Nadia Houcke - Revision history

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-Nadia Houcke (1925-2011) was heiress to two of France’s most celebrated and respected circus families: Her father was the legendary equestrian and circus director [[Jean Houcke]] (1878-1973), and her mother was born Marcelle Rancy&mdash;the granddaughter of the famous circus dynasty’s founder, [[Théodore Rancy]] (1818-1892), and daughter of equestrian and circus director, [[Alphonse Rancy]] (1861-1933). She belonged to genuine circus aristocracy and, not surprisingly, she was an equestrienne of great talent.
+Nadia Houcke (1925-2011) was heiress to two of France’s most celebrated and respected circus dynasties: Her father was the legendary equestrian and circus director [[Jean Houcke]] (1878-1973), and her mother was born Marcelle Rancy&mdash;the granddaughter of the famous circus dynasty’s founder, [[Théodore Rancy]] (1818-1892), and daughter of equestrian and circus director, [[Alphonse Rancy]] (1861-1933). Nadia belonged to genuine circus aristocracy and, not surprisingly, she was an equestrienne of great talent.
-Born December 7, 1925, Nadia was the youngest of Jean and Marcelle Houcke’s remarkable children: Huguette (1915-1982), Maurice (1917-2002), Gilbert (1918-1984), and Sacha (1923-1994), who were all prominent equestrians. Both [[Maurice Houcke|Maurice]] and [[Sacha Houcke]] were long associated with such circuses as [[Circus Krone|Krone]] in Germany and [[The Knie Dynasty|Knie]] in Switzerland, and although he was himself an excellent equestrian, [[Gilbert Houcke]] eventually turned into a unforgettable tiger trainer&mdash;and a major circus star when he became the first "Tarzan" of the big cage in the 1940s, wearing only leopard-skin briefs.
+Born December 7, 1925, Nadia was the youngest of Jean and Marcelle Houcke’s remarkable children: Huguette (1915-1982), Maurice (1917-2002), Gilbert (1918-1984), and Sacha (1923-1994), who were all prominent equestrians. Both [[Maurice Houcke|Maurice]] and [[Sacha Houcke]] were long associated with circuses such as [[Circus Krone|Krone]] in Germany and [[The Knie Dynasty|Knie]] in Switzerland, and although he was himself an excellent equestrian, [[Gilbert Houcke]] eventually turned into a legendary tiger trainer&mdash;and a major circus star when he became the first "Tarzan" of the big cage in the 1940s, wearing only leopard-skin briefs.
 ===A Brilliant Circus Career===
-Nadia Houcke made her debut as a high school rider at an early age (she was billed as the "youngest high school rider" of her time) in her father's circus, then based at the [[Cirque Jules Verne|Municipal Circus of Amiens]] (today the Cirque Jules Verne) in the North of France. She later embarked in an international career as a high school rider, appearing in some of Europe’s leading circuses, including the [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]] and the [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, and three seasons with [[Circus Mullens]] in Holland.
+Nadia Houcke made her debut as a high school rider at an early age (she was billed as the "youngest high school rider" of her time) in her father's circus, then based at the [[Cirque Jules Verne|Municipal Circus of Amiens]] (today the Cirque Jules Verne) in the North of France. She later embarked into an international career as a high-school rider, appearing in some of Europe’s leading circuses, including the [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]] and the [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, and three seasons with [[Circus Mullens]] in Holland.
-In 1954, she was signed by [[John Ringling North]] to be featured in the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey]] show, where she remained until 1956&mdash;the last season under canvas of ''The greatest Show On Earth''. There, she worked along two of the greatest high school riders of the time, [[Roberto de Vasconcellos]] and [[Arthur Könyöt]].
+In 1954, she was signed by [[John Ringling North]] to be featured in the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey]] show, where she remained until 1956&mdash''The greatest Show On Earth'''s last season under canvas. There, she worked along two of the greatest high-school riders of the time, [[Roberto de Vasconcellos]] and [[Arthur Könyöt]].
-Upon her return to Europe, Nadia Houcke was contracted by [[Cyril Mills]] and performed as a high school rider for the [[Bertram Mills Circus]]’s Olympia Season in London (where her father had been Artistic Director, from 1920 to 1923) and then toured with the Mills tenting show, presenting their liberty and other equestrian acts until 1963&mdash;at the end of which season the Mills brothers ended their touring show. Her last assignment for Mills was at the [[Belle Vue Circus]] in 1963-64, where she presented Mills’s liberty horses and a novelty act with ponies pulling sulkies.
+Upon her return to Europe, Nadia Houcke was contracted by [[Cyril Mills]] and performed as a high-school rider for the [[Bertram Mills Circus]]’s Olympia Season in London (where her father had been Artistic Director, from 1920 to 1923). She subsequently toured with the Mills tenting show, presenting their liberty and other equestrian acts until 1963&mdash;at the end of which season the Mills brothers ended their touring show. Her last assignment for Mills was at the [[Belle Vue Circus]] in 1963-64, where she presented Mills’s liberty horses and a novelty act with ponies pulling sulkies.
-Nadia Houcke spent her last season as a circus equestrienne the following year, with the celebrated [[Boswell-Wilkie Circus]] in South Africa. Back to Europe, she retired and settled in England with her husband, Geoff Morris, a former saxophonist in the Bertram Mills Circus orchestra. Nadia Houcke passed away in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, on September 5, 2011, at age eighty-six.
+The following year, Nadia Houcke spent her last season as a circus equestrienne  with the celebrated [[Boswell-Wilkie Circus]] in South Africa. Back to Europe, she retired and settled in England with her husband, Geoff Morris, a former saxophonist in the Bertram Mills Circus orchestra. Nadia Houcke passed away in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, on September 5, 2011, at age eighty-six.
 ==See Also==

