Elsane - Revision history

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‎Epilogue

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‎Epilogue

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‎Epilogue

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‎…To Elsane

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‎…To Elsane

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‎…To Elsane

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‎…To Elsane

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‎…To Elsane

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‎…To Elsane

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‎…To Elsane

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 After an engagement at Paris's Cirque d'Hiver in 1958, the French impresario [[Hubert de Malafosse]] offered her a contract to participate in a show that he was to produce in Algieria, the ''Festival International de Cirque d'Alger'' ("international Circus Festival of Algiers"); it just pretended to be a real festival, and Elsane was supposed to represent the State Circus of Poland&mdash;a sly attempt at stressing the "international" flavor of the event by taking advantage of the fact that the German Else Jaekel was born in what was now Kosokowo in Poland. Then, during a rehearsal, she fell from her trapeze and was badly injured. She was fifty-two years old and, sadly, her circus career was over.
-At a time when insurances and Social Security rarely covered traveling circus performers, Elsane started a lengthy lawsuit to have her misfortune recognized as a workplace accident. Tenacious, she eventually won a disability pension, and retired in Solesmes in the Sarthe department, not far from Le Mans. It was a long, uneventful retirement, although she eventually lost her eyesight. She passed away in Solesmes on April 16, 1997, at age ninety. Her short circus career, followed by her long absence from any sort of public life, resulted in that she is often overseen in circus history books, which it is unfortunate since she was indeed one of the most talented and beautiful trapeze artists of the second half of the Twentieth Century.
+At a time when insurances and Social Security rarely covered traveling circus performers, Elsane started a lengthy lawsuit to have her misfortune recognized as a workplace accident. Tenacious, she eventually won a disability pension, and retired in Solesmes in the French Sarthe department, not far from Le Mans. It was a long, uneventful retirement, although she eventually lost her eyesight. She passed away in Solesmes on April 16, 1997, at age ninety. Her short circus career, followed by her long absence from any sort of public life, resulted in that she is often overseen in circus history books, which it is unfortunate since she was indeed one of the most talented and beautiful trapeze artists of the second half of the Twentieth Century.
 ==Suggested Reading==

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 ===Epilogue===
-After an engagement at Paris's Cirque d'Hiver in 1958, the French impresario [[Hubert de Malafosse]] offered her a contract to participate in a show that he was to produce in Algieria, the ''Festival International de Cirque d'Alger'' ("international Circus Festival of Algiers"); it just pretended to be a real festival, and Elsane was supposed to represent the State Circus of Poland&mdash;a sly attempt at stressing the "international" flavor of the event&mdash;and taking advantage of the fact that the German Else Jaekel was born in what was now Kosokowo in Poland. Then, during a rehearsal, she fell from her trapeze and was badly injured. She was fifty-two years old and, sadly, her circus career was over.
+After an engagement at Paris's Cirque d'Hiver in 1958, the French impresario [[Hubert de Malafosse]] offered her a contract to participate in a show that he was to produce in Algieria, the ''Festival International de Cirque d'Alger'' ("international Circus Festival of Algiers"); it just pretended to be a real festival, and Elsane was supposed to represent the State Circus of Poland&mdash;a sly attempt at stressing the "international" flavor of the event by taking advantage of the fact that the German Else Jaekel was born in what was now Kosokowo in Poland. Then, during a rehearsal, she fell from her trapeze and was badly injured. She was fifty-two years old and, sadly, her circus career was over.
 At a time when insurances and Social Security rarely covered traveling circus performers, Elsane started a lengthy lawsuit to have her misfortune recognized as a workplace accident. Tenacious, she eventually won a disability pension, and retired in Solesmes in the Sarthe department, not far from Le Mans. It was a long, uneventful retirement, although she eventually lost her eyesight. She passed away in Solesmes on April 16, 1997, at age ninety. Her short circus career, followed by her long absence from any sort of public life, resulted in that she is often overseen in circus history books, which it is unfortunate since she was indeed one of the most talented and beautiful trapeze artists of the second half of the Twentieth Century.

