic routine, and ending with a parody of an opera diva. (The routine would be eventually known as ''Maria Callas''.) They also revived the flying-trapeze act, with Charlie as a drunk in tuxedo and top hat.

Meanwhile, in 1947, Charlie's sons had sailed to the United States, where they performed a remarkable acrobatic act as [[Les Charlivels]], which quickly became one of the greatest nightclub acts of the era. Daughter Paulina married [[Albert Schumann]], of the illustrious [[Cirkus Schumann]], and embarked on an outstanding equestrian career.

Charlie had worked mostly in Northern Europe when Spanish impresario Juan Carcellé decided to bring him to his native country, where he was virtually unknown. In 1954, having used the press to drum up a fan following for the northern clown, Carcellé made Charlie the star of one of his [[Circo Price]] Spanish tours. This led the Spanish national television to produce a program about Charlie in 1962. The following year, his birthplace of Cubelles named a street after him. Thus began a long period of honors and awards in Spain, Germany, and Scandinavia, where Charlie was becoming a living legend. Film director Manuel Esteba had him star in a Spanish movie about himself, ''El aprendiz de clown'' (''The Clown Apprentice'', 1968).

==The Solo Years==

Charlie gradually shifted from the clown-trio format to solo work. Abandoning forever his flying-trapeze act, he began developing two pieces that would become clowning classics: his musical entrée with chair and guitar, and his parody of an opera diva. He was assisted in the ring by his son Juanito and later, after Cirkus Schumann had ceased to exist, by his daughter, Paulina. The two sketches remain masterpieces of clowning, among the few that are impossible to replicate.

Charlie published his autobiography in Denmark in 1971, titled ''Stakkels Klovn'' (''Poor Clown''). The manuscript was immediately translated into several languages. In 1972, he appeared as himself in a sequence for Federico Fellini's film ''I Clowns''. In December 1974, he was the very first recipient of the Gold Clown award at the 1st [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]]. He was seventy-eight years old.

By then, he was approaching the end of his career. He continued to work in carefully selected events or for limited engagements in prestigious circus buildings, such as Munich's Kronebau, Madrid's Circo Price, or Copenhagen's old Cirkus Schumann, which had become [[Cirkus Benneweis]]. He also appeared on television in Sweden and Spain, either as guest, host, or as the subject of movie shorts and documentaries.

In 1979, Charlie's son Juanito started his own clown career at Circus Knie, where he revived the Andreu-Rivels' legendary ''Little Bridge'' entrée with [[Gaston Hani]] and [[Rolf Knie, Jr.]] Charlie's wife, Carmen, passed away in 1972. Ten years later, he married Margarita Camas in Barcelona; he was eighty-six. That same year, in 1982, he agreed to travel to Madrid to perform with the famous [[Circo de Los Muchachos]], a remarkable children's circus, whose performers were young orphans. It would be his last performance. In his later years, Charlie Rivel was plagued with respiratory ailments, and on July 26, 1983, he passed away at the hospital of St. Pere de Ribes. The following morning, photographs of the great clown were prominently displayed, surrounded by flowers, in the shop windows of Stockholm.

Statues of Charlie Rivel stand in Munich (near Circus [[Kronebau]]), Barcelona, and Cubelles.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Pedro_and_Juan_Andreu_With_Jose_and_Nena.jpg|Pedro Andreu and brother Juan, with José and Neña (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Perch_Act.jpg|Neña & José (top) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Girl_HandToHand.jpg|Neña & José (top, as a girl) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña & José Andreu in their balancing act (c.1907)
Image:Nena_and_Polo_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña, Polo, and José Andreu (c.1910)
Image:Les_Andreu.jpg|Les Andreu, Acrobatic Troupe: José is third from the right (c.1915)
Image:Polo_Rene_and_Jose_Bobby.jpg|The Andreus: Polo, René, and Boby (Charlie), c.1915
Image:Polo_Charlie_and_Rene_Rivels.jpg|The Rivels: Polo, Charlie, and René (c.1920)
Image:Jose_Rivel_as_Charlie.jpg|José Rivel as "Charlie" (c.1920)
Image:Rene_Polo_and_Charlie_Andreu_Rivels_and_Children.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels and their children (c.1925)
Image:Charlie_René_and_Polo_Rivels.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels: Charlie, René, and Polo (c.1925)
Image:Juanito_and_Paulina-Rivel_and_Polo_Charlie-Rogelio_Rene.jpg|The Andreu Rivels with Charlie's children, Juanito and Paulina (c.1930)
Image:Juanito_Valentino_Charlie_Jr_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|Charlie's children: Juanito, Valentino, Charlie, Jr., and Paulina (c.1950)
Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|Charlie Rivel uttering his catchphrase, "Akrobat, Schööön!" (c.1960)
Image:Charlie Rivel Chair.jpg|Charlie Rivel in his chair and guitar entrée (c.1975)
Image:Charlie Rivel Guitar.jpg|Charlie Rivel Playing the Guitar (c.1975)
</gallery>

==Suggested Reading==

Sebastià Gasch, ''Charlie Rivel, pallasso català'' (Barcelona, Ed.Alcides, 1962)

Charlie Rivel, ''Stakkes Klovn'' (Copenhagen and Stockholm, Nordisk Forlag a.s., 1971)

Charlie Rivel, ''Poor Clown'' (London, Michael Joseph, Ltd., 1973)

Josep Vinyes Sabatés, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, , Thor, 1983)

Jordi Jané, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, Generalitat de Catalunya, 1996)

==See Also==

* Biography: [[Paulina Schumann]]

==External Links==

Charlie Rivel Museum in Cubelles: http://www.cubelles.cat/content/view/2491/8/

Charlie Rivel Tribute Album: http://www.clownplanet.com/fotoshtm1/rivel.htm

Andreu-Rivels Tribute: http://www.andreu-rivel.com

Benny Schumann: http://www.schumann.dk/real/historie/?lang=en

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Rivel, Charlie]]
[[Category:Clowns|Rivel, Charlie]]

Charlie Rivel

2009-02-06T03:49:00Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Clown==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Charlie Rivel]]Charlie Rivel (born José Andreu Lasserre, 1896-1983) is one of the few clowns to have achieved international stardom. Like [[Grock]] and the [[Fratellinis]] before him, Rivel was a beloved all over Europe, feted by royalty and popular audiences alike. He inspired paintings and novels, movies and plays; his image was used for dolls and other souvenir items; and he received every honor and accolade open to a clown. Spanning eighty-two years, Rivel's career took him from rags to riches. Deftly blending superb artistic skills, a talent for pantomime, and a flair for public relations, he developed a totally original clown character that stands today as one of the twentieth century's greatest circus icons.

==Origins==

Rivel's father, Pedro Jaime Andreu Pausas (d. 1957), was the son of a cabinetmaker from Barcelona, Spain. In the 1880s, when he was fifteen years old, Pedro and his brother Juan left home to follow Circo Milá. As members of the circus, the brothers began performing a trapeze act. Pedro later joined another circus, Circo Alegría, where he met—and later married—a French acrobat, Marie-Louise Lasserre Seguino. Spain had fallen on hard times, and in order to survive, the young family decided to cross into France, where they hoped to find work. As they made their way toward the border, they performed in village squares across Catalonia.

They were traveling in a hand-drawn wagon when Marie-Louise gave birth to José (the future Charlie) in Cubelles, a village near Barcelona. Surviving as best they could, they finally reached France three months later. They soon secured an engagement with the small Cirque Dusoulier. This was the first circus ring little José stepped into. At age two, he appeared in his father's risley act. The following year, the family was with Cirque Caignac, where José performed both a solo parody of a strong-man act and a hand-to-hand balancing act with his elder sister, Neña (Maria Luisa Andreu, 1897-1915), in which he sometimes dressed as a girl—which made the act look more impressive to agents and directors.

The Cirque Caignac was destroyed by a storm in 1904, and the Andreu family again fell to performing in village squares—José doing acrobatic dancing, perch-pole balancing, and a hand-balancing act—before joining the Cirque Caron in Grenoble. There, José learned trick riding and began to play the guitar, violin, and mandolin.

The Andreu family went on to other small circuses, where José appeared in a balancing trio called ''Los Pepitos'' with his sister Neña and his brother Polo (Paul, 1899-1977). It was probably in 1905, at the circuses [[Zanfretta]] and [[Lambert]], that the three siblings began work on their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, with Neña as the catcher. The following year, in 1906, José got a first taste of clowning, when the director, Monsieur Lambert, called on Jose to replace the house clown, Carleto. Meanwhile, three other Andreu brothers were born: René (Renato, 1903-76), Marcel (Celito, 1906-70), and Roger (Rogelio, 1909-91), who would soon become part of the family acts.

After finally being accepted by a talent agency, the Andreus began to work regularly in French circuses. In 1910-12, they appeared in several minor variety theaters in Paris and on the stage of various Italian theaters. In 1913, during an engagement with the French Cirque [[Alphonse Rancy]], they performed for the first time in their native Catalonia, at Barcelona's Tivoli, before opening their own Circo Reina Victoria in 1915. José performed his first clown entrée in the new family circus, under the name Boby, with his brother Polo.

The Andreus' new circus venture lasted about ten years, alternating with foreign contracts. The family's main act remained their standing-frame flying-trapeze act, in which José started developing a comic character. Their second act was a large risley presentation (a widely popular specialty at the time), which included their father and another catcher.

==Charlie and The Rivels==

In the late 1910s, circus and variety shows were invaded by parodies of Charlie Chaplin, whose extremely popular movie character, the Tramp, had become a customary comic addition to specialty acts in need of a comedy boost. José, who already used comedy in his trapeze act, introduced his Charlie character in 1916. To distinguish their trapeze act from the Andreus' risley act on the bills, the family titled it ''Charlie and the Rivels'' (''Charlot et les Rivels''). As legend has it, they simply made up the name Rivel. From then on, José Andreu would be known as Charlie Rivel.

On January 15, 1920, in Valencia, Spain, Charlie married Carmen Busto, a performer in his family's circus. She was the daughter of an equestrian clown, Gregorio Busto. During a tour in Morocco, Charlie became Boby again, playing the auguste to his brother René, the white-faced clown, in the clown act René usually performed with their brother Polo. Since Charlie had a gift for comedy, they decided to form a clown trio, in the fashion of the successful Fratellini brothers, the shining stars of Paris's [[Cirque Medrano]]. Their father helped them develop an entrée that made good use of their exceptional acrobatic skills. It became the brothers' second act.

The success of the Rivels' comedy-trapeze act, coupled with the Andreu clown trio, propelled them into big-time circuses and variety theaters: the London Coliseum in 1923 and, the following year, [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, where they were a sensation with the savvy Parisian circus audiences. [[Bertram Mills' Circus]] at London's Olympia quickly followed. During his stay in London, Charlie is said to have won a competition of Chaplin impersonators at the Royal Albert Hall (which is plausible, since his Tramp character was eerily similar to the original). The event, true or false, started the oft-heard tale that he had outdone Chaplin himself during the competition—an unlikely occurrence, since Chaplin didn't visit Europe in those years.

The Rivels were allegedly sued by United Artists for using the Chaplin movie persona without permission (perhaps simply for doing it too well and too successfully, for there were hundreds of Chaplin impersonators in the business). Charlie consequently performed his trapeze act as a generic drunk character. In any event, the Rivels continued to work in the most prestigious houses, including: Cirque Medrano in Paris (1925), the Scala in Berlin (1927), and Cirkus Schumann (1928).

Soon their Andreu clown trio began to gain preeminence over their Rivels trapeze act. Although they were clearly inspired by the Fratellinis' trio structure, the Andreus had the advantage of their acrobatic talents, and they were soon recognized as one of the best clown trios of their time. René was the whiteface clown; Polo was the first auguste, or ''contre-pitre''; and Charlie was the second auguste. They had two main entrées in their repertoire: an egg routine, and their famous acrobatic sketch, ''The Little Bridge'', in which they tried to build (eventually succeeding) what is known in circus acrobatics as a bridge—a sort of moving human bridge.

Their clown act could easily last up to thirty-five minutes; clowns, in the European circus, are often the stars of the show. Charlie, like Albert Fratellini, quickly became the central figure of the trio, and like Albert Fratellini, he developed an eccentric character with exaggerated makeup and costume. Charlie's signature red hair, large square red nose, long red T-shirt, oversized black shoes, and childish behavior became familiar all over Northern Europe.

In 1930, the trio embarked on a one-year South American tour before returning to the vast German circus and variety circuit. But the working atmosphere between the siblings had deteriorated. Charlie, the most identifiable of the brothers, was the star, and he knew it. In 1935, at the Circus-Varieté Schumann of Frankfurt, Charlie decided to part ways with his father and brothers and to build a career with his sons and his wife.

==The Andreu-Rivels==

After Charlie Rivel's departure, his brothers continued to perform the same acts in German variety theaters, with no less success than they had enjoyed before. Celito replaced Charlie in the flying-trapeze act and the clown entrée, and the younger Rogelio joined the act too in 1937. Then, in 1941, it was Polo's turn to leave the family acts. He worked for a time with the well-known French clown Alex Bugny, then with Andreff and Comotti at Circus [[Knie]] in 1943, before teaming up again with Alex Bugny and finally embarking on a solo-clown career with the help of his sons.

After World War II, René, Celito, and Rogelio continued to perform the traditional Andreu-Rivels acts in major European circuses, including: [[Hagenbeck]], [[Williams]], [[Scott]], [[Strassburger]], [[Pinder]], [[Amar]], and several engagements with Circus [[Knie]] in Switzerland. It was there, in 1952, that Celito, in front of an appreciative Charlie Chaplin, performed a Tramp parody on the trapeze, the act with which his brother Charlie had made a name for himself.

After his death, Celito was replaced by the Portuguese clown Fernando Marquez. Then, in the late 1970s, René and Rogelio Andreu-Rivel opened their own Circo Rivel in Spain, with their many children and with the Dubsky family. In the 1990s, Rogelio opened the first circus school in Barcelona, which is still active today.

==Charlie Rivel and World War II==

In the 1930s, two nearly identical Andreu-Rivels troupes were in business, each performing a clown entrée and a comedy-trapeze act: one was the original Andreu family troupe; the other was Charlie's. Like Grock, who was always billed as "Grock ''and Partner''", Charlie's partners were always billed anonymously, ensuring that he, Charlie, was the star of the act.

As this suggests, Charlie Rivel was not easy to work with. He changed partners often during these years. Among his partners were Paul and Alfredino, the Duo Reos, and the clowns Pauli and Johnny. Charlie and his wife, Carmen, had four children: [[Paulina Schumann|Paulina]], born in Barcelona in 1921; Juanito (Jorge-Juan), born on a ship sailing between Valencia and Palma in 1922; Charlie, Jr., born in London in 1925; and Valentino, born in Brussels in 1927. Charlie's children performed in a third family act, ''The Charlie Rivel's Babies''.

Now a wealthy star, Charlie bought a large house in Chenevières-sur-Marne, near Paris. Yet he worked mostly on the German variety circuit, which proved lucrative. He also appeared in Scandinavia, with Bertram Mills' Circus at London's Olympia, and in South America during a 1936 tour.

After the Nazis seized power in Germany, and even during World War II itself, Charlie remained one of the biggest draws in the top German variety theaters: Wintergarten, Apollo, Scala, and Plaza. In Berlin, he starred in a movie directed by Wolfgang Staudte, ''Akrobat Schööön!'' (which was Charlie's catch phrase in the ''Little Bridge'' entrée). The film was released in 1943, and it revealed Charlie as a genuine screen talent. In later years, a telegram that Charlie had sent to Hitler for his birthday in 1942 would became the subject of wild speculations. Like many traveling performers little acquainted with international politics, Charlie had been dangerously naïve.

Following the Allied victory, Charlie had to sneak out of Germany. He found refuge in Scandinavia before returning to his house near Paris. Shunned by agents and directors in the postwar years, he fell into a prolonged period of depression. "Who can laugh now," he wrote, "after so much tragedy?" He would not return to the ring until 1952.

==The Comeback and the Making of a Living Legend==

In the 1950s, the idea of a celebrity clown was beginning to look like a thing of the past. Grock himself decided to retire—though not before launching a long series of farewell tours. In time, Charlie became the one true international clown star of the postwar era.

