Baptiste Loisset - Revision history

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‎Image Gallery

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‎Image Gallery

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‎Epilogue

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‎Epilogue

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‎The Cirque de Paris in Russia

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‎The Cirque de Paris in Russia

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‎The Cirque de Paris in Russia

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‎The Cirque de Paris in Russia

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‎The Loisset Circus Company

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‎The Loisset Circus Company

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 File:Cirque_des_Champs-Élysées_stars.jpg|The young Loissets (bottom left) (1837)
 File:Astley's_-_Van_Amburgh.jpg|Loisset featured at Astley's (1838)
 File:Paul_Cuzent_-_Eybl.png|Paul Cuzent (1845)
 File:Renz_Loisset.jpg|Loisset featured at Circus Renz (1854)

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 File:Christoph_de_Bach.jpeg|Christoph De Bach (c.1830)
 File:Baptiste_Loisset.jpg|Baptiste Loisset (c.1830)
 File:Astley's_-_Van_Amburgh.jpg|Loisset featured at Astley's (1838)
 File:Paul_Cuzent_-_Eybl.png|Paul Cuzent (1845)

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 ===Epilogue===
-Baptiste Loisset, who was now fifty, quit the circus business and enjoyed his privileged position at the ''Manege's-Gravenhaagsche Stadsrijschool'' in The Hague, which he would keep until 1857. Then he finally retired to a house the family had acquired Rue de la Station in Maisons-Laffitte, near Paris. (In the twentieth century, the house became the property of the famous French actor, Pierre Brasseur, of ''Children of Paradise'' fame.)
+Baptiste Loisset, who was now fifty, quit the circus business and enjoyed his privileged position at the ''Manege's-Gravenhaagsche Stadsrijschool'' in The Hague, which he would keep until 1857. Then he finally retired to a house the Loisset family had acquired Rue de la Station in Maisons-Laffitte, near Paris. (In the twentieth century, the house became the property of the famous French actor, Pierre Brasseur, of ''Children of Paradise'' fame.)
 Baptiste Loisset passed away eight years later, on February 25, 1865&mdash;just one month after the death of his wife of forty-four years, Hélène. They were buried at the cemetery of Maisons-Laffitte, where, unfortunately the Loisset-Delinsky grave has disappeared in the destruction of the old cemetery in 1890 to make room for Maisons-Laffitte’s new city hall. The present cemetery doesn’t have any marker or memento of the Loisset-Delinsky tomb.

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 ===Epilogue===
-Baptiste Loisset, who was now fifty, quit the circus business and enjoyed his privileged position at the '''s-Gravenhaagsche Stadsrijschool'' in The Hague, which he would keep until 1857. Then he finally retired to a house the family had acquired Rue de la Station in Maisons-Laffitte, near Paris. (In the twentieth century, the house became the property of the famous French actor, Pierre Brasseur, of ''Children of Paradise'' fame.)
+Baptiste Loisset, who was now fifty, quit the circus business and enjoyed his privileged position at the ''Manege's-Gravenhaagsche Stadsrijschool'' in The Hague, which he would keep until 1857. Then he finally retired to a house the family had acquired Rue de la Station in Maisons-Laffitte, near Paris. (In the twentieth century, the house became the property of the famous French actor, Pierre Brasseur, of ''Children of Paradise'' fame.)
 Baptiste Loisset passed away eight years later, on February 25, 1865&mdash;just one month after the death of his wife of forty-four years, Hélène. They were buried at the cemetery of Maisons-Laffitte, where, unfortunately the Loisset-Delinsky grave has disappeared in the destruction of the old cemetery in 1890 to make room for Maisons-Laffitte’s new city hall. The present cemetery doesn’t have any marker or memento of the Loisset-Delinsky tomb.