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 File:Nadia_Houcke_High_School.jpeg|Nadia Houcke (c.1960)
 File:Nadia_Houcke_at_Bertram_Mills_Circus.jpeg|Nadia Houcke at Bertram Mills Circus (1962)
 </Gallery>
 [[Category:Artists and Acts|Houcke, Nadia]][[Category:Equestrians|Houcke, Nadia]]

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 <Gallery>
 File:Jean_Houcke_family.jpeg|The Houcke Family: Nadia is on her mother's lap (1926)
 File:Nadia_Houcke.jpeg|Nadia Houcke (c.1960)
 File:Nadia_Houcke_High_School.jpeg|Nadia Houcke (c.1960)

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 ''By Dominique Jando''
 Nadia Houcke (1925-2011) was heiress to two of France’s most celebrated and respected circus families: Her father was the legendary equestrian and circus director [[Jean Houcke]] (1878-1973), and her mother was born Marcelle Rancy&mdash;the granddaughter of the famous circus dynasty’s founder, [[Théodore Rancy]] (1818-1892), and daughter of equestrian and circus director, [[Alphonse Rancy]] (1861-1933). She belonged to genuine circus aristocracy and, not surprisingly, she was an equestrienne of great talent.
 Born December 7, 1925, Nadia was the youngest of Jean and Marcelle Houcke’s remarkable children: Huguette (1915-1982), Maurice (1917-2002), Gilbert (1918-1984), and Sacha (1923-1994), who were all prominent equestrians. Both [[Maurice Houcke|Maurice]] and [[Sacha Houcke]] were long associated with such circuses as [[Circus Krone|Krone]] in Germany and [[The Knie Dynasty|Knie]] in Switzerland, and although he was himself an excellent equestrian, [[Gilbert Houcke]] eventually turned into a unforgettable tiger trainer&mdash;and a major circus star when he became the first "Tarzan" of the big cage in the 1940s, wearing only leopard-skin briefs.
 Nadia Houcke made her debut as a high school rider at an early age (she was billed as the "youngest high school rider" of her time) in her father's circus, then based at the [[Cirque Jules Verne|Municipal Circus of Amiens]] (today the Cirque Jules Verne) in the North of France. She later embarked in an international career as a high school rider, appearing in some of Europe’s leading circuses, including the [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]] and the [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, and three seasons with [[Circus Mullens]] in Holland.

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 <Gallery>
 File:Nadia_Houcke.jpeg|Nadia Houcke (c.1960)
 File:Nadia_Houcke_High_School.jpeg|Nadia Houcke (c.1960)

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:30, 8 June 2019
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	Nadia Houcke spent her last season as a circus equestrienne the following year, with the celebrated [[Boswell-Wilkie Circus]] in South Africa. Back to Europe, she retired and settled in England with her husband, Geoff Morris, a former saxophonist in the Bertram Mills Circus orchestra. Nadia Houcke passed away in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, on September 5, 2011, at age eighty-six.		Nadia Houcke spent her last season as a circus equestrienne the following year, with the celebrated [[Boswell-Wilkie Circus]] in South Africa. Back to Europe, she retired and settled in England with her husband, Geoff Morris, a former saxophonist in the Bertram Mills Circus orchestra. Nadia Houcke passed away in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, on September 5, 2011, at age eighty-six.
		+
		+	==See Also==
		+
		+	* History: [[The Houcke Dynasty]]