Back in the ring in 1952, Charlie performed principally in Germany and Scandinavia, where he enjoyed a renewed success. His old acrobatic clown entrée was revived with two new partners: Armand Miehe, as his ''contre-pitre'', and Bernhard Brasso as his whiteface clown. The new version started with a musical routine involving a chair and a guitar, followed by the ''Little Bridge'' acrobatic routine, and ending with a parody of an opera diva. (The routine would be eventually known as ''Maria Callas''.) They also revived the flying-trapeze act, with Charlie as a drunk in tuxedo and top hat.

Meanwhile, in 1947, Charlie's sons had sailed to the United States, where they performed a remarkable acrobatic act as [[Les Charlivels]], which quickly became one of the greatest nightclub acts of the era. Daughter Paulina married [[Albert Schumann]], of the illustrious [[Cirkus Schumann]], and embarked on an outstanding equestrian career.

Charlie had worked mostly in Northern Europe when Spanish impresario Juan Carcellé decided to bring him to his native country, where he was virtually unknown. In 1954, having used the press to drum up a fan following for the northern clown, Carcellé made Charlie the star of one of his [[Circo Price]] Spanish tours. This led the Spanish national television to produce a program about Charlie in 1962. The following year, his birthplace of Cubelles named a street after him. Thus began a long period of honors and awards in Spain, Germany, and Scandinavia, where Charlie was becoming a living legend. Film director Manuel Esteba had him star in a Spanish movie about himself, ''El aprendiz de clown'' (''The Clown Apprentice'', 1968).

==The Solo Years==

Charlie gradually shifted from the clown-trio format to solo work. Abandoning forever his flying-trapeze act, he began developing two pieces that would become clowning classics: his musical entrée with chair and guitar, and his parody of an opera diva. He was assisted in the ring by his son Juanito and later, after Cirkus Schumann had ceased to exist, by his daughter, Paulina. The two sketches remain masterpieces of clowning, among the few that are impossible to replicate.

Charlie published his autobiography in Denmark in 1971, titled ''Stakkels Klovn'' (''Poor Clown''). The manuscript was immediately translated into several languages. In 1972, he appeared as himself in a sequence for Federico Fellini's film ''I Clowns''. In December 1974, he was the very first recipient of the Gold Clown award at the 1st [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]]. He was seventy-eight years old.

By then, he was approaching the end of his career. He continued to work in carefully selected events or for limited engagements in prestigious circus buildings, such as Munich's Kronebau, Madrid's Circo Price, or Copenhagen's old Cirkus Schumann, which had become [[Cirkus Benneweis]]. He also appeared on television in Sweden and Spain, either as guest, host, or as the subject of movie shorts and documentaries.

In 1979, Charlie's son Juanito started his own clown career at Circus Knie, where he revived the Andreu-Rivels' legendary ''Little Bridge'' entrée with [[Gaston Hani]] and [[Rolf Knie, Jr.]] Charlie's wife, Carmen, passed away in 1972. Ten years later, he married Margarita Camas in Barcelona; he was eighty-six. That same year, in 1982, he agreed to travel to Madrid to perform with the famous [[Circo de Los Muchachos]], a remarkable children's circus, whose performers were young orphans. It would be his last performance. In his later years, Charlie Rivel was plagued with respiratory ailments, and on July 26, 1983, he passed away at the hospital of St. Pere de Ribes. The following morning, photographs of the great clown were prominently displayed, surrounded by flowers, in the shop windows of Stockholm.

Statues of Charlie Rivel stand in Munich (near Circus [[Kronebau]]), Barcelona, and Cubelles.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Pedro_and_Juan_Andreu_With_Jose_and_Nena.jpg|Pedro Andreu and brother Juan, with José and Neña (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Perch_Act.jpg|Neña & José (top) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu_Girl_HandToHand.jpg|Neña & José (top, as a girl) Andreu in their balancing act (c.1905)
Image:Nena_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña & José Andreu in their balancing act (c.1907)
Image:Nena_and_Polo_and_Jose_Andreu.jpg|Neña, Polo, and José Andreu (c.1910)
Image:Les_Andreu.jpg|Les Andreu, Acrobatic Troupe: José is third from the right (c.1915)
Image:Polo_Rene_and_Jose_Bobby.jpg|The Andreus: Polo, René, and Boby (Charlie), c.1915
Image:Polo_Charlie_and_Rene_Rivels.jpg|The Rivels: Polo, Charlie, and René (c.1920)
Image:Jose_Rivel_as_Charlie.jpg|José Rivel as "Charlie" (c.1920)
Image:Rene_Polo_and_Charlie_Andreu_Rivels_and_Children.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels and their children (c.1925)
Image:Charlie_René_and_Polo_Rivels.jpg|The Andreu-Rivels: Charlie, René, and Polo (c.1925)
Image:Juanito_and_Paulina-Rivel_and_Polo_Charlie-Rogelio_Rene.jpg|The Andreu Rivels with Charlie's children, Juanito and Paulina (c.1930)
Image:Juanito_Valentino_Charlie_Jr_and_Paulina_Rivel.jpg|Charlie's children: Juanito, Valentino, Charlie, Jr., and Paulina (c.1950)
Image:Charlie_Rivel.jpg|Charlie Rivel uttering his catchphrase, "Akrobat, Schööön!" (c.1960)
Image:Charlie Rivel Chair.jpg|Charlie Rivel in his chair and guitar entrée (c.1975)
Image:Charlie Rivel Guitar.jpg|Charlie Rivel Playing the Guitar (c.1975)
</gallery>

==Suggested Reading==

Sebastià Gasch, ''Charlie Rivel, pallasso català'' (Barcelona, Ed.Alcides, 1962)

Charlie Rivel, ''Stakkes Klovn'' (Copenhagen and Stockholm, Nordisk Forlag a.s., 1971)

Charlie Rivel, ''Poor Clown'' (London, Michael Joseph, Ltd., 1973)

Josep Vinyes Sabatés, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, , Thor, 1983)

Jordi Jané, ''Charlie Rivel'' (Barcelona, Generalitat de Catalunya, 1996)

==See Also==

* Biography: [[Paulina Schumann]]

==External Links==

Charlie Rivel Museum in Cubelles: http://www.cubelles.cat/content/view/2491/8/

Charlie Rivel Tribute Album: http://www.clownplanet.com/fotoshtm1/rivel.htm

Andreu-Rivels Tribute: http://www.andreu-rivel.com

Benny Schumann: http://www.schumann.dk/real/historie/?lang=en

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Rivel, Charlie]]
[[Category:Clowns|Rivel, Charlie]]

Picaso Jr.

2009-02-06T01:18:09Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Juggler==

''By Dominique Jando''

Born Francisco Tebar Honrubia in Valencia, Spain, Picaso, Jr. is the son of the legendary juggler [[El Gran Picaso]], who, as a genuine star in Europe in the 1960s and '70s, popularized "mouth juggling" with ping-pong balls. Although his father taught him to juggle at an early age, Francisco thought that he was too shy to be a performer. Therefore, he chose to attend college, which he did, earning a degree in economics. He later spent some time in the military, which he when, as a hobby, he began honing his juggling skills.

When a small circus owned by friends of his family came to perform near the base where he was stationed, Francisco performed his juggling routine for them and was offered a job on the spot. Realizing that he couldn't escape his circus heritage, he embarked on a brilliant career with an act reminiscent of his father's, though with a more contemporary touch.

Picaso, Jr.—as Francisco is known—has since been featured in Europe's major circuses and variety theaters. He has also appeared in the United States at the [[Big Apple Circus]], in 2004-05. He was awarded a Silver Clown at the [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]] in 2002. He also appears in the Guiness Book of World Records for flashing four ping-pong balls with his mouth.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Picasso Jr BAC 2004 Video|Picaso, Jr., juggler]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Picturesque'' (2004)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Picaso Jr.]][[Category:Jugglers|Picaso Jr.]]

Serge Percelly

2009-02-06T01:10:35Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Juggler==

''By Dominique Jando''

Although a Belgian citizen, Serge Percelly was born Serge Stutz in Geneva, Switzerland, on Christmas Day. His mother, Patricia, née De Jonghe, was a tight-wire dancer and heiress to a celebrated Belgian circus dynasty. His father, Bruno Chicky (Stutz), is one Europe's great whiteface clowns; as one half of the [[Les Chicky|Duo Chicky]], he starred for many years in all the major European circuses.

Serge spent the first twelve years of his life in Geneva, where he lived with his grandmother while his parents toured internationally. At thirteen, he joined his parents on the road. Having developed a taste for juggling, he began to train himself, soon working six hours a day on his juggling skills. To lend a touch of originality to the act her son was developing, Serge's mother suggested that he present it dressed as a tennis player, juggling tennis balls and rackets.

In 1981, during an engagement of The Chiclys with the [Boswell-Wilkie Circus]] in South Africa, Serge tried his act for the first time before an audience. It was an immediate success, and the Boswell-Wilkie Circus offered him a contract. In 1983, Serge won a Bronze Medal at the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris.

Serge Percelly's fast-paced juggling act, combined with his charismatic personality, opened to him the doors of the world's major circuses, nightclubs, and variety theaters, including [[Circus Knie]] in Switzerland, the Lido of Paris, and the [[Big Apple Circus]] in the United States. He also appeared on several TV shows in Europe and the U.S. (including the David Letterman Show on CBS), and was featured in the U.S. Open tennis competition in New York in 2001.

Married to an Australian dancer, Katrina Pritchard, Serge Percelly has two daughters, Lilly Belle and Tatiana Rose. They eventually moved to Australia, where Serge retired from performing and became a juggling teacher.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Serge_Percelly_BAC_Video_2000|Serge Percelly, Juggling Act]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Clown Around Town'' (2000)

==External Links==

* [http://www.kreativekatsdance.com.au/ www.reativekatsdance.com.au]

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Percelly, Serge]][[Category:Jugglers|Percelly, Serge]]

The Panteleenko Brothers

2009-02-06T01:03:17Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Aerial Straps==

''By Dominique Jando''

Valery (1946-2006) and Yury (1946-89) Panteleenko were born in Russia on May 15, 1946. Identical twins, they began their performing careers as part of the magic act of [[Simon Rubanov]] (1908-76), a famous Russian illusionist who worked exclusively in the circus ring and—like his predecessor, the legendary [[Emil Kio]]—used several pairs of twins in his "attraction."

In 1969, during an engagement at the Circus of Rostov-on-Don, Vladivien Levshin, who was the Rubanov Company’s acrobatic coach, noticed the brothers’ athleticism and began to train them as acrobats. He created an original aerial-strap act for them, an act that is now recognized as a milestone in the history of this specialty.

Before the Panteleenko Brothers, aerial straps was a Chinese specialty in which various highly athletic tricks were performed in a static mode and in a vertical plan: gymnasts went up and down a pair of straps, performing planges, roll-ups, and other tricks. Levshin created for the Panteleenko Brothers an ascending apparatus. He also introduced swinging, circular moves, and—of course—two-person tricks. The brothers’ elegance and their amazing resemblance added to the act's balletic beauty.

The Panteleenko Brothers debuted as aerialists in 1972. The act was an immediate success. The following year, they won the All-Union Circus Competition of the USSR—at the time, arguably the most difficult circus competition in the world. In 1980, they were featured in the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics Games, which were held in Moscow.

Subsequently, Valery and Yury Panteleenko were featured in international tours of the [[Moscow Circus]]. They performed in Paris in 1980, and although the star acts of the show were meant to be [[Irina Bugrimova]]’s lions, presented by Boris Biriukov, and the clown Maï ([[Evguenny Maïkhrovsky]]), critics and the public alike agreed that the Panteleenko Brothers were the true revelation.

The Panteleenko Brothers participated in the [[International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo]] in 1983, where, amazingly, the Jury ignored them: they received only the City of Monaco prize. It was perhaps too early for a performing style that would only be completely accepted a decade later. Today, virtually all aerial-straps acts bear the stamp of the Panteleenko Brothers.

In 1987, Valery Panteleenko became Director of the circus collective ''Allez Hop!'', but the brothers continued to perform their aerial duet. With the fall of the Soviet Union, Valery and Yury Panteleenko were among the first Russian performers to seek individual foreign engagements. In 1989, they were featured with the famous [[Circus Knie]] in Switzerland.

On July 7, 1989, while the brothers were touring with Circus Knie, Yury died suddenly of cardiac arrest after a performance. Although he was deeply affected by the death of his twin brother, Valery was a consummate professional and decided to fulfill his contract with Circus Knie. He found another aerial gymnast, Igor Gruzen, to replace Yury, and completed his engagement.

Valery’s next contract was already signed with the [[Big Apple Circus]], and the Panteleenko Brothers (now Valery Panteleenko and Igor Gruzen) went to the United States, where they were featured in the 1990-91 Big Apple Circus production of ''Ballerinas, Horses and Clowns... The Golden Age''. The next season, they found another engagement in the United States with [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey]].

The Panteleenko Brothers performed their aerial-strap act for the last time in the 122nd edition of ''The Greatest Show On Earth'', in 1992-93. In 1994, Valery, Igor, and Valery’s son, [[Maxime Panteleenko]], appeared in the Ringling show with a new aerial act that combined trapeze and straps. Valery retired from performing at the end of the 1994-95 tour, but remained for a while with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey as a rigger. He was Head Rigger with the [[Kenneth Feld|Feld]] production of ''Barnum’s Kaleidoscape'' (1999), a remarkable—albeit unsuccessful—attempt at a high-end one-ring tented circus.

Valery then retired to Florida. A gifted artist, he indulged in his favorite pastime: painting. He died of cancer on January 7, 2006. Valery Panteleenko had been made Artist Emeritus of the Republic of Russia in 1980. His son, Maxime, who is now a U.S. citizen, has continued in his father’s footsteps, performing as an aerialist in Tokyo Disneyland, in Orlando’s SeaWorld, and in the equestrian show [[Cavalia]], among other venues.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Panteleenko_Brothers_BAC_Video_1990|The Panteleenko Brothers (Valery Panteleenko & Igor Gruzen)]], aerial strap act, in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Ballerinas, Clowns and Horses...'' (1990)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Panteleenko Brothers, The]][[Category:Aerialists|Panteleenko Brothers, The]][[Category:Strap Acts|Panteleenko Brothers, The]]

Elena Panova

2009-02-06T00:33:15Z

Reichorn:

==Swinging Trapeze==

''By Dominique Jando''

[[Image:Elena_Panova.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Elena Panova]]Elena Panova was born Elena Nikolaevna Borisova on July 18, 1964 in Murom, Russia. Her father, Nikolai, and her mother, Klavdia, had nothing to do with the circus: they both worked in a factory in Murom. In fact, Elena never even saw a live circus performance while growing up.

She did see the circus on television, however, and at age fourteen, she joined the local Amateur Circus—the Soviet equivalent of European or American youth circuses, though at a much higher level in terms of the training they provided. Amateur circuses flourished in the Soviet Union, where circus arts were held in high esteem.

During these years, Elena trained in basic acrobatics, but her tastes drew her to aerial apparatuses; while still at the Youth Circus, she and a fellow student developed a "bambou" (aerial perch) act. Her performance debut came in April 1978; she executed a static trapeze act in an Easter show the Amateur Circus staged in Murom’s Grand Theatre.

Since she was bent on becoming a circus artist—and had the ability to succeed—Elena's coach suggested she apply to audition for Moscow’s [[State College for Circus and Variety Arts]]. She submitted the proper forms and documents and, to her surprise, was invited to audition in Moscow. She was seventeen and had never left Murom.

Following a strenuous exam, Elena was accepted to the College. Over the next four years, she trained in acting, ballet, and all circus disciplines, eventually specializing in swinging trapeze. Even so, the creation of her act—an act that would redefine the swinging trapeze—resulted from a series of coincidences.

Although Elena wanted to do a trapeze act, the five-year plan then in effect did not call for new trapeze acts. In the Soviet Union, five-year plans were centralized methods of promoting economic growth through the use of quotas. The early five-year plans (1928-37) called for the rapid collectivization of agriculture, a policy that was not revised even though it led to millions of deaths from starvation. There was little hope, then, that Elena would get her new trapeze act as long as it deviated from the five-year plan.