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 ===Epilogue===
-After an engagement at Paris's Cirque d'Hiver in 1958, the French impresario [[Hubert de Malafosse]] offered her a contract to participate in a show that he had concocted for Algiers, the ''Festival International de Cirque d'Alger'' ("international Circus Festival of Algiers"); it just pretended to be a real festival, and Elsane was supposed to represent the State Circus of Poland&mdash;a sly attempt at stressing the "international" flavor of the event&mdash;and taking advantage of the fact that the German Else Jaekel was born in what was now Kosokowo in Poland. Then, during a rehearsal, she fell from her trapeze and was badly injured. She was fifty-two years old and, sadly, her circus career was over.
+After an engagement at Paris's Cirque d'Hiver in 1958, the French impresario [[Hubert de Malafosse]] offered her a contract to participate in a show that he was to produce in Algieria, the ''Festival International de Cirque d'Alger'' ("international Circus Festival of Algiers"); it just pretended to be a real festival, and Elsane was supposed to represent the State Circus of Poland&mdash;a sly attempt at stressing the "international" flavor of the event&mdash;and taking advantage of the fact that the German Else Jaekel was born in what was now Kosokowo in Poland. Then, during a rehearsal, she fell from her trapeze and was badly injured. She was fifty-two years old and, sadly, her circus career was over.
 At a time when insurances and Social Security rarely covered traveling circus performers, Elsane started a lengthy lawsuit to have her misfortune recognized as a workplace accident. Tenacious, she eventually won a disability pension, and retired in Solesmes in the Sarthe department, not far from Le Mans. It was a long, uneventful retirement, although she eventually lost her eyesight. She passed away in Solesmes on April 16, 1997, at age ninety. Her short circus career, followed by her long absence from any sort of public life, resulted in that she is often overseen in circus history books, which it is unfortunate since she was indeed one of the most talented and beautiful trapeze artists of the second half of the Twentieth Century.

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 The Malladoli experience was in fact a good circus apprenticeship, which gave her time to finish her act and find her marks. She made her true professional debut the following year (1949), when she toured Spain with The Netherlands' [[Circus Mikkenie]]; at forty-two, she just began a new circus career! From there, she appeared at the prestigious [[Circo Price (Madrid)|Circo Price]] in Madrid, then under the management of [[Juan Carcellé]] (1895-1978), in an all-female production titled ''Circo Femina''. She was already billed as "The most graceful gymnast of all times," and the press called her "The Manolete of the Trapeze," in reference to the amazing elegance of the legendary matador Manolete (Manuel Rodríguez Sánchez, 1917-1947).
-[[File:Elsane_Handstand.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Elsane practicing her famous handstand (c.1956)]]Next, Elsane appeared in another prestigious circus venue, the [[Coliseu dos Recreios]] in Lisbon, Portugal, and then returned to France to tour with the ''Cirque Hippodrome'' that Malladoli had launched with the [[Danglade Family|Danglades]], an old traveling circus family who used to tour in the French provinces. Then, in November 1951, she made the first of several appearances at the legendary [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]] in Paris. Her act was fully developed then: She entered the ring with a large feather fan and a long skirt, with which she climbed up to her trapeze before releasing it. Her work was a mixture of swinging and static trapeze, and included slides to ankle hangs, and bare-heel hangs. But what made her act outstanding was her grace and her elegance, which made her surpass in style all her competitors.
+[[File:Elsane_Handstand.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Elsane practicing her famous handstand (c.1956)]]Next, Elsane appeared in another prestigious circus venue, the [[Coliseu dos Recreios]] in Lisbon, Portugal, and then returned to France to tour with the ''Cirque Hippodrome'' that Malladoli had launched with the [[Danglade Family|Danglades]], an old traveling circus family who used to tour in the French provinces. Then, in November 1951, she made the first of several appearances at the legendary [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]] in Paris. Her act was fully developed then: She entered the ring with a large feather fan and a long skirt, with which she climbed up to her trapeze before releasing it. Her work was a mixture of swinging and static trapeze, and included slides to ankle hangs, and bare-heel hangs. But what made her act outstanding was her grace and her elegance, with which she surpassed in style all her competitors.
 She went on to perform in major circuses in France, Germany, Belgium, and, with the French [[The Zerbini Family|Cirque Zerbini]], in North Africa and Turkey. Crossing the Mediterranean on a ship that took her to the prestigious ''Casino du Liban'' in Beirut, Lebanon, Elsane performed for the captain suspended sixteen meters above the deck between the two masts of the ship. In 1956, billed as "La Elsana", she performed at Paris's [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in a water pantomime, the program of which announced her as ''La Sirène de la Baltique'' ("The Baltic Mermaid": Gdansk is on the Baltic Sea). She ended the season in the annual Christmas production of [[Tom Arnold]]'s [[Circus at Harringay]], the vast London arena in which she performed twice daily twenty meters above the ground without any protection.