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 Guerra answered by bringing to St. Petersburg "''La Diva de la Cravache''" ("The Diva of the Whip"), the great Caroline Loyo, and a brilliant Italian horseman who would later write an important chapter of Russian circus history, [[Gaetanno Ciniselli]]&mdash;but to no avail. St. Petersburg was fascinated by its “circus war,” and the Imperial family, including Czar Nikolai I, visited both circuses several times. After three months of an expensive competition, however, Alessandro Guerra threw the towel and returned to Vienna, where he had succeeded Christoph de Bach at the helm of the Circus Gymnasticus.
-The "circus war" gave circus arts in Russia an unprecedented vogue. Czar Nikolai I, well aware of it, decided to put the Circus on the roll of the performing arts supported (and controlled) by the State. These already included Drama, Opera and Ballet. The ''Direction des Théâtres Impériaux'' (Direction of The Imperial Theaters&mdash;French was the language spoken in St. Petersburg, Russian being reserved for the servants)&mdash;acquired St. Petersburg's two circus buildings, leaving Paul Cuzent at the wheel of his, which was pompously renamed ''Cirque de la Direction des Théâtres Impériaux''.
+The "circus war" gave circus arts in Russia an unprecedented vogue. Czar Nikolai I, well aware of it, decided to put the Circus on the roll of the performing arts supported (and controlled) by the State. These already included Drama, Opera and Ballet. The ''Direction des Théâtres Impériaux'' (Direction of The Imperial Theaters&mdash;French was the language spoken in St. Petersburg, Russian being reserved for the servants&mdash;acquired St. Petersburg's two circus buildings, leaving Paul Cuzent at the wheel of his, which was pompously renamed ''Cirque de la Direction des Théâtres Impériaux''.
 In effect, Cuzent was now director of Russia’s first [[Russia's_First_National_Circus|National Circus]], which came replete with a circus school (opened in 1847), and whose original company was that of Loisset, Cuzent and Lejars&mdash;now on the payroll of the Russian Government. Consequently, the Loisset-Cuzent-Lejars partnership was dissolved, and Baptiste Loisset returned to his riding academy at The Hague. Jean Lejars also returned to Europe where he died, in Vienna, in 1848. (Paul Cuzent would preside over the destinies of a brand-new ''Cirque Impérial'', built in 1849 where the Mariinskiy Theatre stands today, and would finally leave St. Petersburg in 1850.)

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 The Court and the aristocracy had fervently patronized Guerra’s Cirque Olympique, but their enthusiasm now shifted toward the Cirque de Paris, which was, in their opinion, more refined and elegant and, to many, offered the most beautiful and talented equestriennes, especially Pauline Cuzent and the ravishing Antoinette Lejars, whom the Russian aristocrats quickly showered with their usual largesse.
-Guerra answered by bringing to St. Petersburg "''La Diva de la Cravache''" ("The Diva of the Whip"), the great Caroline Loyo, and a brilliant Italian horseman who would later write an important chapter of Russian circus history, [[Gaetanno Ciniselli]]&mdash;but to no avail. St. Petersburg was fascinated by this “circus war,” and the Imperial family, including Czar Nikolai I, visited both circuses several times. After three months of an expensive competition, however, Alessandro Guerra threw the towel and returned to Vienna, where he had succeeded Christoph de Bach at the helm of the Circus Gymnasticus.
+Guerra answered by bringing to St. Petersburg "''La Diva de la Cravache''" ("The Diva of the Whip"), the great Caroline Loyo, and a brilliant Italian horseman who would later write an important chapter of Russian circus history, [[Gaetanno Ciniselli]]&mdash;but to no avail. St. Petersburg was fascinated by its “circus war,” and the Imperial family, including Czar Nikolai I, visited both circuses several times. After three months of an expensive competition, however, Alessandro Guerra threw the towel and returned to Vienna, where he had succeeded Christoph de Bach at the helm of the Circus Gymnasticus.
 The "circus war" gave circus arts in Russia an unprecedented vogue. Czar Nikolai I, well aware of it, decided to put the Circus on the roll of the performing arts supported (and controlled) by the State. These already included Drama, Opera and Ballet. The ''Direction des Théâtres Impériaux'' (Direction of The Imperial Theaters&mdash;French was the language spoken in St. Petersburg, Russian being reserved for the servants)&mdash;acquired St. Petersburg's two circus buildings, leaving Paul Cuzent at the wheel of his, which was pompously renamed ''Cirque de la Direction des Théâtres Impériaux''.