Even so, she insisted on learning the swinging trapeze. Eventually, her teachers acquiesced, assigning her a trapeze coach. The coach then took advantage of an opportunity to live for a time in Paris. The coach asked a friend, [[The Durov Dynasty|Tereza Durova]]—an act director who had recently joined the College staff—to create a swinging-trapeze act for Elena.

Tereza Durova came from a famous dynasty of clowns and animal trainers and had never worked on an aerial act before. She asked another newcomer to the staff, [[Viktor Fomin]]—a former competition gymnast who had performed in a horizontal bar act—to take on the technical aspects of the act. To Fomin, who complained that he had never worked on an aerial act before, Durova is reported to have said, "A trapeze is a bar hanging from two ropes. Go to the school library and read every book you can find on the subject!"

Durova, Fomin, and Panova spent three years developing the act. They struggled to realize Durova’s often far-stretched ideas. They came up with new tricks and experimented with various techniques to achieve them; some were found by sheer luck, others by trial-and-error.

When it was done, Elena Panova’s act was like nothing else that had been seen before. Performed entirely in full swing, it included pirouettes between the ropes, caught by the ankles, and half-pirouettes caught by the heels, all done without interrupting the swing or having it re-energized by an assistant. Furthermore, Elena's act was not conceived around the notion of danger, but around the aestheticism of movement. It was a seductive ballet, danced in space (eventually, in 1987, to the accents of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons—this at a time when classical music was still a rarity in the circus).

The act was first performed in 1985, in a show presented by the [[Moscow Circus]] in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was also Elena's professional debut. Two years later, the act emerged as the great revelation of the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris; in that landmark edition of the festival, the sea change underway in the contemporary circus was apparent for the first time.

Elena won the Gold Medal and ignited the imagination of [[André Simard]], who saw her performance. Simard was then teaching acrobatics at the [[Ecole Nationale de Cirque]] in Montreal. After returning to Canada, he decided to develop trapeze acts in the new style suggested by Elena's act. Adding his own ideas, he would in time develop a "Canadian school" of swinging trapeze. (After the fall of the Soviet regime, Viktor Fomin would eventually settle in Montreal, where he opened his own very successful trapeze school.)

In 1988, Elena won the All-Union Circus Competition of the USSR, which was, at the time, arguably the world’s most difficult circus competition. From 1985-90, she performed in the Soviet Union and toured with various units of the [[Moscow Circus]] in Mongolia, Cambodia, Vietnam, France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, and Israel, before becoming an independent contractor in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Elena's first independent engagement came in 1991, with the [[Big Apple Circus]] in the United States. She subsequently appeared in some of the world’s leading circuses on four continents, including [[Circus Knie]] in Switzerland and the [[Cirque d’Hiver]]-Bouglione in Paris. She has performed her act under the nave of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York and at the Victorian Arts Festival in Melbourne, Australia, where she has also been featured in a musical, ''Amore''.

Elena married the clown Serguei Panov in 1983. They divorced in 1990. Although she settled in the United States in 1993, Elena continued to perform around the world, mostly in Europe. Her career lasted nineteen years. She retired from performing in 2003, after a last tour in the People's Republic of China. She has since become an aerial teacher at Circus Center, in San Francisco, California.

==Image Gallery==

<Gallery>
Image:Elena_Panova_(2000).jpg|Elena Panova, Cirque d'Hiver-Bouglione (2000) - ''Phot:Bertrand Guay''
Image:Elena_Panova.jpg|Elena Panova, Cirque d'Hiver-Bouglione (2000) - ''Photo: Bertrand Guay''
</Gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Panova, Elena]][[Category:Aerialists|Panova, Elena]][[Category:Swinging Trapeze|Panova, Elena]]

Elena Panova

2009-02-06T00:31:56Z

Reichorn: Changed some paragraph breaks

==Swinging Trapeze==

''By Dominique Jando''

[[Image:Elena_Panova.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Elena Panova]]Elena Panova was born Elena Nikolaevna Borisova on July 18, 1964 in Murom, Russia. Her father, Nikolai, and her mother, Klavdia, had nothing to do with the circus: they both worked in a factory in Murom. In fact, Elena never even saw a live circus performance while growing up.

She did see the circus on television, however, and at age fourteen, she joined the local Amateur Circus—the Soviet equivalent of European or American youth circuses, though at a much higher level, in terms of the training they provided. Amateur circuses flourished in the Soviet Union, where circus arts were held in high esteem.

During these years, Elena trained in basic acrobatics, but her tastes drew her to aerial apparatuses; while still at the Youth Circus, she and a fellow student developed a "bambou" (aerial perch) act. Her performance debut came in April 1978; she executed a static trapeze act in an Easter show the Amateur Circus staged in Murom’s Grand Theatre.

Since she was bent on becoming a circus artist—and had the ability to succeed—Elena's coach suggested she apply to audition for Moscow’s [[State College for Circus and Variety Arts]]. She submitted the proper forms and documents and, to her surprise, was invited to audition in Moscow. She was seventeen and had never left Murom.

Following a strenuous exam, Elena was accepted to the College. Over the next four years, she trained in acting, ballet, and all circus disciplines, eventually specializing in swinging trapeze. Even so, the creation of her act—an act that would redefine the swinging trapeze—resulted from a series of coincidences.

Although Elena wanted to do a trapeze act, the five-year plan then in effect did not call for new trapeze acts. In the Soviet Union, five-year plans were centralized methods of promoting economic growth through the use of quotas. The early five-year plans (1928-37) called for the rapid collectivization of agriculture, a policy that was not revised even though it led to millions of deaths from starvation. There was little hope, then, that Elena would get her new trapeze act as long as it deviated from the five-year plan.

Even so, she insisted on learning the swinging trapeze. Eventually, her teachers acquiesced, assigning her a trapeze coach. The coach then took advantage of an opportunity to live for a time in Paris. The coach asked a friend, [[The Durov Dynasty|Tereza Durova]]—an act director who had recently joined the College staff—to create a swinging-trapeze act for Elena.

Tereza Durova came from a famous dynasty of clowns and animal trainers and had never worked on an aerial act before. She asked another newcomer to the staff, [[Viktor Fomin]]—a former competition gymnast who had performed in a horizontal bar act—to take on the technical aspects of the act. To Fomin, who complained that he had never worked on an aerial act before, Durova is reported to have said, "A trapeze is a bar hanging from two ropes. Go to the school library and read every book you can find on the subject!"

Durova, Fomin, and Panova spent three years developing the act. They struggled to realize Durova’s often far-stretched ideas. They came up with new tricks and experimented with various techniques to achieve them; some were found by sheer luck, others by trial-and-error.

When it was done, Elena Panova’s act was like nothing else that had been seen before. Performed entirely in full swing, it included pirouettes between the ropes, caught by the ankles, and half-pirouettes caught by the heels, all done without interrupting the swing or having it re-energized by an assistant. Furthermore, Elena's act was not conceived around the notion of danger, but around the aestheticism of movement. It was a seductive ballet, danced in space (eventually, in 1987, to the accents of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons—this at a time when classical music was still a rarity in the circus).

The act was first performed in 1985, in a show presented by the [[Moscow Circus]] in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was also Elena's professional debut. Two years later, the act emerged as the great revelation of the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris; in that landmark edition of the festival, the sea change underway in the contemporary circus was apparent for the first time.

Elena won the Gold Medal and ignited the imagination of [[André Simard]], who saw her performance. Simard was then teaching acrobatics at the [[Ecole Nationale de Cirque]] in Montreal. After returning to Canada, he decided to develop trapeze acts in the new style suggested by Elena's act. Adding his own ideas, he would in time develop a "Canadian school" of swinging trapeze. (After the fall of the Soviet regime, Viktor Fomin would eventually settle in Montreal, where he opened his own very successful trapeze school.)

In 1988, Elena won the All-Union Circus Competition of the USSR, which was, at the time, arguably the world’s most difficult circus competition. From 1985-90, she performed in the Soviet Union and toured with various units of the [[Moscow Circus]] in Mongolia, Cambodia, Vietnam, France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, and Israel, before becoming an independent contractor in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Elena's first independent engagement came in 1991, with the [[Big Apple Circus]] in the United States. She subsequently appeared in some of the world’s leading circuses on four continents, including [[Circus Knie]] in Switzerland and the [[Cirque d’Hiver]]-Bouglione in Paris. She has performed her act under the nave of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York and at the Victorian Arts Festival in Melbourne, Australia, where she has also been featured in a musical, ''Amore''.

Elena married the clown Serguei Panov in 1983. They divorced in 1990. Although she settled in the United States in 1993, Elena continued to perform around the world, mostly in Europe. Her career lasted nineteen years. She retired from performing in 2003, after a last tour in the People's Republic of China. She has since become an aerial teacher at Circus Center, in San Francisco, California.

==Image Gallery==

<Gallery>
Image:Elena_Panova_(2000).jpg|Elena Panova, Cirque d'Hiver-Bouglione (2000) - ''Phot:Bertrand Guay''
Image:Elena_Panova.jpg|Elena Panova, Cirque d'Hiver-Bouglione (2000) - ''Photo: Bertrand Guay''
</Gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Panova, Elena]][[Category:Aerialists|Panova, Elena]][[Category:Swinging Trapeze|Panova, Elena]]

Elena Panova

2009-02-06T00:30:57Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Swinging Trapeze==

''By Dominique Jando''

[[Image:Elena_Panova.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Elena Panova]]Elena Panova was born Elena Nikolaevna Borisova on July 18, 1964 in Murom, Russia. Her father, Nikolai, and her mother, Klavdia, had nothing to do with the circus: they both worked in a factory in Murom. In fact, Elena never even saw a live circus performance while growing up.

She did see the circus on television, however, and at age fourteen, she joined the local Amateur Circus—the Soviet equivalent of European or American youth circuses, though at a much higher level, in terms of the training they provided. Amateur circuses flourished in the Soviet Union, where circus arts were held in high esteem.

During these years, Elena trained in basic acrobatics, but her tastes drew her to aerial apparatuses; while still at the Youth Circus, she and a fellow student developed a "bambou" (aerial perch) act. Her performance debut came in April 1978; she executed a static trapeze act in an Easter show the Amateur Circus staged in Murom’s Grand Theatre.

Since she was bent on becoming a circus artist—and had the ability to succeed—Elena's coach suggested she apply to audition for Moscow’s [[State College for Circus and Variety Arts]]. She submitted the proper forms and documents and, to her surprise, was invited to audition in Moscow. She was seventeen and had never left Murom.

Following a strenuous exam, Elena was accepted to the College. Over the next four years, she trained in acting, ballet, and all circus disciplines, eventually specializing in swinging trapeze. Even so, the creation of her act—an act that would redefine the swinging trapeze—resulted from a series of coincidences.

Although Elena wanted to do a trapeze act, the five-year plan then in effect did not call for new trapeze acts. In the Soviet Union, five-year plans were centralized methods of promoting economic growth through the use of quotas. The early five-year plans (1928-37) called for the rapid collectivization of agriculture, a policy that was not revised even though it led to millions of deaths from starvation. There was little hope, then, that Elena would get her new trapeze act as long as it deviated from the five-year plan.

Even so, she insisted on learning the swinging trapeze. Eventually, her teachers acquiesced, assigning her a trapeze coach. The coach then took advantage of an opportunity to live for a time in Paris. The coach asked a friend, [[The Durov Dynasty|Tereza Durova]]—an act director who had recently joined the College staff—to create a swinging-trapeze act for Elena.

Tereza Durova came from a famous dynasty of clowns and animal trainers and had never worked on an aerial act before. She asked another newcomer to the staff, [[Viktor Fomin]]—a former competition gymnast who had performed in a horizontal bar act—to take on the technical aspects of the act. To Fomin, who complained that he had never worked on an aerial act before, Durova is reported to have said, "A trapeze is a bar hanging from two ropes. Go to the school library and read every book you can find on the subject!"

Durova, Fomin, and Panova spent three years developing the act. They struggled to realize Durova’s often far-stretched ideas. They came up with new tricks and experimented with various techniques to achieve them; some were found by sheer luck, others by trial-and-error.

When it was done, Elena Panova’s act was like nothing else that had been seen before. Performed entirely in full swing, it included pirouettes between the ropes, caught by the ankles, and half-pirouettes caught by the heels, all done without interrupting the swing or having it re-energized by an assistant.

Furthermore, Elena's act was not conceived around the notion of danger, but around the aestheticism of movement. It was a seductive ballet, danced in space (eventually, in 1987, to the accents of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons—this at a time when classical music was still a rarity in the circus).

The act was first performed in 1985, in a show presented by the [[Moscow Circus]] in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was also Elena's professional debut. Two years later, the act emerged as the great revelation of the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris; in that landmark edition of the festival, the sea change underway in the contemporary circus was apparent for the first time. Elena won the Gold Medal and ignited the imagination of [[André Simard]], who saw her performance. Simard was then teaching acrobatics at the [[Ecole Nationale de Cirque]] in Montreal. After returning to Canada, he decided to develop trapeze acts in the new style suggested by Elena's act. Adding his own ideas, he would in time develop a "Canadian school" of swinging trapeze. (After the fall of the Soviet regime, Viktor Fomin would eventually settle in Montreal, where he opened his own very successful trapeze school.)

In 1988, Elena won the All-Union Circus Competition of the USSR, which was, at the time, arguably the world’s most difficult circus competition. From 1985-90, she performed in the Soviet Union and toured with various units of the [[Moscow Circus]] in Mongolia, Cambodia, Vietnam, France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, and Israel, before becoming an independent contractor in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Elena's first independent engagement came in 1991, with the [[Big Apple Circus]] in the United States. She subsequently appeared in some of the world’s leading circuses on four continents, including [[Circus Knie]] in Switzerland and the [[Cirque d’Hiver]]-Bouglione in Paris. She has performed her act under the nave of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York and at the Victorian Arts Festival in Melbourne, Australia, where she has also been featured in a musical, ''Amore''.

Elena married the clown Serguei Panov in 1983. They divorced in 1990. Although she settled in the United States in 1993, Elena continued to perform around the world, mostly in Europe. Her career lasted nineteen years. She retired from performing in 2003, after a last tour in the People's Republic of China. She has since become an aerial teacher at Circus Center, in San Francisco, California.

==Image Gallery==

<Gallery>
Image:Elena_Panova_(2000).jpg|Elena Panova, Cirque d'Hiver-Bouglione (2000) - ''Phot:Bertrand Guay''
Image:Elena_Panova.jpg|Elena Panova, Cirque d'Hiver-Bouglione (2000) - ''Photo: Bertrand Guay''
</Gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Panova, Elena]][[Category:Aerialists|Panova, Elena]][[Category:Swinging Trapeze|Panova, Elena]]

Liana Orfei

2009-02-05T22:54:09Z

Reichorn:

==Circus Director, Circus Performer, Singer, Actress==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Liana_Portrait_web.jpg|right|thumb|175px|Liana Orfei]]Born in Italy in 1937, the daughter of clown and circus owner [[Parise Orfei|Paride "Pippo" Orfei]] and Alba Furini, Liana Orfei began her circus career at age two, appearing as a clown. Later, she became a trapeze artist, acrobat, dancer, juggler, and a lion- and horse-trainer. In 1954, she married the juggler Angelo Piccinelli. Five years later, in 1959—without ever leaving the circus—she embarked upon a long movie career. She appeared in thirty-seven films, including Fellini's ''I Clowns'' (1972) and dozens of peplum and adventure movies. She also acted onstage under the direction of legendary playwright Eduardo De Filippo.

In 1962, with her brothers [[Nando Orfei|Nando]] and [[Rinaldo Orfei|Rinaldo]], she created her own circus, one of the first three-ring shows in Italy, titled ''Circo a 3 piste Orfei''. This became, in 1970, ''Circorama'', a show that included sumptuous parades as well as films projected on a cinemascope screen both between and during the acts. Liana booked some of the finest acts in the world. The circus included nearly twenty elephants, three rings of liberty horses, and a remarkable menagerie of wild and exotic animals.