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 Under the simple name of Elsane (or Miss Elsane), which she will use during all her circus career, she began by honing her skills in 1948 in the circus of the eccentric "[[Professeur Malladoli]]" (the name was a phonetic French pun that sounds like ''malade au lit'', or "sick in bed"), whose real name was Albert Raphaël (1871-1970), scion of a rich banking family. "Cincinnatus Malladoli" created, alone or in association with genuine circus people, an improbable series of short-lived circuses&mdash;some of which offered programs of remarkable quality. With Malladoli, not only did Elsane do her trapeze act, but she also presented a couple of ponies, and two pigeons that were included in her aerial act! She would return to her friend Malladoli several times during her career.
-The Malladoli experience was in fact a good circus apprenticeship, which gave her time to finish her act and find her marks. She made her true professional debut the following year (1949), when she toured Spain with The Netherlands' [[Circus Mikkenie]]; at forty-two, she just began a new circus career! From there, she appeared at the prestigious [[Circo Price (Madrid)|Circo Price]] in Madrid, then under the management of [[Juan Carcellé]] (1895-1978), in an all-female production titled ''Circo Femina''. She was already billed as "The most graceful gymnast of all times," and the press called her "The Manolete of the Trapeze," in reference to the amazing elegance of the legendary matador Manolete (1917-1947).
+The Malladoli experience was in fact a good circus apprenticeship, which gave her time to finish her act and find her marks. She made her true professional debut the following year (1949), when she toured Spain with The Netherlands' [[Circus Mikkenie]]; at forty-two, she just began a new circus career! From there, she appeared at the prestigious [[Circo Price (Madrid)|Circo Price]] in Madrid, then under the management of [[Juan Carcellé]] (1895-1978), in an all-female production titled ''Circo Femina''. She was already billed as "The most graceful gymnast of all times," and the press called her "The Manolete of the Trapeze," in reference to the amazing elegance of the legendary matador Manolete (Manuel Rodríguez Sánchez, 1917-1947).
 [[File:Elsane_Handstand.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Elsane practicing her famous handstand (c.1956)]]Next, Elsane appeared in another prestigious circus venue, the [[Coliseu dos Recreios]] in Lisbon, Portugal, and then returned to France to tour with the ''Cirque Hippodrome'' that Malladoli had launched with the [[Danglade Family|Danglades]], an old traveling circus family who used to tour in the French provinces. Then, in November 1951, she made the first of several appearances at the legendary [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]] in Paris. Her act was fully developed then: She entered the ring with a large feather fan and a long skirt, with which she climbed up to her trapeze before releasing it. Her work was a mixture of swinging and static trapeze, and included slides to ankle hangs, and bare-heel hangs. But what made her act outstanding was her grace and her elegance, which made her surpass in style all her competitors.