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 ===The Cirque de Paris in Russia===
-After Berlin, the Cirque de Paris traveled to St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, and, on October 8, 1846, opened its doors in a wooden construction built near the prestigious Alexandrinsky Theatre, off the Perspective Nevskiy. It found itself in a fierce competition with [[Alessandro Guerra]]’s ''Cirque Olympique'', which had arrived in St. Petersburg the previous year, in November 1845. There, Guerra’s troupe met with considerable success&mdash;which undoubtedly had attracted the Cuzent-Lejarses to the imperial capital.
+After Berlin, the Cirque de Paris traveled to St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, and, on October 8, 1846, opened its doors in a wooden construction built near the prestigious Alexandrinsky Theatre, off the Perspective Nevsky. It found itself in a fierce competition with [[Alessandro Guerra]]’s ''Cirque Olympique'', which had arrived in St. Petersburg the previous year, in November 1845. There, Guerra’s troupe met with considerable success&mdash;which undoubtedly had attracted the Cuzent-Lejarses to the imperial capital.
 The Court and the aristocracy had fervently patronized Guerra’s Cirque Olympique, but their enthusiasm now shifted toward the Cirque de Paris, which was, in their opinion, more refined and elegant and, to many, offered the most beautiful and talented equestriennes, especially Pauline Cuzent and the ravishing Antoinette Lejars, whom the Russian aristocrats quickly showered with their usual largesse.

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 Paul Cuzent was one of Europe's premier horsemen. A consummate circus man, he was a good acrobat, an excellent director, and an able musician; he composed most of the tunes that accompanied his family's acts, and sometimes conducted the orchestra himself. The new company included Cuzent’s very talented sisters, [[Antoinette Lejars|Antoinette]] (who had married Jean Lejars), Armantine and [[Pauline Cuzent|Pauline]]. The presence of Cuzent and his sisters (notably Antoinette and Pauline) was enough to guarantee the success of any show in which they appeared.
-Baptiste Loisset, who was forty-seven, was a non-performing partner in the new concern, which became known in the business as the Cuzent-Lejars troupe, though its official name was ''Cirque de Paris''. It made a triumphal debut at Prague in the Czecho-Slovakian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and then moved to Berlin, where it performed from December 21, 1845 to April 23, 1946 in a wooden construction erected on the Döhnoffplatz.
+Baptiste Loisset, who was forty-seven, was a non-performing partner in the new concern, which became known in the business as the Cuzent-Lejars troupe, though its official name was ''Cirque de Paris''. It made a triumphal debut at Prague in the Czecho-Slovakian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and then moved to Berlin, where it performed from December 21, 1845, to April 23, 1946, in a wooden construction erected on the Döhnoffplatz.
 ===The Cirque de Paris in Russia===

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 In 1824, the year of Baptiste’s marriage with Virginie, Louis Delinsky retired and sold his business. Jacques Tourniaire went his own way with his company and toured extensively with great success all over Europe; in 1837, he introduced the circus to Imperial Russia. As for Baptiste Loisset, he created his own company, which quickly acquired a great reputation for the quality and elegance of its performances&mdash;which reflected indeed Baptiste Loisset’s refined personality.
-Loisset toured mostly in the German states and Scandinavia, and of course in The Netherlands, where his company was based. (His troupe often performed in Germany under the banner of ''Königlich Niederländischen Zirkus''&mdash;"Royal Circus of The Netherlands.") The Cirque Loisset was known for the quality of its performers, notably his equestrians and equestriennes, who were often among the greatest names in the business. Loisset’s company appeared in Berlin in 1826 and 1831 at the Brandenburg Gate Circus.
+Loisset toured mostly in the German states and Scandinavia, and of course in The Netherlands, where his company was based. (His troupe often performed in Germany under the banner of ''Königlich Niederländischen Zirkus''&mdash;"Royal Circus of The Netherlands.") The Cirque Loisset was known for the quality of its performers, notably its equestrians and equestriennes, who were often among the greatest names in the business. Loisset’s company appeared in Berlin in 1826 and 1831 at the Brandenburg Gate Circus.
 At some point in the 1830s, Baptiste Loisset was named director of the Riding School of Utrecht, a position he held until 1838, when King Willem I gave him the position of director of the '''s-Gravenhaagsche Stadsrijschool'', La Haye’s Riding Academy. (The manège, on Kazemstraat, is still extent.) These responsibilities were added to the management of his company, which made him a very busy man since his sons François and Baptiste, Jr. were still too young to assist him.