Circorama's success led to the production ''Il Circo delle Mille e una Notte'' (The Circus of the 1001 Arabian Nights) (1973-75), a circus revue that used five hundred costumes designed by Danilo Donati (the costume designer of Federico Fellini's and Pierpaolo Pasolini's movies). This was followed in 1976 by ''Il Circo delle Amazzoni'', an all-female circus show inspired by Greek mythology.

In 1977, the Orfei siblings split into two circuses: Nando Orfei created Circo Nando Orfei, while Liana and Rinaldo established a smaller but still astounding version of their Circorama (with which Liana was involved until 1984).

In 1978, Liana began touring as a singer in her one-woman show. She did a few recordings and hosted several TV shows. In 1975, she met the man who would become her second husband, producer Paolo Pristipino. In the late 1970s, they founded the Tendastrice concert hall in Rome. There, in 1982, they hosted the world premiere of a company from the State Circus of North Korea. In 1984, they created the [[Golden Circus Festival]], which has been held each winter in Rome. The festival celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2008.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Liana_Portrait_web.jpg|Liana Orfei
</gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Orfei, Liana]]
[[Category:Circus Owners and Directors|Orfei, Liana]]
[[Category:Aerialists|Orfei, Liana]]
[[Category:Jugglers|Orfei, Liana]]
[[Category:Animal Trainers|Orfei, Liana]]

Yelena Larkina

2009-01-25T02:31:04Z

Reichorn:

==Hula-Hoops==

''By Dominique Jando''

A former rhythmic gymnast of the Soviet Gymnastics Team and a Silver Medalist at the 1985 USSR championships, Yelena (or Elena) Larkina joined Moscow’s [[State College of Circus and Variety Arts]] (a.k.a. the Moscow Circus School) in 1987, where the famous Russian act director [[Valentin Gneushev]] noticed her.

Gneushev made Yelena the dancer-assistant to the famous juggler-on-rolling-globe, [[Yury Borzykin]], with whom she performed, in 1991, at the Gershwin Theater on Broadway, in Steve Leber’s production of ''Cirk Valentin''. In that show, Yelena also performed an early version of her hula-hoop act.

When Yelena returned to Moscow, Gneushev helped her develop her hula-hoop act into something unique. In the act, which was set to Middle Eastern music, the choreography and presentation were as important as the remarkable technique. The act was an immediate sensation, not least because—in the early performances—Yelena performed topless under a light veil that her dancing movements made teasingly move to and fro.

In 1994, Yelena's act won a Bronze Medal at Paris’s [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]]—a remarkable feat, considering the high level of the acrobatic competition, which tends to overshadow specialties such as hula-hoop acts.

Yelena Larkina has since been featured in many of the world’s major circuses and variety shows, including: [[Circus Benneweis]] in Denmark; the [[Big Apple Circus]] in the United States; [[Circus Knie]] and [[Circus Conelli]] in Switzerland; and, in Germany, [[Circus Krone]], Frankfurt’s TigerPalast, Düsseldorf’s Apollo Varieté, and Berlin’s WinterGarten.

Yelena Larkina is married to juggling legend [[Kris Kremo]].

==See Also==

* Video: [[Yelena_Larkina_BAC_Video_2007|Yelena Larkina, Hula-Hoop Act]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Celebrate'' (2007)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Larkina, Yelena]][[Category:Hula-Hoop|Larkina, Yelena]]

Moira Orfei

2009-01-23T04:18:47Z

Reichorn:

==Circus Owner, Performer, Actress==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Poster_Circo_Moira_Orfei_2004-2005.jpg|200px|right|Circo Moira Orfei Poster (2004-2005)]]Moira Orfei (born Miranda Orfei in 1931) is an Italian pop-culture icon. A member of the most famous circus family in the region, she can compete in fame with any Italian music or movie legend. She is 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 headshot and her first name. Much of her reputation is due to her long movie career, which coincided with the golden age of Italian cinema. But it is also due to the quality of her circus.

The daughter of [[Riccardo Orfei]], Moira was trained in all the basic circus disciplines as a child. In 1960—without ever leaving the circus—she launched 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'', ''Atlas'', and ''Samson'' series.

In 1961, she married the acrobat [[Walter Nones]]. 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]]. Their circus 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 ''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 trainer.

In 1976, the circus split into two separate units: the traditional Circo Moira Orfei, and the circus-on-ice show. In the early 1980s, Moira and Walter began to produce other touring shows. They got exclusive rights to the Italian tours of the [[Moscow Circus]] and for the American ice show ''Holiday On Ice''. Meanwhile, regular circus tours made Moira extremely popular in other Mediterranean countries. (In 1977, Moira's circus was in Iran when the Islamic revolution broke out, but they managed to return safely—if not without some difficulty—to Italy.)

In 1987, Walter and Moira produced the ''Moira+Mosca'' circus, which combined some of the best Soviet acts with Moira's Italian performers and animal acts. That same year, they produced a superb seventeen-tiger act with the help of the great trainer [[Jean Michon]]. The act was presented by Walter's brother, [[Massimiliano Nones]], and became the first cage-act to win a Gold Clown at the [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]]. Moira's sons, Stefano and Lara, also won a Silver Clown in Monte Carlo in 1999 with two acts: a double high-school, and a display of exotic animals that included a "liberty" presentation of a giraffe, a rhinoceros, and antelopes with zebras.

Moira retired from performing in the late 1990s, but she did not cease from supervising every detail of her organization. Neither did she entirely disappear from the ring: she still appears in the ring to greet her audience at the opening of each performance, and her entrance always prompts standing ovations and flower-throwing.

In recent years, Moira has appeared in a few screen comedies and has become a much sought-after guest on TV talk shows. With its large menagerie and classy productions, its fine orchestra and true corps-de-ballet—together with Moira's attention to detail and her booking some of the world's finest acts—Moira Orfei's circus is among the most respected in Europe.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Moira_ Poster_1973.jpg|Circo Moira Orfei Poster (1973)
Image:Poster_Circo_Moira_Orfei_2004-2005.jpg|Circo Moira Orfei Poster (2004-2005)
Image:Moira_Fellini_and_Friend.jpg|Federico Fellini, Moira Orfei, and Friend
Image:Moira.jpg|Moira Orfei in the ring of her circus
</gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Orfei, Moira]]
[[Category:Circus Owners and Directors|Orfei, Moira]]
[[Category:Animal Trainers|Orfei, Moira]]

Moira Orfei

2009-01-23T04:18:26Z

Reichorn:

==Circus Owner, Performer, Actress==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Poster_Circo_Moira_Orfei_2004-2005.jpg|200px|right|Circo Moira Orfei Poster (2004-2005)]]Moira Orfei (born Miranda Orfei in 1931) is an Italian pop-culture icon. A member of the most famous circus family in the region, she can compete in fame with any Italian music or movie legend. She is 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 headshot and her first name. Much of her reputation is due to her long movie career, which coincided with the golden age of Italian cinema. But it is also due to the quality of her circus.

The daughter of [[Riccardo Orfei]], Moira was trained in all the basic circus disciplines as a child. In 1960—without ever leaving the circus—she began her 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'', ''Atlas'', and ''Samson'' series.

In 1961, she married the acrobat [[Walter Nones]]. 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]]. Their circus 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 ''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 trainer.

In 1976, the circus split into two separate units: the traditional Circo Moira Orfei, and the circus-on-ice show. In the early 1980s, Moira and Walter began to produce other touring shows. They got exclusive rights to the Italian tours of the [[Moscow Circus]] and for the American ice show ''Holiday On Ice''. Meanwhile, regular circus tours made Moira extremely popular in other Mediterranean countries. (In 1977, Moira's circus was in Iran when the Islamic revolution broke out, but they managed to return safely—if not without some difficulty—to Italy.)

In 1987, Walter and Moira produced the ''Moira+Mosca'' circus, which combined some of the best Soviet acts with Moira's Italian performers and animal acts. That same year, they produced a superb seventeen-tiger act with the help of the great trainer [[Jean Michon]]. The act was presented by Walter's brother, [[Massimiliano Nones]], and became the first cage-act to win a Gold Clown at the [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]]. Moira's sons, Stefano and Lara, also won a Silver Clown in Monte Carlo in 1999 with two acts: a double high-school, and a display of exotic animals that included a "liberty" presentation of a giraffe, a rhinoceros, and antelopes with zebras.

Moira retired from performing in the late 1990s, but she did not cease from supervising every detail of her organization. Neither did she entirely disappear from the ring: she still appears in the ring to greet her audience at the opening of each performance, and her entrance always prompts standing ovations and flower-throwing.

In recent years, Moira has appeared in a few screen comedies and has become a much sought-after guest on TV talk shows. With its large menagerie and classy productions, its fine orchestra and true corps-de-ballet—together with Moira's attention to detail and her booking some of the world's finest acts—Moira Orfei's circus is among the most respected in Europe.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Moira_ Poster_1973.jpg|Circo Moira Orfei Poster (1973)
Image:Poster_Circo_Moira_Orfei_2004-2005.jpg|Circo Moira Orfei Poster (2004-2005)
Image:Moira_Fellini_and_Friend.jpg|Federico Fellini, Moira Orfei, and Friend
Image:Moira.jpg|Moira Orfei in the ring of her circus
</gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Orfei, Moira]]
[[Category:Circus Owners and Directors|Orfei, Moira]]
[[Category:Animal Trainers|Orfei, Moira]]

Moira Orfei

2009-01-23T04:17:34Z

Reichorn:

==Circus Owner, Performer, Actress==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Poster_Circo_Moira_Orfei_2004-2005.jpg|200px|right|Circo Moira Orfei Poster (2004-2005)]]Moira Orfei (born Miranda Orfei in 1931) is an Italian pop-culture icon. A member of the most famous circus family in the region, she can compete in fame with any Italian music or movie legend. She is 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 headshot and her first name. Much of her reputation is due to her long movie career, which coincided with the golden age of Italian cinema. But it is also due to the quality of her circus.

The daughter of [[Riccardo Orfei]], Moira was trained in all the basic circus disciplines. In 1960—without ever leaving the circus—she began her 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'', ''Atlas'', and ''Samson'' series.

In 1961, she married the acrobat [[Walter Nones]]. 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]]. Their circus 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 ''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 trainer.

In 1976, the circus split into two separate units: the traditional Circo Moira Orfei, and the circus-on-ice show. In the early 1980s, Moira and Walter began to produce other touring shows. They got exclusive rights to the Italian tours of the [[Moscow Circus]] and for the American ice show ''Holiday On Ice''. Meanwhile, regular circus tours made Moira extremely popular in other Mediterranean countries. (In 1977, Moira's circus was in Iran when the Islamic revolution broke out, but they managed to return safely—if not without some difficulty—to Italy.)

In 1987, Walter and Moira produced the ''Moira+Mosca'' circus, which combined some of the best Soviet acts with Moira's Italian performers and animal acts. That same year, they produced a superb seventeen-tiger act with the help of the great trainer [[Jean Michon]]. The act was presented by Walter's brother, [[Massimiliano Nones]], and became the first cage-act to win a Gold Clown at the [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]]. Moira's sons, Stefano and Lara, also won a Silver Clown in Monte Carlo in 1999 with two acts: a double high-school, and a display of exotic animals that included a "liberty" presentation of a giraffe, a rhinoceros, and antelopes with zebras.

Moira retired from performing in the late 1990s, but she did not cease from supervising every detail of her organization. Neither did she entirely disappear from the ring: she still appears in the ring to greet her audience at the opening of each performance, and her entrance always prompts standing ovations and flower-throwing.

In recent years, Moira has appeared in a few screen comedies and has become a much sought-after guest on TV talk shows. With its large menagerie and classy productions, its fine orchestra and true corps-de-ballet—together with Moira's attention to detail and her booking some of the world's finest acts—Moira Orfei's circus is among the most respected in Europe.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Moira_ Poster_1973.jpg|Circo Moira Orfei Poster (1973)
Image:Poster_Circo_Moira_Orfei_2004-2005.jpg|Circo Moira Orfei Poster (2004-2005)
Image:Moira_Fellini_and_Friend.jpg|Federico Fellini, Moira Orfei, and Friend
Image:Moira.jpg|Moira Orfei in the ring of her circus
</gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Orfei, Moira]]
[[Category:Circus Owners and Directors|Orfei, Moira]]
[[Category:Animal Trainers|Orfei, Moira]]

Moira Orfei

2009-01-23T04:17:07Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Circus Owner, Performer, Actress==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Poster_Circo_Moira_Orfei_2004-2005.jpg|200px|right|Circo Moira Orfei Poster (2004-2005)]]Moira Orfei (born Miranda Orfei in 1931) is an Italian pop-culture icon. A member of the most famous circus family in the region, she can compete in fame with any Italian music or movie legend. She is undoubtedly the only circus owner in the world who could get away (for forty years, no less!) with advertising her circus using posters that displayed only her headshot and her first name. Much of her reputation is due to her long movie career, which coincided with the golden age of Italian cinema. But it is also due to the quality of her circus.

The daughter of [[Riccardo Orfei]], Moira was trained in all the basic circus disciplines. In 1960—without ever leaving the circus—she began her 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'', ''Atlas'', and ''Samson'' series.

In 1961, she married the acrobat [[Walter Nones]]. 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]]. Their circus 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 ''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 trainer.

In 1976, the circus split into two separate units: the traditional Circo Moira Orfei, and the circus-on-ice show. In the early 1980s, Moira and Walter began to produce other touring shows. They got exclusive rights to the Italian tours of the [[Moscow Circus]] and for the American ice show ''Holiday On Ice''. Meanwhile, regular circus tours made Moira extremely popular in other Mediterranean countries. (In 1977, Moira's circus was in Iran when the Islamic revolution broke out, but they managed to return safely—if not without some difficulty—to Italy.)

In 1987, Walter and Moira produced the ''Moira+Mosca'' circus, which combined some of the best Soviet acts with Moira's Italian performers and animal acts. That same year, they produced a superb seventeen-tiger act with the help of the great trainer [[Jean Michon]]. The act was presented by Walter's brother, [[Massimiliano Nones]], and became the first cage-act to win a Gold Clown at the [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]]. Moira's sons, Stefano and Lara, also won a Silver Clown in Monte Carlo in 1999 with two acts: a double high-school, and a display of exotic animals that included a "liberty" presentation of a giraffe, a rhinoceros, and antelopes with zebras.

Moira retired from performing in the late 1990s, but she did not cease from supervising every detail of her organization. Neither did she entirely disappear from the ring: she still appears in the ring to greet her audience at the opening of each performance, and her entrance always prompts standing ovations and flower-throwing.

In recent years, Moira has appeared in a few screen comedies and has become a much sought-after guest on TV talk shows. With its large menagerie and classy productions, its fine orchestra and true corps-de-ballet—together with Moira's attention to detail and her booking some of the world's finest acts—Moira Orfei's circus is among the most respected in Europe.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Moira_ Poster_1973.jpg|Circo Moira Orfei Poster (1973)
Image:Poster_Circo_Moira_Orfei_2004-2005.jpg|Circo Moira Orfei Poster (2004-2005)
Image:Moira_Fellini_and_Friend.jpg|Federico Fellini, Moira Orfei, and Friend
Image:Moira.jpg|Moira Orfei in the ring of her circus
</gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Orfei, Moira]]
[[Category:Circus Owners and Directors|Orfei, Moira]]
[[Category:Animal Trainers|Orfei, Moira]]

Liana Orfei

2009-01-23T02:49:36Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Circus Director, Circus Performer, Singer, Actress==

''By Raffaele De Ritis''

[[Image:Liana_Portrait_web.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Liana Orfei]]Born in Italy in 1937, the daughter of clown and circus owner [[Parise Orfei|Paride "Pippo" Orfei]] and Alba Furini, Liana Orfei began her circus career at age two, appearing as a clown. Later, she became a trapeze artist, acrobat, dancer, juggler, and a lion- and horse-trainer. In 1954, she married the juggler Angelo Piccinelli. Five years later, in 1959—without ever leaving the circus—she embarked upon a long movie career. She appeared in thirty-seven films, including Fellini's ''I Clowns'' (1972) and dozens of peplum and adventure movies. She also acted onstage under the direction of legendary playwright Eduardo De Filippo.