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 [[File:Rainat_Trio.png|thumb|right|300px|Edmond Rainat (left) (c.1900)]]The only existing circus school at the time was in Moscow, in the Soviet Union; in the West, one had to find a gymnasium where retired performers were teaching their specialty. In 1945, she found [[Edmond Rainat]] (1877-1957), the legendary flying trapeze artist who had successfully achieved a triple somersault from bar to bar (instead of bar to catcher), a nearly impossible exploit that has remained extremely rare to this day. Rainat trained aerialists at the "Gymnase" of the ''Cité du Midi''&mdash;a short private alley that opened on the boulevard de Clichy. It was a popular gymnasium among circus performers due to its proximity to the [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]]. Rainat's teaching methods were known to be particularly harsh but so was at the time circus training in general; however, Jacqueline Elsane, who came from ballet and acrobatic dance, was used to hard and rigorous training.
-Under the simple name of Elsane (or Miss Elsane), which she will use during all her circus career, she began by honing her skills in 1948 in the circus of the eccentric "[[Professeur Malladoli]]" (the name was a phonetic French pun that sounds like ''malade au lit'', or "sick in bed"), whose real name was Albert Raphaël (1871-1970), scion of a rich banking family. "Cincinnatus Malladoli" created, alone or in association with genuine circus people, an improbable series of short-lived circuses&mdash;some of which actually offered programs of remarkable quality. With Malladoli, not only did Elsane do her trapeze act, but she also presented a couple of ponies, and two pigeons that were included in her aerial act! She would return to her friend Malladoli several times during her career.
+Under the simple name of Elsane (or Miss Elsane), which she will use during all her circus career, she began by honing her skills in 1948 in the circus of the eccentric "[[Professeur Malladoli]]" (the name was a phonetic French pun that sounds like ''malade au lit'', or "sick in bed"), whose real name was Albert Raphaël (1871-1970), scion of a rich banking family. "Cincinnatus Malladoli" created, alone or in association with genuine circus people, an improbable series of short-lived circuses&mdash;some of which offered programs of remarkable quality. With Malladoli, not only did Elsane do her trapeze act, but she also presented a couple of ponies, and two pigeons that were included in her aerial act! She would return to her friend Malladoli several times during her career.
 The Malladoli experience was in fact a good circus apprenticeship, which gave her time to finish her act and find her marks. She made her true professional debut the following year (1949), when she toured Spain with The Netherlands' [[Circus Mikkenie]]; at forty-two, she just began a new circus career! From there, she appeared at the prestigious [[Circo Price (Madrid)|Circo Price]] in Madrid, then under the management of [[Juan Carcellé]] (1895-1978), in an all-female production titled ''Circo Femina''. She was already billed as "The most graceful gymnast of all times," and the press called her "The Manolete of the Trapeze," in reference to the amazing elegance of the legendary matador Manolete (1917-1947).