In 1962, with her brothers [[Nando Orfei|Nando]] and [[Rinaldo Orfei|Rinaldo]], she created her own circus, one of the first three-ring shows in Italy, titled ''Circo a 3 piste Orfei''. This became, in 1970, ''Circorama'', a show that included sumptuous parades as well as films projected on a cinemascope screen both between and during the acts. Liana booked some of the finest acts in the world. The circus included nearly twenty elephants, three rings of liberty horses, and a remarkable menagerie of wild and exotic animals.

Circorama's success led to the production ''Il Circo delle Mille e una Notte'' (The Circus of the 1001 Arabian Nights) (1973-75), an oriental circus revue that used five-hundred costumes designed by Danilo Donati (the costume designer of Federico Fellini's and Pierpaolo Pasolini's movies). This was followed in 1976 by ''Il Circo delle Amazzoni'', an all-female circus show inspired by ancient mythology.

In 1977, the Orfei siblings split into two circuses: Nando Orfei created Circo Nando Orfei, while Liana and Rinaldo established a smaller but still astounding version of their Circorama (with which Liana was involved until 1984).

In 1978, Liana began touring as a singer in her one-woman show. She did a few recordings and hosted several TV shows. In 1975, she met the man who would become her second husband, producer Paolo Pristipino. In the late 1970s, they founded the Tendastrice concert hall in Rome. There, in 1982, they hosted the world premiere of a company from the State Circus of North Korea. In 1984, they created the [[Golden Circus Festival]], which has been held each winter in Rome. The festival celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2008.

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Liana_Portrait_web.jpg|Liana Orfei
</gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Orfei, Liana]]
[[Category:Circus Owners and Directors|Orfei, Liana]]
[[Category:Aerialists|Orfei, Liana]]
[[Category:Jugglers|Orfei, Liana]]
[[Category:Animal Trainers|Orfei, Liana]]

Olivier and Melinda

2009-01-23T02:20:15Z

Reichorn: Changed the para. breaks in first two paragraphs: use previous edit to compare text

==Acrobatic Adagio==

''By Dominique Jando''

Born in Valenciennes, France, Olivier Merlier was not, it seemed, destined to become a circus performer. He worked as a welder on nuclear power plant construction sites, and, in his spare time, practiced kickboxing and karate.

Then, while visiting his sister at the [[Budapest Circus School|State Circus School]] in Budapest, Hungary, he was asked by the school to organize a workshop in kickboxing for the students. The instructors at the school were impressed enough by his strength and flexibility to propose that Olivier enroll. It seemed to him that the circus was more fun than welding, so he accepted the invitation. Thus, in 1985, he began training in all the classic circus disciplines. At the same time, he began to study Hungarian—and to pay increasing amounts of attention to a certain fellow student, [[Melinda Merlier|Melinda Fölnagy]].

Before long, Olivier and Melinda began working together on an acrobatic adagio. In April 1988—two months before their graduation—Olivier and Melinda were married in Budapest. A few months later, they made their professional debut at the old Hansa Theater in Hamburg, Germany.

In January 1988, [[Olivier & Melinda]] presented their brand-new act at the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris. Although they didn't win a medal, they caught the attention of the [[Big Apple Circus]]'s talent scouts, who invited them to join the circus's resident company in the United States. A year later, they made their debut as part of the Big Apple Circus's summer tour.

Olivier & Melinda stayed at the Big Apple Circus until 1992, participating in company ensembles. They performed their acrobatic adagio as well as a teeterboard duet. They separated at the end of the 1992 summer tour. Olivier returned to France, where he became a flying-trapeze catcher in the groundbreaking and successful aerial show, [[Les Arts-Sauts]]. Melinda, a versatile acrobat, remained in the Big Apple Circus's resident company until 1998, appearing in an astonishing variety of acrobatic acts, before moving on to explore other opportunities.

==See Also==

* Biography: [[Melinda Merlier]]
* Video: [[Olivier_and_Melinda_BAC_Video_1990|Olivier & Melinda, Acrobatic Adagio and Teeterboard Act]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Ballerinas, Horses and Clowns...'' (1990)
* Video: [[Olivier_and_Melinda_BAC_1991_Video|Olivier & Melinda, Teeterboard Act]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Greetings from Coney Island'' (1991)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Olivier & Melinda]][[Category:Teeterboard|Olivier & Melinda]][[Category:Acrobats|Olivier & Melinda]]

Olivier and Melinda

2009-01-23T02:19:42Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Acrobatic Adagio==

''By Dominique Jando''

Born in Valenciennes, France, Olivier Merlier was not, it seemed, destined to become a circus performer. He worked as a welder on nuclear power plant construction sites, and, in his spare time, practiced kickboxing and karate. Then, while visiting his sister at the [[Budapest Circus School|State Circus School]] in Budapest, Hungary, he was asked by the school to organize a workshop in kickboxing for the students.

The instructors at the school were impressed enough by his strength and flexibility to propose that Olivier enroll. It seemed to him that the circus was more fun than welding, so he accepted the invitation. Thus, in 1985, he began training in all the classic circus disciplines. At the same time, he began to study Hungarian—and to pay increasing amounts of attention to a certain fellow student, [[Melinda Merlier|Melinda Fölnagy]].

Before long, Olivier and Melinda began working together on an acrobatic adagio. In April 1988—two months before their graduation—Olivier and Melinda were married in Budapest. A few months later, they made their professional debut at the old Hansa Theater in Hamburg, Germany.

In January 1988, [[Olivier & Melinda]] presented their brand-new act at the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris. Although they didn't win a medal, they caught the attention of the [[Big Apple Circus]]'s talent scouts, who invited them to join the circus's resident company in the United States. A year later, they made their debut as part of the Big Apple Circus's summer tour.

Olivier & Melinda stayed at the Big Apple Circus until 1992, participating in company ensembles. They performed their acrobatic adagio as well as a teeterboard duet. They separated at the end of the 1992 summer tour. Olivier returned to France, where he became a flying-trapeze catcher in the groundbreaking and successful aerial show, [[Les Arts-Sauts]]. Melinda, a versatile acrobat, remained in the Big Apple Circus's resident company until 1998, appearing in an astonishing variety of acrobatic acts, before moving on to explore other opportunities.

==See Also==

* Biography: [[Melinda Merlier]]
* Video: [[Olivier_and_Melinda_BAC_Video_1990|Olivier & Melinda, Acrobatic Adagio and Teeterboard Act]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Ballerinas, Horses and Clowns...'' (1990)
* Video: [[Olivier_and_Melinda_BAC_1991_Video|Olivier & Melinda, Teeterboard Act]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Greetings from Coney Island'' (1991)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Olivier & Melinda]][[Category:Teeterboard|Olivier & Melinda]][[Category:Acrobats|Olivier & Melinda]]

Melinda Merlier

2009-01-23T01:53:35Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Acrobat, Aerialist==

''By Dominique Jando''

Melinda Merlier was born Melinda Fölnagy in Tatá, Hungary, on September 1, 1968. When she was ten years old, she enrolled in Budapest’s State Circus School, where she received her formal schooling as well as her training in all circus disciplines.

In 1985, she met Olivier Merlier, a French student who had just enrolled in the school. Melinda and Olivier began to work together on an acrobatic adagio. In April 1988—two months before their graduation—Olivier and Melinda were married in Budapest. A few months later, they made their professional debut at the old Hansa Theater in Hamburg, Germany.

In January 1988, [[Olivier & Melinda]] presented their brand-new act at the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris. Although they didn't win a medal, they caught the attention of the [[Big Apple Circus]]'s talent scouts, who invited them to join the circus's resident company in the United States. A year later, they made their debut as part of the Big Apple Circus's summer tour.

Olivier & Melinda stayed at the Big Apple Circus until 1992, participating in company ensembles. They performed their acrobatic adagio as well as a teeterboard duet. They separated at the end of the 1992 summer tour, Olivier returning to France. Melinda, a versatile acrobat, remained in the Big Apple Circus's resident company until 1998, appearing in an astonishing variety of acrobatic acts, from floor acrobatics to flying trapeze, contortion to dancing with elephants. During this period, she became romantically involved with a talented acrobat in the company, Carlos Guity.

After leaving the Big Apple Circus, Melinda went on to work at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. She was featured in an aerial tissu act with [[The Panteleenko Brothers|Maxim Panteleenko]] in [[Cesar Aedo]]’s ''The Flight of the Condor''. Having married Carlos Guity in June 2001, she left ''The Flight of the Condor'' to give birth to her son, Noah, in April 2002.

Melinda later returned to SeaWorld, where she performed a web act and an aerial hoop act. She also worked as company manager. The show closed at the end of August 2008. After a five-and-a-half year run, Melinda left SeaWorld. She went on to study massage therapy. She is also an ACE certified personal trainer and a pilates instructor.

Melinda, Carlos, and Noah currently reside in Orlando, Florida.

==See Also==

* Biography: [[Olivier & Melinda]]
* Video: [[Olivier_and_Melinda_BAC_Video_1990|Olivier & Melinda, Acrobatic Adagio and Teeterboard Act]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Ballerinas, Horses and Clowns...'' (1990)
* Video: [[Olivier_and_Melinda_BAC_1991_Video|Olivier & Melinda, Teeterboard Act]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Greetings from Coney Island'' (1991)
* Video: [[Melinda_Merlier_BAC_1992_Video|Melinda Merlier in ''The Contortion Doll'']] with [[Jeff Gordon]] and [[John Lepiarz]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Goin' Places'' (1992)
* Video: [[Bill_Woodcock_Elephants_and_BAC_Company_BAC_1996_Video|Acrobats and Elephants]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''The Medicine Show'' (1996)
* Video: [[Bill_Woodcock_Elephants_BAC_1996_Video|Melinda Merlier and the Woodcock Elephants]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''The Medicine Show'' (1996)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Merlier, Melinda]][[Category:Acrobats|Merlier, Melinda]][[Category:Teeterboard|Olivier & Melinda]][[Category:Aerialists|Merlier, Melinda]]

Yelena Larkina

2009-01-23T00:50:17Z

Reichorn: Added author's name (assuming Dominique as author)

==Hula-Hoops==

''By Dominique Jando''

A former rhythmic gymnast of the Soviet Gymnastics Team and a Silver Medalist at the 1985 USSR championships, Yelena (or Elena) Larkina joined Moscow’s [[State College of Circus and Variety Arts]] (a.k.a. the Moscow Circus School) in 1987, where the famous Russian act director [[Valentin Gneushev]] noticed her.

Gneushev made Yelena the dancer-assistant to the famous juggler-on-rolling-globe, [[Yury Borzykin]], with whom she performed, in 1991, at the Gershwin Theater on Broadway, in Steve Leber’s production of ''Cirk Valentin''. In that show, Yelena also performed an early version of her hula-hoop act.

When Yelena returned to Moscow, Gneushev helped her develop her hula-hoop act into something unique. In the act, which was set to Middle Eastern music, the choreography and presentation were as important as the remarkable technique. The act was an immediate sensation, not least because—in the early performances, at least—Yelena performed topless.

In 1994, Yelena's act won a Bronze Medal at Paris’s [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]]—a remarkable feat, considering the high level of the acrobatic competition, which tends to overshadow specialties such as hula-hooping.

Yelena Larkina has since been featured in many of the world’s major circuses and variety shows, including: [[Circus Benneweis]] in Denmark; the [[Big Apple Circus]] in the United States; [[Circus Knie]] and [[Circus Conelli]] in Switzerland; and, in Germany, [[Circus Krone]], Frankfurt’s TigerPalast, Düsseldorf’s Apollo Varieté, and Berlin’s WinterGarten.

Yelena Larkina is married to juggling legend [[Kris Kremo]].

==See Also==

* Video: [[Yelena_Larkina_BAC_Video_2007|Yelena Larkina, Hula-Hoop Act]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Celebrate'' (2007)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Larkina, Yelena]][[Category:Hula-Hoop|Larkina, Yelena]]

Yelena Larkina

2009-01-23T00:48:52Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Hula-Hoops==

A former rhythmic gymnast of the Soviet Gymnastics Team and a Silver Medalist at the 1985 USSR championships, Yelena (or Elena) Larkina joined Moscow’s [[State College of Circus and Variety Arts]] (a.k.a. the Moscow Circus School) in 1987, where the famous Russian act director [[Valentin Gneushev]] noticed her.

Gneushev made Yelena the dancer-assistant to the famous juggler-on-rolling-globe, [[Yury Borzykin]], with whom she performed, in 1991, at the Gershwin Theater on Broadway, in Steve Leber’s production of ''Cirk Valentin''. In that show, Yelena also performed an early version of her hula-hoop act.

When Yelena returned to Moscow, Gneushev helped her develop her hula-hoop act into something unique. In the act, which was set to Middle Eastern music, the choreography and presentation were as important as the remarkable technique. The act was an immediate sensation, not least because—in the early performances, at least—Yelena performed topless.

In 1994, Yelena's act won a Bronze Medal at Paris’s [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]]—a remarkable feat, considering the high level of the acrobatic competition, which tends to overshadow specialties such as hula-hooping.

Yelena Larkina has since been featured in many of the world’s major circuses and variety shows, including: [[Circus Benneweis]] in Denmark; the [[Big Apple Circus]] in the United States; [[Circus Knie]] and [[Circus Conelli]] in Switzerland; and, in Germany, [[Circus Krone]], Frankfurt’s TigerPalast, Düsseldorf’s Apollo Varieté, and Berlin’s WinterGarten.

Yelena Larkina is married to juggling legend [[Kris Kremo]].

==See Also==

* Video: [[Yelena_Larkina_BAC_Video_2007|Yelena Larkina, Hula-Hoop Act]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Celebrate'' (2007)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Larkina, Yelena]][[Category:Hula-Hoop|Larkina, Yelena]]

Kovgar Troupe

2009-01-23T00:28:20Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Teeterboard==

''By Dominique Jando''

Born in Russia, Andrey Kovgar is a former gymnastics champion who, like many of his Russian counterparts, transitioned to the circus when his competition days were over. He learned his trade with the famous Russian teeterboard troupe of [[Chernevsky Troupe|Viacheslav Chernevsky]]. It was as a member of the Chernevsky Troupe that he became the first acrobat ever to achieve, while standing on a single stilt, a triple somersault on the teeterboard.

In 2000, at the [[Circus Nikulin]] Studio in Moscow, Kovgar created his own teeterboard troupe, bringing together various other former competition gymnasts, some of whom were Olympic medalists. The act, choreographed by Irina Voevodina, was originally called "Freilix." It immediately won a Golden Lion at the [[International Circus Festival of Wuqiao]], China, in 2001.

When Dominique Mauclair selected the Kovgar Troupe to participate in the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris, he noted the Jewish musical atmosphere of the act and suggested they incorporate this theme into the act's visual elements. As a result, the costumes were redesigned in the style of Marc Chagall's paintings of old Russia's Jewish heritage, and the choreography was redone to add a distinctly Jewish tone.

The Kovgar Troupe's revamped teeterboard act was the revelation of the 2002 Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain, where it won the Gold Medal. Two years later, it won a Silver Clown at the [[International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo]]. Today, the Kovgar Troupe is considered to be among the greatest teeterboard acts of all time. It has appeared in some of the world's leading circuses, including [[Circus Knie]] in Switzerland, [[Circus Carré]] in Amsterdam, the [[Big Apple Circus]] in the United States, and of course, [[Circus Nikulin]] in Moscow.

As a "second act," the Kovgar Troupe also presents a high-energy jump-rope act.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Kovgar_Troupe_BAC_2004_Video|The Kovgar Troupe, Teeterboard Act]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Picturesque'' (2004)
* Video: [[Kovgar_Troupe_BAC_Video_2007|The Kovgar Troupe, Jump Rope Act]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Celebrate'' (2007)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Kovgar Troupe]][[Category:Teeterboard|Kovgar Troupe]][[Category:Acrobats|Kovgar Troupe]]

Freilix

2009-01-23T00:19:06Z

Reichorn:

==Teeterboard==

See [[Kovgar Troupe]]

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Freilix]][[Category:Teeterboard|Freilix]]

The Jokers

2009-01-23T00:10:54Z

Reichorn:

==Flying Trapeze==

''By Dominique Jando''

Kirilas Vorona and his partners—Maxim Guezov, Viktor Morozov, and Mikhail Skamorokhov—were all Russian-born and held Russian Masters in Sports-Gymnastics degrees. Each had distinguished himself in international gymnastics competitions.

In 1996, they met at Moscow's [[Circus Nikulin]] (the "Old Circus" on Tsvetnoi Boulevard) to create an original flying act under the guidance of [[Valentin Gneushev]], the celebrated act director. In a matter of months, the Jokers were born. They were an instant sensation.

The Jokers worked with "French" (or "long") distances, more spectacular (and more difficult) than the relatively short distances commonly used by North and South American flyers. Their classic flying-trapeze act displayed remarkable style and skill. It included a front somersault under the bar (Maxim Guezov) and a triple somersault (Mikhail Skamorokhov). It was choreographed in minute detail, down to the pauses on the platform. Unlike the balletic classicism usually seen in flying acts, the Jokers' act was—as their name implies—humorous and light-hearted.

They made their debut at the Circus of Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, in July 1996. They were subsequently featured at Circus Nikulin in Moscow, then in Europe at Munich's [[Circus Krone]]. They came to the United States in 1999, making their American debut in the [[Big Apple Circus]] production of ''Bello & Friends''.

The Jokers were later featured at Circus Circus in Reno, Nevada, before returning to the Big Apple Circus in 2000-01, after which they disbanded. Kirilas Vorona remained in the United States and became a circus teacher.

==See Also==

* Video: [[The_Jokers_BAC_Video_1999|The Jokers, Flying Trapeze]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Bello & Friends'' (1999)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Jokers, The]][[Category:Flying Acts|Jokers, The]]

The Jokers

2009-01-23T00:10:36Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Flying Trapeze==

''By Dominique Jando''

Kirilas Vorona and his partners—Maxim Guezov, Viktor Morozov, and Mikhail Skamorokhov—were all Russian-born and held Russian Masters in Sports-Gymnastics degrees. Each had distinguished himself in international gymnastics competitions.

In 1996, they met at Moscow's [[Circus Nikulin]] (the "Old Circus" on Tsvetnoi Boulevard) to create an original flying act under the guidance of [[Valentin Gneushev]], the celebrated act director. In a matter of months, the Jokers were born. They were an instant sensation.

The Jokers worked with "French"—or "long"—distances, more spectacular (and more difficult) than the relatively short distances commonly used by North and South American flyers. Their classic flying-trapeze act displayed remarkable style and skill. It included a front somersault under the bar (Maxim Guezov) and a triple somersault (Mikhail Skamorokhov). It was choreographed in minute detail, down to the pauses on the platform. Unlike the balletic classicism usually seen in flying acts, the Jokers' act was—as their name implies—humorous and light-hearted.

They made their debut at the Circus of Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, in July 1996. They were subsequently featured at Circus Nikulin in Moscow, then in Europe at Munich's [[Circus Krone]]. They came to the United States in 1999, making their American debut in the [[Big Apple Circus]] production of ''Bello & Friends''.

The Jokers were later featured at Circus Circus in Reno, Nevada, before returning to the Big Apple Circus in 2000-01, after which they disbanded. Kirilas Vorona remained in the United States and became a circus teacher.

==See Also==

* Video: [[The_Jokers_BAC_Video_1999|The Jokers, Flying Trapeze]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Bello & Friends'' (1999)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Jokers, The]][[Category:Flying Acts|Jokers, The]]

Guiming Meng

2009-01-22T01:50:44Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Jar Juggler==

''By Dominique Jando''

Guiming Meng comes from a long line of Chinese acrobats. His father was a master jar-juggler. Not surprisingly, Meng would follow in his father's footsteps. He was trained in Chinese acrobatics in the Shangai Acrobatic Troupe, one of the major acrobatic troupes in China, and participated in many acts, as it is the usage in Chinese troupes.

In 1986, members of the Shangai Acrobatic Troupe were featured in the 116th edition of [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey]], where they performed several acts. Guiming Meng was among them. At the end of the engagement, he did not return to China, choosing instead to defect to the United States.

Guiming Meng created a jar-juggling act—the specialty he knew best—and began working in various circuses and variety shows. He eventually settled in Las Vegas and, in 1991, became a U.S. citizen. He has been featured twice at the [[Big Apple Circus]], in 2004 and 2008.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Guiming_Meng_BAC_2004_Video|Guiming Meng, Jar Juggling]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Picturesque'' (2004)

==Image Gallery==

<Gallery>
Image:Guiming_Meng_2008.JPG|Guiming Meng at the Big Apple Circus (2008)
</Gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Guiming Meng]][[Category:Jugglers|Guiming Meng]]

Anatoly Durov

2009-01-22T01:50:12Z

Reichorn:

==Clown==

''By Dominique Jando''

[[Image:Anatoly_Durov.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Anatoly Durov]]The Durovs are among Russia’s most prestigious circus dynasties. From the brothers Vladimir and Anatoly Durov, the founders of the circus dynasty, to a host of Anatolys, Vladimirs, Yurys, Natalias, and Terezas, all bearing the Durov name, they have given the Russian circus an impressive number of talented clowns, animal trainers, and entertainment entrepreneurs—and a few actors too.

In Soviet circus lore, Anatoly and Vladimir Durov are often associated with the Bolshevik revolution. As clown-satirists who took an anarchistic stance against the autocratic tsarist government, they became popular heroes in the waning decades of the Russian Empire. The Soviet regime, always eager to play the populist card, did not hesitate to claim them as its own.

In fact, however, Anatoly Durov—the more virulent of the two brothers—was opposed to any form of authority; it's reasonable to assume, therefore, that, had he lived to see it, he would have rejected the authority of the Soviet regime. As for Vladimir, who became an iconic figure in the Soviet era, he eventually gave up clowning, came to specialize in animal training, and just followed the path of political correctness. For the Durovs, like most popular entertainers of their time, were first and foremost intent on surviving and succeeding, whatever the regime and the circumstances. As a matter of fact, the Durov family's origins clashed with Soviet ideology.

==The Durov Family==

Anatoly Leonidevich Durov was born on November 26, 1864 to a wealthy aristocratic family in Moscow. He was the fifth child and second son of Leonid Dmitrievich Durov (1832-67), a hereditary Lord from the Province of Moscow, who was an officer in the Moscow Police—a job he did more because he wanted to than because he had to. Anatoly’s brother, [[Vladimir Durov|Vladimir Leonidevich]] (1863-1934), was his elder by a year.

The Durov name was well known in Russia; the family had already produced a celebrity. Nadezhda Durova, remembered in Russian history as the ''Cavalry Girl'', was Anatoly’s grandaunt. Dressed as a man, she had enrolled in a cavalry regiment to fight Napoleon’s advance in 1812. She is said to have received a medal from the hand of Field-Marshall Kutuzov, the man who had defeated Napoleon. Celebrated by Pushkin, Nadezhda eventually became a successful writer.

Anatoly Durov had three elder sisters: Margarita (1854-?); Konkordya (1860-?), among whose descendants is Lev Durov, the famous Russian actor; Liudmila (1862-?); and a younger sister, Valentina (1866-1940). Anatoly’s mother, Maria Dmitrievna Durova (1833-66), probably suffered from complications caused by Valentina’s birth: she died soon after, in 1866. Anatoly was only two years old at the time. Devastated, Anatoly’s father began to drink himself to death. He suffered from hallucinations and died a year later, in 1867.

Vladimir and Anatoly were put in the care of their godfather, Nikolai Zakharovich Zakharov, a wealthy and brilliant lawyer and occasional playwright, whose work had been produced successfully at the Maly Theater in Moscow. (He was also an inveterate gambler. He would eventually commit suicide over a gambling debt.) Zakharov sent Vladimir and Anatoly to a military academy. Likely it was at the academy that Anatoly developed his lifelong loathing for all forms of authority.

==Circus Beginnings==

The brothers much preferred circus acrobatics to academic studies and military exercises. This passion eventually led to their being expelled from the academy. Left to their own devices, Vladimir and Anatoly used the money their godfather had given them to hire as their teacher Angelo Briatore, an Italian acrobat from the troupe of [[Carl Magnus Hinné]]. Briatore taught them the basics of acrobatics in the old way: with much whipping. When Zakharov discovered the physical abuse, he got rid of Briatore.

Around 1878, Otto Kleist, a balagan acrobat, taught Vladimir and Anatoly a trapeze act. The following year, the brothers made their performing debut in the balagan of V.A. Weinstok in Tver’, a city north of Moscow. They also worked in the balagan of Rinaldo, a magician, before finally joining the Robinson-Nicolet troupe—a significant step up, given that the troupe worked in circuses. They left Robinson-Nicolet in 1881 after Anatoly had an argument with his employers—the first of many arguments that would plague Anatoly’s career. It was probably because of Anatoly's temperament that the brothers separated.

After leaving Robinson-Nicolet, Anatoly auditioned for the Italian director [[Massimiliano Truzzi Sr|Massimiliano Truzzi]], who had created one of Russia’s most important circus companies and was looking for a solo clown. Lacking any clowning experience, Anatoly improvised on classic material, mostly spoken, and got the job. He made his debut in 1882 with Truzzi, in his circus in Voronezh, a city Anatoly would eventually make his home.

Truzzi’s troupe, which was mostly composed of German performers, used young Anatoly as the butt of their jokes, for which Anatoly showed precious little sense of humor: he would develop a lifelong anti-German sentiment, even though the mother of his children would be a German equestrienne. As was becoming a habit of his, Anatoly left Truzzi over an argument in 1884. He then hassled the great German director Albert Schumann, who was renting Hinné’s old circus in Moscow, to get a job as a clown. His insistence paid off. At last he had reached Moscow—the big time. The talented and tenacious Anatoly was on his way to stardom.

Meanwhile, in 1881, Vladimir found work as an assistant animal trainer in Hugo Winkler’s menagerie, which had settled on Tsvetnoi Boulevard in Moscow. He became an able trainer of small animals, and in 1884, following in his brother’s footsteps, he began to perform as a clown, using trained animals as partners, which greatly irritated Anatoly. From the outset, Anatoly had used a pig and other animals as comedy partners in his act, and they would become a Durov trademark. For the rest of his life, Anatoly would consider his brother a thief and competitor; the relationship between them rapidly deteriorated.

==Anatoly vs. Vladimir==

The brothers' success as a clown-satirist came from the fact that, unlike other clowns in Russia, who were mostly Italian or French, or came from the unrefined balagans, he could express himself in crisp, articulate Russian. He also had an intensely Russian sense of humor, and he could easily convey his wit in a manner other clowns couldn’t match. Anatoly used a direct, in-your-face, occasionally insulting brand of humor, without fear of the consequences. As a result, he would often have serious problems with local authorities—and not only in Russia.

Over the years, Anatoly also developed an extravagant off-stage persona: he traveled with an entourage that consisted of his wife (or "legitimate mistress," for he never married his companions, Tereza Stadtler and, later, Elena Gertel), his mistress of the moment, and a pair of twin menservants who were always tall and exotic—Asian, Indian, or African—and who changed every year. When, at the peak of his fame, Anatoly paraded into a new town with his retinue, the local circuses couldn’t hope for a more effective publicity stunt.

In the ring, Anatoly’s clown character evolved over the years from a classic clown—one not very different, physically, from other clowns of his time—to what would eventually become the Durov image: a traditional whiteface clown costume, with sequin ornaments, a white collerette and a small shoulder cape, and practically no makeup. He would enter the ring with great ceremony, walking around and acknowledging his audience, and then he would launch into a monologue, after which he would play up the attitudes of his animals. Vladimir would adopt a very similar style.

When, around 1884, their godfather saw the brothers perform, he suggested they resume their education—which Vladimir did: he graduated from a teachers’ college and audited the classes of neurophysiologist I.M. Sechenov, "the father of Russian physiology," who, with I.P. Pavlov, studied animal reflexes. In 1887, Vladimir returned to the circus, however, and made his debut as a full-fledged clown-satirist and animal trainer at [[The Circuses of Moscow|Circus Salamonsky]] in Moscow, Russia’s second most prestigious circus, after St. Petersburg’s [[The Circuses of St. Petersburg|Circus Ciniselli]].

Vladimir, wittier and more creative than his brother, became in time the more successful of the two; his talent as an animal trainer was also a significant factor in his success. Anatoly's increased use of animals in his act was mostly an attempt to keep pace with his brother, and he was often criticized for promising more than he was capable of delivering: when he was performing at Circus Baranski, for instance, someone complained that instead of the troupe of animals he had advertised, he had “only a couple of rats and a pelican.” Unlike Vladimir, Anatoly used only a handful of animals (pigs, geese, and turkeys were his favorites), and what he did with them remained basic in terms of pure training. He would always be first and foremost a clown.

In 1913, Vladimir and Anatoly performed at the same time in St. Petersburg, Vladimir at A. Marshan’s [[The Circuses of St. Petersburg|Cirque Moderne]], where he had staged Pushkin’s fables, and Anatoly at Circus Ciniselli. Vladimir got better reviews, one of which stated: “The biggest success was Vladimir’s, whose animal training was much better, and jokes were funnier.” This didn’t please Anatoly, whose response showed more spite than wit: since Vladimir was announced as "the Elder Durov," Anatoly asked to be advertised as "the Older Elder Durov."

==In And Out of Russia==

In the ring, Anatoly remained the more caustic of the two brothers. Vladimir’s true calling was animal training, and this would increasingly become his principal activity. But Anatoly’s acerbic jokes against the police, the bureaucrats, the aristocracy—against any kind of established authority—eventually landed him in serious trouble, to the point where he found it wise to leave Russia for a time.

In 1890, Anatoly and his usual menagerie embarked on a successful Western European tour that took them to Austria-Hungary, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France. Durov’s old prejudices came out in Germany, a country that revived memories of his debut at Circus Truzzi and whose authoritarian regime rubbed him the wrong way. At [[Zirkus Renz]], in Berlin, Anatoly played with his usual porcine partner, whom he had named Will for the occasion. According to the clown [[Béby Frediani]], the pig wore a Prussian helmet (''Helm'', in German) in the ring, and tried desperately to get rid of it. In his feinted attempts to keep him in check, Anatoly shouted at his pig, “Will, Helm!” Wilhelm, of course, was the name of the Kaiser. Durov was arrested and not-so-politely asked to leave Berlin immediately.

Back in Russia, Anatoly began gradually to lose his appeal. His critical attitude toward the powers that be was purely negative. He appears to have been, by disposition, a disgruntled man who took pleasure in insulting those who made his life difficult—whether that be the mayor of a city or a simple policeman. But when the political landscape began to shift in ways one would think he would have approved of, he didn’t know what to make of them. He was by no means a revolutionary, just a grouch and a rebel. Anatoly Durov was actually quite conservative in his tastes. When Max Reinhardt presented his spectacular, avant-garde production of ''Oedipus Rex'' in Moscow and St. Petersburg in 1911, Anatoly deemed it decadent. He then went on to perform a heavy-handed parody of Reinhardt’s spectacle: it was a huge flop, and a sign that Durov had lost touch with his public.

==The Final Years==

By the end of his life, Anatoly had become bitter and lonely. Once, for the New Year, he sent a telegram to the management and artists of Circus Ciniselli: “Anatoly Durov congratulates the Director and Artists on this New Year”—an unusual gesture on his part, and a disguised way of reminding them that he was free for the upcoming season and looking for contracts.

The clown Alperov, who performed with Anatoly at Circus Salamonsky at the time, recalled: “When I came to his dressing room, he was sitting on his chair, his head thrown back, not speaking to anyone. It was a shocking sight. Twenty days later, there was a benefit for Durov, and the Box Office was shedding tears. Then someone threw a broom wrapped in newspapers into the ring.” The broom said it all: It was a sad reminder from the audience that it was time for Anatoly Durov to leave the ring. In Moscow at least, Anatoly Durov had become a has-been.

Anatoly died of typhus in Mariupol, Ukraine, during an engagement with the circus of V.Z. Maksimiuk. True to himself until the end, Anatoly had just argued with his director. “Business is good, thank God!” wrote Maksimiuk to a friend. “Anatoly Durov worked in my circus, and I had one hundred and twenty problems with him. Right now Durov is very ill. A few days ago he made a scene and didn’t come to work, and he sent me a medical certificate through an attorney. Then I gave to the same attorney a letter in which I said I would call for a counter-examination. The forfeit sum was 1,000 rubles. Then Durov placed 30 cupping glasses on his back, which only increased his blood tension, and now he is really sick!” Indeed, Anatoly Durov was very sick: he was eventually sent to the hospital, where he died on January 7, 1916.