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 ===…To Elsane===
-[[File:Rainat_Trio.png|thumb|right|300px|Edmond Rainat (left) (c.1900)]]The only existing circus school at the time was in Moscow, in the Soviet Union; in the West, one had to find a gymnasium where retired performers were teaching their specialty. In 1945, she found [[Edmond Rainat]] (1877-1957), the legendary flying trapeze artist who had successfully achieved a triple somersault from bar to bar (instead of bar to catcher), a nearly impossible exploit that has remained extremely rare to this day. Rainat trained aerialists at the "Gymnase" of the ''Cité du Midi''&mdash;a short private alley that opened on the boulevard de Clichy. It was a popular gymnasium among circus performers due to its proximity to the [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]]. Rainat's teaching methods were known to be particularly harsh but so was at the time circus training in general, and Jacqueline Elsane, who came from ballet and acrobatic dance, was used to hard and rigorous training.
+[[File:Rainat_Trio.png|thumb|right|300px|Edmond Rainat (left) (c.1900)]]The only existing circus school at the time was in Moscow, in the Soviet Union; in the West, one had to find a gymnasium where retired performers were teaching their specialty. In 1945, she found [[Edmond Rainat]] (1877-1957), the legendary flying trapeze artist who had successfully achieved a triple somersault from bar to bar (instead of bar to catcher), a nearly impossible exploit that has remained extremely rare to this day. Rainat trained aerialists at the "Gymnase" of the ''Cité du Midi''&mdash;a short private alley that opened on the boulevard de Clichy. It was a popular gymnasium among circus performers due to its proximity to the [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]]. Rainat's teaching methods were known to be particularly harsh but so was at the time circus training in general; however, Jacqueline Elsane, who came from ballet and acrobatic dance, was used to hard and rigorous training.
 Under the simple name of Elsane (or Miss Elsane), which she will use during all her circus career, she began by honing her skills in 1948 in the circus of the eccentric "[[Professeur Malladoli]]" (the name was a phonetic French pun that sounds like ''malade au lit'', or "sick in bed"), whose real name was Albert Raphaël (1871-1970), scion of a rich banking family. "Cincinnatus Malladoli" created, alone or in association with genuine circus people, an improbable series of short-lived circuses&mdash;some of which actually offered programs of remarkable quality. With Malladoli, not only did Elsane do her trapeze act, but she also presented a couple of ponies, and two pigeons that were included in her aerial act! She would return to her friend Malladoli several times during her career.

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 She went on to perform in major circuses in France, Germany, Belgium, and, with the French [[The Zerbini Family|Cirque Zerbini]], in North Africa and Turkey. Crossing the Mediterranean on a ship that took her to the prestigious ''Casino du Liban'' in Beirut, Lebanon, Elsane performed for the captain suspended sixteen meters above the deck between the two masts of the ship. In 1956, billed as "La Elsana", she performed at Paris's [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in a water pantomime, the program of which announced her as ''La Sirène de la Baltique'' ("The Baltic Mermaid": Gdansk is on the Baltic Sea). She ended the season in the annual Christmas production of [[Tom Arnold]]'s [[Circus at Harringay]], the vast London arena in which she performed twice daily twenty meters above the ground without any protection.
-After a tour in the French West Indies, she went to perform in 1957 with Fritz Mey's [[Circus Sarrasani]], where she presented for the first time her hand-balancing on the trapeze bar, a rare exercise that had been created [[Miss Fillis]] (Aimée Marcoud), and was performed only by [[Maryse Bégary]]. (Aimée's and Maryse's teacher was Nicolas Marcoud, Aimée Marcoud's uncle.) When the show was in Berlin, Elsane, who was then fifty-one, filmed a promotional clip in which she performed with her trapeze hanging from a giant crane, fifty meters in the air! It happens to be Elsane's only known filmed document. She had also created by then a ''corde lisse'' (Spanish web) act that had the same quality of elegance as her trapeze act&mdash;but was certainly less demanding.
+After a tour in the French West Indies, she went to perform in 1957 with Fritz Mey's [[Circus_Sarrasani#FRITZ_MEY.27S_CIRCUS_SARRASANI|Circus Sarrasani]], where she presented for the first time her hand-balancing on the trapeze bar, a rare exercise that had been created [[Miss Fillis]] (Aimée Marcoud), and was performed only by [[Maryse Bégary]]. (Aimée's and Maryse's teacher was Nicolas Marcoud, Aimée Marcoud's uncle.) When the show was in Berlin, Elsane, who was then fifty-one, filmed a promotional clip in which she performed with her trapeze hanging from a giant crane, fifty meters in the air! It happens to be Elsane's only known filmed document. She had also created by then a ''corde lisse'' (Spanish web) act that had the same quality of elegance as her trapeze act&mdash;but was certainly less demanding.
 ===Epilogue===