Of his first union (out of wedlock) with Tereza Stadtler (1866-1934)—a German equestrienne who was the daughter of Johannes Stadtler, owner of the Bavarian Circus—Anatoly had three children: Maria Anatolievna (1891-?), who married the hand-balancer Vasily Vasilievich Milva (1884-1962); [[Anatoly Anatolievich Durov|Anatoly Anatolievich]] (1894-1928), who would be a virulent clown-satirist like his father before becoming an animal trainer; and Evlampiya Anatolievna, who married a pharmacist, Grigory Efimovich Schvenchenko. All three continued the [[Durov dynasty]]. Anatoly had no children with his second pseudo-wife, Elena Gertel (1873-1967), a German show swimmer.

Anatoly Durov was well-educated, an artist and a sculptor in his spare time, an occasional writer, and an art collector. In 1931, his remains were exhumed, incinerated, and his ashes were transferred to his house in Voronezh, which had been transformed into the Durov Museum. The museum still stands today.

==Suggested Reading==

Анатолий Дуров (текстологическая полготовка В. В. Бойкова), ''В жиӡни и на арене'' (Moscow, Искүсство, 1984)

==Image Gallery==

<Gallery>
Image:Anatoly_Durov.jpg|Anatoly Durov (c.1895)
</Gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Durov, Anatoly]]
[[Category:Clowns|Durov, Anatoly]]

Alesya Goulevich

2009-01-21T04:17:03Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Hula Hoops==

''By Dominique Jando''

Although she was born in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Alesya Goulevich is Belarusian. She comes from a family of circus performers: Her father is a famous clown, Fedor Goulevich (of the duo [[Goulevich & Voronetskiy]]); her mother, Nadia Bilienko, was an aerialist.

Trained within the circus both by her parents and by other artists whom she met, Alesya became a proficient unicyclist, worked as a clown, and eventually created an energetic hula-hoop act.

Based today in Miami, Florida, Alesya has worked in major circuses all across Europe, Asia, and the United States.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Alesya_Goulevich_BAC_2003_Video|Alesya Goulevich, Hula-Hoop Act]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Carnevale!'' (2003)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Goulevich, Alesya]][[Category:Hula-Hoop|Goulevich, Alesya]]

Jeff Gordon

2009-01-21T04:10:01Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Clown==

''By Dominique Jando''

Jeff Gordon was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1954. A former All-American Springboard Champion diver, he graduated from [[Clown College]] in 1979 and spent the following year somersaulting over elephants at [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey]]. In 1981, he joined the [[Big Apple Circus]], where he worked on the ring crew. He also appeared as a plant in the audience for the Big Apple Circus’s trio of clowns, [[Carlo Pellegrini]] (Carlo), [[Michael Christensen]] (Mr. Stubbs), and [[Barry Lubin]] (Grandma).

Jeff's first experience as a clown had come as part of the Ringling show, but he felt much more comfortable in the intimate, one-ring European format of the Big Apple Circus. So, in 1983, he became a full-fledged member of the Big Apple Circus’s Clown Alley as "Gordoon," a newly created clown persona. Mr. Stubbs, Gordoon, and Grandma would be, for the following five years, the iconic clown trio of the Big Apple Circus.

In 1989, in a quixotic attempt to run away from the circus and join a home, Jeff found himself on Broadway, playing The Dean in [[Bill Irwin]]’s ''Largely New York,'' a role he subsequently played on tour. By 1991-92, however, he was back at the Big Apple Circus, performing in ''Greetings from Coney Island'' and, 1992-93, ''Going Places'', a show in which he was the lead character.

Jeff subsequently performed in Asia, appeared with Bill Irwin in the Seattle Rep’s production of Molière’s ''Scapin'', and was for several years "Le Clown Gordoon" at the French Pavillion at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center. He then moved to San Francisco, where he became involved with the successful Teatro ZinZanni. In 2000-01, Gordoon was again back at the Big Apple Circus, where he starred in ''Clown Around Town'' with [[Tom Dougherty]].

Jeff later participated in the Tianjin International Comedy Festival in China (2001) and toured with [[Circus Vidbel]] in 2004. He has worked extensively in Asia and the United States. In 2007 and 2008, he was with Zany Umbrella Circus in Amman, at the Jordan’s Children Museum. In addition, he has done many Artist-in-Residencies in the Pittsburgh area, where he now lives.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Oaf_Fish_Gordoon_BAC_Video_1987|Jeff Gordon (Gordoon), John Lepiarz (Fish), David Casey (Oaf), Michael Christensen (Mr. Stubbs)]] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''1001 Arabian Nights'' (1987)

* Video: [[John_Lepiarz_Oaf_and_Gordoon_BAC_1991_Video|Jeff Gordon, John Lepiarz, Barry Lubin, and Taso Stavrakis in ''Horse Wash'']], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Greetings from Coney Island'' (1991)

* Video: [[Grandma_and_Gordoon_BAC_1991_Video|Jeff Gordon (Gordoon) and Barry Lubin (Grandma) in ''At the Beach'']], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Greetings from Coney Island'' (1991)

* Video: [[Melinda_Merlier_BAC_1992_Video|Jeff Gordon in ''The Doll'']] with [[John Lepiarz]] and [[Melinda Merlier]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Goin' Places'' (1992)

* Video: [[Gordoon_BAC_Video_2000|Jeff Gordon (Gordoon), ''TP Extravaganza'']] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Clown Around Town'' (2000)

* Video: [[Clowns_Baseball_BAC_Video_2000|Jeff Gordon, Tom Dougherty and Valdis Yanovskis, ''The Baseball Match'']] in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Clown Around Town'' (2000)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Gordon, Jeff]][[Category:Clowns|Gordon, Jeff]]

Svetlana Gololobova

2009-01-21T03:49:33Z

Reichorn:

==Hand Balancer==

''By Dominique Jando''

[[Image:Svetlana Gololobova.jpg|Svetlana Gololobova|right|thumb|200pix|Svetlana Gololobova]]Svetlana Gololobova was born on June 17, 1964 in Chimkent, Kazakhstan. At that time, Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union. At the age of fourteen, she went to the State Circus School of Tashkent, Uzbekistan—the circus school closest to her hometown. Although she received general training in all circus disciplines, Svetlana demonstrated exceptional talent for hand-balancing.

In 1981, she was selected to join a group of gifted students from Tashkent who were to be sent to the prestigious [[State College for Circus and Variety Arts]] (a.k.a. Moscow Circus School) in Moscow. There, she specialized in hand-balancing and was invited to work with [[Violetta Kiss]], one of the college’s most talented and celebrated teachers. (Along with her brother, [[Aleksandr Kiss]], Violetta had performed one of the most extraordinary juggling and balancing acts in the history of the Soviet circus—indeed, of the circus anywhere.)

Svetlana graduated in 1985 with (not surprisingly) a remarkable hand-balancing act titled ''Circus Princess'', which she performed to the music of Emmerich Kalman’s popular operetta. In 1988, she participated in the USSR's [[All-Union Circus Competition]]—arguably among the most difficult circus competitions in the world at the time. Having received third prize, she proceeded to work all across the Soviet Union as well as with touring units of the [[Moscow Circus]] in Bulgaria and Austria.

In 1991, Svetlana was featured at Moscow’s [[Circus Nikulin]], on Tvetsnoy Boulevard. She then went on tour with the Moscow Circus in Peru. On her way back, the troupe halted in Canada, where several performers, including Svetlana and her husband, Yury, defected. She settled in Montréal, Québec, eventually becoming a Canadian citizen. There, she worked for various circuses, including [[Cirque du Soleil]], Cirque Parasol, and the [[Tarzan Zerbini Circus]]. From 1993-98, she taught hand-balancing at Montréal’s [[Ecole Nationale de Cirque|National Circus School]]. Among her former students is the award-winning hand-balancer [[Samuel Tétrault]].

Svetlana has lived in the United States since 2007. She has performed one version or another of her amazing hand-balancing act—and sometimes her aerial tissu act—at SeaWorld in Florida, with [[Cole Bros. Circus]], the [[Big Apple Circus]], on cruise ships, and in various special events. Her son, Nikita (b. 1998), has followed in his mother’s footsteps: he performs a hand-to-hand balancing act with his father, Yury.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Svetlana_Gololobova_Video|Svetlana Gololobova]]

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Svetlana Gololobova.jpg|Svetlana Gololobova
</gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Gololobova, Svetlana]]
[[Category:Hand Balancers|Gololobova, Svetlana]]

Svetlana Gololobova

2009-01-21T03:49:02Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Hand Balancer==

''By Dominique Jando''

[[Image:Svetlana Gololobova.jpg|Svetlana Gololobova|right|thumb|200pix|Svetlana Gololobova]]Svetlana Gololobova was born on June 17, 1964 in Chimkent, Kazakhstan. At the time, Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union. At the age of fourteen, she went to the State Circus School of Tashkent, Uzbekistan—the circus school closest to her hometown. Although she received general training in all circus disciplines, Svetlana demonstrated exceptional talent for hand-balancing.

In 1981, she was selected to join a group of gifted students from Tashkent who were to be sent to the prestigious [[State College for Circus and Variety Arts]] (a.k.a. Moscow Circus School) in Moscow. There, she specialized in hand-balancing and was invited to work with [[Violetta Kiss]], one of the college’s most talented and celebrated teachers. (Along with her brother, [[Aleksandr Kiss]], Violetta had performed one of the most extraordinary juggling and balancing acts in the history of the Soviet circus—indeed, of the circus anywhere.)

Svetlana graduated in 1985 with (not surprisingly) a remarkable hand-balancing act titled ''Circus Princess'', which she performed to the music of Emmerich Kalman’s popular operetta. In 1988, she participated in the USSR's [[All-Union Circus Competition]]—arguably among the most difficult circus competitions in the world at the time. Having received third prize, she proceeded to work all across the Soviet Union as well as with touring units of the [[Moscow Circus]] in Bulgaria and Austria.

In 1991, Svetlana was featured at Moscow’s [[Circus Nikulin]], on Tvetsnoy Boulevard. She then went on tour with the Moscow Circus in Peru. On her way back, the troupe halted in Canada, where several performers, including Svetlana and her husband, Yury, defected. She settled in Montréal, Québec, eventually becoming a Canadian citizen. There, she worked for various circuses, including [[Cirque du Soleil]], Cirque Parasol, and the [[Tarzan Zerbini Circus]]. From 1993-98, she taught hand-balancing at Montréal’s [[Ecole Nationale de Cirque|National Circus School]]. Among her former students is the award-winning hand-balancer [[Samuel Tétrault]].

Svetlana has lived in the United States since 2007. She has performed one version or another of her amazing hand-balancing act—and sometimes her aerial tissu act—at SeaWorld in Florida, with [[Cole Bros. Circus]], the [[Big Apple Circus]], on cruise ships, and in various special events. Her son, Nikita (b. 1998), has followed in his mother’s footsteps: he performs a hand-to-hand balancing act with his father, Yury.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Svetlana_Gololobova_Video|Svetlana Gololobova]]

==Image Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:Svetlana Gololobova.jpg|Svetlana Gololobova
</gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Gololobova, Svetlana]]
[[Category:Hand Balancers|Gololobova, Svetlana]]

Egorov Troupe

2009-01-21T03:27:19Z

Reichorn:

==Flying Act, Russian Barre==

''By Dominique Jando''

Born in Moscow on July 5, 1950, Vladimir Egorov developed an interest in acrobatics early in life. Along with his brother Yury (b. February 9, 1964), he joined an Amateur Circus troupe, where he learned a wide range of circus disciplines. (Amateur Circus troupes are the Russian equivalents of Youth Circuses—albeit at a much higher level of training and skills.)

Vladimir made his professional debut as an acrobat in 1970 with a hand-to-hand act, in which he was accompanied by Nikolai Malenkin. Later, he performed a similar act with Yury Osipov. In 1974, he joined the legendary high-wire act of [[Vladimir Voljanski]], with whom he performed for twelve years, both in Russia and abroad with the [[Moscow Circus]].

In 1987, under the guidance of the great aerial-act creator, [[Piotr Maenstrenko]], at the [[Circus Studio]] in Moscow, Vladimir began developing his own act. It was originally a combination of Russian Barre and flying act, which used intricate equipment. Although the act would later be brought to fruition by [[the [[Borsovi]], Vladimir chose not to pursue it, preferring instead to develop two separate acts out of one: a Russian Barre act and a flying act, which used catchers on upright cradles.

The Egorov troupe, with Vladimir and his brother Yury as the main catchers, and Maksim Dobrovitsky and [[Regina Dobrovitskaya]] as the principal flyers, debuted at Moscow’s [[Bolshoi Circus]] in July 1988. Both of the troupe's acts were technically and artistically outstanding, and they soon embarked on a prosperous international career, touring with various units of the [[Moscow Circus]]. They also appeared in Sweden with [[Cirkus Scott]] and in Germany with [[Franzi Althoff]]. The flying act evolved over the years; at its height (so to speak), it incorporated three catchers and four flyers.

The Egorovs’ flying act made its American debut at the Big Apple Circus in 1992; it would remain with the circus until 1996. In 1995, they performed a simplified version of their Russian Barre act, featuring [[Regina Dobrovitskaya]]. The troupe dissolved the following season. Regina Dobrovitskaya and Vladimir Egorov remained with the Big Apple Circus, Regina as a member of its resident company, Vladimir as coach and Assistant Performance Director.

The Egorov troupe participated in the [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]] in 1999 with their original Russian Barre act, during which Maksim Dobrovitsky became the first acrobat ever to complete a quadruple somersault on the Barre. The troupe was awarded the Journalist Association award and the TV Monte-Carlo award.

In 1995, Vladimir Egorov was made Artist Emeritus of the Russian Federation. He retired from the ring in 2003, settling in the United States. His wife, Nadezhda Petrovna (born Voronina on October 25, 1954) was a competition gymnast before working with the Volzhanski troupe and in the aerial act of Nadezhda Belenko. Nadezhda and Vladimir have two daughters, Elena and Svetlana, who have left the circus. Elena Egorova performed, for a time, a hula-hoop act.

Yury Egorov returned to Russia in 1996. There, he trained his stepson, [[Sergey Akimov]], who performed a remarkable aerial-straps act that won a Silver Medal at the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris in 2005.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Egorov_Troupe_BAC_1992_Video|The Egorov Troupe, Flying Act]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Goin' Places'' (1992)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Egorov Troupe]][[Category:Flying Acts|Egorov Troupe]][[Category:Acrobats|Egorov Troupe]]

Egorov Troupe

2009-01-21T03:26:09Z

Reichorn: Extensive edits throughout

==Flying Act, Russian Barre==

''By Dominique Jando''

Born in Moscow on July 5, 1950, Vladimir Egorov developed an interest in acrobatics early in life. Along with his brother Yury (b. February 9, 1964), he joined an Amateur Circus troupe, where he learned a wide range of circus disciplines. (Amateur Circus troupes are the Russian equivalents of Youth Circuses—albeit at a much higher level of training and skills.)

Vladimir made his professional debut as an acrobat in 1970 with a hand-to-hand act, in which he was accompanied by Nikolai Malenkin. Later, he performed a similar act with Yury Osipov. In 1974, he joined the legendary high-wire act of [[Vladimir Voljanski]], with whom he performed for twelve years, both in Russia and abroad with the [[Moscow Circus]].

In 1987, under the guidance of the great aerial-act creator, [[Piotr Maenstrenko]], at the [[Circus Studio]] in Moscow, Vladimir began developing his own act. It was originally a combination of Russian Barre and flying act, which used intricate equipment. Although the act would later be brought to fruition by [[the [[Borsovi]], Vladimir chose not to pursue it, preferring instead to develop two separate acts out of one: a Russian Barre act and a flying act, which used catchers on upright cradles.

The Egorov troupe, with Vladimir and his brother Yury as the main catchers, and Maksim Dobrovitsky and [[Regina Dobrovitskaya]] as the principal flyers, debuted at Moscow’s [[Bolshoi Circus]] in July 1988. Both of the troupe's acts were technically and artistically outstanding, and they soon embarked on a prosperous international career, touring with various units of the [[Moscow Circus]]. They also appeared in Sweden with [[Cirkus Scott]] and in Germany with [[Franzi Althoff]]. The flying act evolved over the years; at its height (so to speak), it incorporated three catchers and four flyers.

The Egorovs’ flying act made its American debut at the Big Apple Circus in 1992; it would remain with the circus until 1996. In 1995, they performed a simplified version of their Russian Barre act, featuring [[Regina Dobrovitskaya]]. The troupe dissolved the following season. Regina Dobrovitskaya and Vladimir Egorov remained with the Big Apple Circus, Regina as a member of its resident company, Vladimir as coach and Assistant Performance Director.

The Egorov troupe participated in the [[International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo]] in 1999 with their original Russian Barre act, during which Maksim Dobrovitsky became the first acrobat ever to complete a quadruple somersault on the Barre. The troupe was awarded the Journalist Association award and the TV Monte-Carlo award.

In 1995, Vladimir Egorov was made Artist Emeritus of the Russian Federation. He retired from the ring in 2003, settling in the United States. His wife, Nadezhda Petrovna (born Voronina on October 25, 1954) was a competition gymnast before working with the Volzhanski troupe and in the aerial act of Nadezhda Belenko. Nadezhda and Vladimir have two daughters, Elena and Svetlana, who have left the circus. Elena Egorova performed, for a time, a hula-hoop act.

Yury Egorov returned to Russia in 1996. There, he trained his stepson, [[Sergey Akimov]], who performed a remarkable aerial-straps act that won a Silver Medal at the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris in 2005.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Egorov_Troupe_BAC_1992_Video|The Egorov Troupe, Flying Act]], in the Big Apple Circud production of ''Goin' Places'' (1992)

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Egorov Troupe]][[Category:Flying Acts|Egorov Troupe]][[Category:Acrobats|Egorov Troupe]]

Main Page

2009-01-21T02:49:55Z

Reichorn: Minor change to the "message from the editor"

__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__

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==Featured Performer==

[[Image:Anatoly_Durov.jpg|right|thumb|75px]]

===ANATOLY DUROV===

In Soviet circus lore, Anatoly and Vladimir Durov are often associated with the Bolshevik revolution. As clowns-satirists who took an anarchistic stance against the autocratic tsarist government, they became popular heroes in the waning decades of the Russian Empire. The Soviet regime, always eager to play the populist card, did not hesitate to claim them as its own. ([[Anatoly Durov|more...]])

==Recent Biographies==
*[[Elena Panova]], Aerialist
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==Featured Oral Histories==
*[[Barry Lubin Interview 2008|Barry Lubin]], Clown (Grandma) - Interview (Jando 2008)
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==Featured Essays and Videos==
* Essay: [[Philip Astley]], creator of the modern circus
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==A Message from the Editor==

:''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

Anatoly Durov

2009-01-21T02:47:54Z

Reichorn:

==Clown==

''By Dominique Jando''

[[Image:Anatoly_Durov.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Anatoly Durov]]The Durovs are among Russia’s most prestigious circus dynasties. From the brothers Vladimir and Anatoly Durov, the founders of the circus dynasty, to a host of Anatolys, Vladimirs, Yurys, Natalias, and Terezas, all bearing the Durov name, they have given the Russian circus an impressive number of talented clowns, animal trainers, and entertainment entrepreneurs—and a few actors too.

In Soviet circus lore, Anatoly and Vladimir Durov are often associated with the Bolshevik revolution. As clowns-satirists who took an anarchistic stance against the autocratic tsarist government, they became popular heroes in the waning decades of the Russian Empire. The Soviet regime, always eager to play the populist card, did not hesitate to claim them as its own.

In fact, however, Anatoly Durov—the more virulent of the two brothers—was opposed to any form of authority; it's reasonable to assume, therefore, that, had he lived to see it, he would have rejected the authority of the Soviet regime. As for Vladimir, who became an iconic figure in the Soviet era, he eventually gave up clowning, came to specialize in animal training, and just followed the path of political correctness. For the Durovs, like most popular entertainers of their time, were first and foremost intent on surviving and succeeding, whatever the regime and the circumstances. As a matter of fact, the Durov family's origins clashed with Soviet ideology.

==The Durov Family==

Anatoly Leonidevich Durov was born on November 26, 1864 to a wealthy aristocratic family in Moscow. He was the fifth child and second son of Leonid Dmitrievich Durov (1832-67), a hereditary Lord from the Province of Moscow, who was an officer in the Moscow Police—a job he did more because he wanted to than because he had to. Anatoly’s brother, [[Vladimir Durov|Vladimir Leonidevich]] (1863-1934), was his elder by a year.

The Durov name was well known in Russia; the family had already produced a celebrity. Nadezhda Durova, remembered in Russian history as the ''Cavalry Girl'', was Anatoly’s grandaunt. Dressed as a man, she had enrolled in a cavalry regiment to fight Napoleon’s advance in 1812. She is said to have received a medal from the hand of Field-Marshall Kutuzov, the man who had defeated Napoleon. Celebrated by Pushkin, Nadezhda eventually became a successful writer.

Anatoly Durov had three elder sisters: Margarita (1854-?); Konkordya (1860-?), among whose descendants is Lev Durov, the famous Russian actor; Liudmila (1862-?); and a younger sister, Valentina (1866-1940). Anatoly’s mother, Maria Dmitrievna Durova (1833-66), probably suffered from complications caused by Valentina’s birth: she died soon after, in 1866. Anatoly was only two years old at the time. Devastated, Anatoly’s father began to drink himself to death. He suffered from hallucinations and died a year later, in 1867.

Vladimir and Anatoly were put in the care of their godfather, Nikolai Zakharovich Zakharov, a wealthy and brilliant lawyer and occasional playwright, whose work had been produced successfully at the Maly Theater in Moscow. (He was also an inveterate gambler. He would eventually commit suicide over a gambling debt.) Zakharov sent Vladimir and Anatoly to a military academy. Likely it was at the academy that Anatoly developed his lifelong loathing for all forms of authority.

==Circus Beginnings==

The brothers much preferred circus acrobatics to academic studies and military exercises. This passion eventually led to their being expelled from the academy. Left to their own devices, Vladimir and Anatoly used the money their godfather had given them to hire as their teacher Angelo Briatore, an Italian acrobat from the troupe of [[Carl Magnus Hinné]]. Briatore taught them the basics of acrobatics in the old way: with much whipping. When Zakharov discovered the physical abuse, he got rid of Briatore.

Around 1878, Otto Kleist, a balagan acrobat, taught Vladimir and Anatoly a trapeze act. The following year, the brothers made their performing debut in the balagan of V.A. Weinstok in Tver’, a city north of Moscow. They also worked in the balagan of Rinaldo, a magician, before finally joining the Robinson-Nicolet troupe—a significant step up, given that the troupe worked in circuses. They left Robinson-Nicolet in 1881 after Anatoly had an argument with his employers—the first of many arguments that would plague Anatoly’s career. It was probably because of Anatoly's temperament that the brothers separated.

After leaving Robinson-Nicolet, Anatoly auditioned for the Italian director [[Massimiliano Truzzi Sr|Massimiliano Truzzi]], who had created one of Russia’s most important circus companies and was looking for a solo clown. Lacking any clowning experience, Anatoly improvised on classic material, mostly spoken, and got the job. He made his debut in 1882 with Truzzi, in his circus in Voronezh, a city Anatoly would eventually make his home.

Truzzi’s troupe, which was mostly composed of German performers, used young Anatoly as the butt of their jokes, for which Anatoly showed precious little sense of humor: he would develop a lifelong anti-German sentiment, even though the mother of his children would be a German equestrienne. As was becoming a habit of his, Anatoly left Truzzi over an argument in 1884. He then hassled the great German director Albert Schumann, who was renting Hinné’s old circus in Moscow, to get a job as a clown. His insistence paid off. At last he had reached Moscow—the big time. The talented and tenacious Anatoly was on his way to stardom.

Meanwhile, in 1881, Vladimir found work as an assistant animal trainer in Hugo Winkler’s menagerie, which had settled on Tsvetnoi Boulevard in Moscow. He became an able trainer of small animals, and in 1884, following in his brother’s footsteps, he began to perform as a clown, using trained animals as partners, which greatly irritated Anatoly. From the outset, Anatoly had used a pig and other animals as comedy partners in his act, and they would become a Durov trademark. For the rest of his life, Anatoly would consider his brother a thief and competitor; the relationship between them rapidly deteriorated.

==Anatoly vs. Vladimir==

The brothers' success as a clown-satirist came from the fact that, unlike other clowns in Russia, who were mostly Italian or French, or came from the unrefined balagans, he could express himself in crisp, articulate Russian. He also had an intensely Russian sense of humor, and he could easily convey his wit in a manner other clowns couldn’t match. Anatoly used a direct, in-your-face, occasionally insulting brand of humor, without fear of the consequences. As a result, he would often have serious problems with local authorities—and not only in Russia.

Over the years, Anatoly also developed an extravagant off-stage persona: he traveled with an entourage that consisted of his wife (or "legitimate mistress," for he never married his companions, Tereza Stadtler and, later, Elena Gertel), his mistress of the moment, and a pair of twin menservants who were always tall and exotic—Asian, Indian, or African—and who changed every year. When, at the peak of his fame, Anatoly paraded into a new town with his retinue, the local circuses couldn’t hope for a more effective publicity stunt.

In the ring, Anatoly’s clown character evolved over the years from a classic clown—one not very different, physically, from other clowns of his time—to what would eventually become the Durov image: a traditional whiteface clown costume, with sequin ornaments, a white collerette and a small shoulder cape, and practically no makeup. He would enter the ring with great ceremony, walking around and acknowledging his audience, and then he would launch into a monologue, after which he would play up the attitudes of his animals. Vladimir would adopt a very similar style.

When, around 1884, their godfather saw the brothers perform, he suggested they resume their education—which Vladimir did: he graduated from a teachers’ college and audited the classes of neurophysiologist I.M. Sechenov, "the father of Russian physiology," who, with I.P. Pavlov, studied animal reflexes. In 1887, Vladimir returned to the circus, however, and made his debut as a full-fledged clown-satirist and animal trainer at [[The Circuses of Moscow|Circus Salamonsky]] in Moscow, Russia’s second most prestigious circus, after St. Petersburg’s [[The Circuses of St. Petersburg|Circus Ciniselli]].

Vladimir, wittier and more creative than his brother, became in time the more successful of the two; his talent as an animal trainer was also a significant factor in his success. Anatoly's increased use of animals in his act was mostly an attempt to keep pace with his brother, and he was often criticized for promising more than he was capable of delivering: when he was performing at Circus Baranski, for instance, someone complained that instead of the troupe of animals he had advertised, he had “only a couple of rats and a pelican.” Unlike Vladimir, Anatoly used only a handful of animals (pigs, geese, and turkeys were his favorites), and what he did with them remained basic in terms of pure training. He would always be first and foremost a clown.

In 1913, Vladimir and Anatoly performed at the same time in St. Petersburg, Vladimir at A. Marshan’s [[The Circuses of St. Petersburg|Cirque Moderne]], where he had staged Pushkin’s fables, and Anatoly at Circus Ciniselli. Vladimir got better reviews, one of which stated: “The biggest success was Vladimir’s, whose animal training was much better, and jokes were funnier.” This didn’t please Anatoly, whose response showed more spite than wit: since Vladimir was announced as "the Elder Durov," Anatoly asked to be advertised as "the Older Elder Durov."

==In And Out of Russia==

In the ring, Anatoly remained the more caustic of the two brothers. Vladimir’s true calling was animal training, and this would increasingly become his principal activity. But Anatoly’s acerbic jokes against the police, the bureaucrats, the aristocracy—against any kind of established authority—eventually landed him in serious trouble, to the point where he found it wise to leave Russia for a time.

In 1890, Anatoly and his usual menagerie embarked on a successful Western European tour that took them to Austria-Hungary, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France. Durov’s old prejudices came out in Germany, a country that revived memories of his debut at Circus Truzzi and whose authoritarian regime rubbed him the wrong way. At [[Zirkus Renz]], in Berlin, Anatoly played with his usual porcine partner, whom he had named Will for the occasion. According to the clown [[Béby Frediani]], the pig wore a Prussian helmet (''Helm'', in German) in the ring, and tried desperately to get rid of it. In his feinted attempts to keep him in check, Anatoly shouted at his pig, “Will, Helm!” Wilhelm, of course, was the name of the Kaiser. Durov was arrested and not-so-politely asked to leave Berlin immediately.

Back in Russia, Anatoly began gradually to lose his appeal. His critical attitude toward the powers that be was purely negative. He appears to have been, by disposition, a disgruntled man who took pleasure in insulting those who made his life difficult—whether that be the mayor of a city or a simple policeman. But when the political landscape began to shift in ways one would think he would have approved of, he didn’t know what to make of them. He was by no means a revolutionary, just a grouch and a rebel. Anatoly Durov was actually quite conservative in his tastes. When Max Reinhardt presented his spectacular, avant-garde production of ''Oedipus Rex'' in Moscow and St. Petersburg in 1911, Anatoly deemed it decadent. He then went on to perform a heavy-handed parody of Reinhardt’s spectacle: it was a huge flop, and a sign that Durov had lost touch with his public.

==The Final Years==

By the end of his life, Anatoly had become bitter and lonely. Once, for the New Year, he sent a telegram to the management and artists of Circus Ciniselli: “Anatoly Durov congratulates the Director and Artists on this New Year”—an unusual gesture on his part, and a disguised way of reminding them that he was free for the upcoming season and looking for contracts.

The clown Alperov, who performed with Anatoly at Circus Salamonsky at the time, recalled: “When I came to his dressing room, he was sitting on his chair, his head thrown back, not speaking to anyone. It was a shocking sight. Twenty days later, there was a benefit for Durov, and the Box Office was shedding tears. Then someone threw a broom wrapped in newspapers into the ring.” The broom said it all: It was a sad reminder from the audience that it was time for Anatoly Durov to leave the ring. In Moscow at least, Anatoly Durov had become a has-been.

Anatoly died of typhus in Mariupol, Ukraine, during an engagement with the circus of V.Z. Maksimiuk. True to himself until the end, Anatoly had just argued with his director. “Business is good, thank God!” wrote Maksimiuk to a friend. “Anatoly Durov worked in my circus, and I had one hundred and twenty problems with him. Right now Durov is very ill. A few days ago he made a scene and didn’t come to work, and he sent me a medical certificate through an attorney. Then I gave to the same attorney a letter in which I said I would call for a counter-examination. The forfeit sum was 1,000 rubles. Then Durov placed 30 cupping glasses on his back, which only increased his blood tension, and now he is really sick!” Indeed, Anatoly Durov was very sick: he was eventually sent to the hospital, where he died on January 7, 1916.

Of his first union (out of wedlock) with Tereza Stadtler (1866-1934)—a German equestrienne who was the daughter of Johannes Stadtler, owner of the Bavarian Circus—Anatoly had three children: Maria Anatolievna (1891-?), who married the hand-balancer Vasily Vasilievich Milva (1884-1962); [[Anatoly Anatolievich Durov|Anatoly Anatolievich]] (1894-1928), who would be a virulent clown-satirist like his father before becoming an animal trainer; and Evlampiya Anatolievna, who married a pharmacist, Grigory Efimovich Schvenchenko. All three continued the [[Durov dynasty]]. Anatoly had no children with his second pseudo-wife, Elena Gertel (1873-1967), a German show swimmer.

Anatoly Durov was well-educated, an artist and a sculptor in his spare time, an occasional writer, and an art collector. In 1931, his remains were exhumed, incinerated, and his ashes were transferred to his house in Voronezh, which had been transformed into the Durov Museum. The museum still stands today.

==Suggested Reading==

Анатолий Дуров (текстологическая полготовка В. В. Бойкова), ''В жиӡни и на арене'' (Moscow, Искүсство, 1984)

==Image Gallery==

<Gallery>
Image:Anatoly_Durov.jpg|Anatoly Durov (c.1895)
</Gallery>

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Durov, Anatoly]]
[[Category:Clowns|Durov, Anatoly]]