	==Image Gallery==		==Image Gallery==

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 Born December 7, 1925, Nadia was the youngest of Jean and Marcelle Houcke’s remarkable children: Huguette (1915-1982), Maurice (1917-2002), Gilbert (1918-1984), and Sacha (1923-1994), who were all prominent equestrians. Both [[Maurice Houcke|Maurice]] and [[Sacha Houcke]] were long associated with such circuses as [[Circus Krone|Krone]] in Germany and [[The Knie Dynasty|Knie]] in Switzerland, and although he was himself an excellent equestrian, [[Gilbert Houcke]] eventually turned into a unforgettable tiger trainer&mdash;and a major circus star when he became the first "Tarzan" of the big cage in the 1940s, wearing only leopard-skin briefs.
-Nadia Houcke made her debut as a high school rider at an early age (she was billed as the "youngest high school rider" of her time) in her father's circus, then based at the [[Cirque Jules Verne|Municipal Circus of Amiens]] (today the Cirque Jules Verne) in the North of France. She later embarked in an international career as a high school rider, appearing in some of Europe’s leading circuses, including the [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]] and the [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, and three seasons with [[Circus Mullens]] in Holland. In 1954, she was signed by [[John Ringling North]] to be featured in the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey]] show, where she remained until 1956&mdash;the last season under canvas of ''The greatest Show On Earth''. There, she worked along two of the greatest high school riders of the time, [[Roberto de Vasconcellos]] and [[Arthur Könyöt]].
+Nadia Houcke made her debut as a high school rider at an early age (she was billed as the "youngest high school rider" of her time) in her father's circus, then based at the [[Cirque Jules Verne|Municipal Circus of Amiens]] (today the Cirque Jules Verne) in the North of France. She later embarked in an international career as a high school rider, appearing in some of Europe’s leading circuses, including the [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]] and the [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, and three seasons with [[Circus Mullens]] in Holland.
 Upon her return to Europe, Nadia Houcke was contracted by [[Cyril Mills]] and performed as a high school rider for the [[Bertram Mills Circus]]’s Olympia Season in London (where her father had been Artistic Director, from 1920 to 1923) and then toured with the Mills tenting show, presenting their liberty and other equestrian acts until 1963&mdash;at the end of which season the Mills brothers ceased the activities of their tenting show. Her last assignment for Mills was at the [[Belle Vue Circus]] in 1963-64, where she presented Mills’s liberty horses and a novelty act with ponies pulling sulkies.

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 ''By Dominique Jando''
-Nadia Houcke (1926-2011) was heir to two of France’s most celebrated and respected circus families: Her father was the legendary equestrian and circus director [[Jean Houcke]] (1878-1973), and her mother was born Marcelle Rancy&mdash;the granddaughter of the famous circus dynasty’s founder, [[Théodore Rancy]] (1818-1892), and daughter of equestrian and circus director, [[Alphonse Rancy]] (1861-1933). Nadia Houcke was a true circus aristocrat and, not surprisingly, an equestrienne of great talent.
+Nadia Houcke (1926-2011) was heiress to two of France’s most celebrated and respected circus families: Her father was the legendary equestrian and circus director [[Jean Houcke]] (1878-1973), and her mother was born Marcelle Rancy&mdash;the granddaughter of the famous circus dynasty’s founder, [[Théodore Rancy]] (1818-1892), and daughter of equestrian and circus director, [[Alphonse Rancy]] (1861-1933). She belonged to genuine circus aristocracy and, not surprisingly, she was an equestrienne of great talent.
-Born on December 7, 1925, Nadia was the youngest of Jean and Marcelle Houcke’s remarkable children: Huguette (1915-1982), Maurice (1917-2002), Gilbert (1918-1984), and Sacha (1923-1994), who were all prominent equestrians. Both [[Maurice Houcke|Maurice]] and [[Sacha Houcke]] were long associated with such circuses as [[Circus Krone|Krone]], in Germany, and [[The Knie Dynasty|Knie]], in Switzerland, and although he was himself an excellent equestrian, [[Gilbert Houcke]] eventually turned into a unforgettable tiger trainer, and a major circus star when he became the first "Tarzan" of the big cage in the 1940s, wearing only leopard-skin briefs.
+Born December 7, 1925, Nadia was the youngest of Jean and Marcelle Houcke’s remarkable children: Huguette (1915-1982), Maurice (1917-2002), Gilbert (1918-1984), and Sacha (1923-1994), who were all prominent equestrians. Both [[Maurice Houcke|Maurice]] and [[Sacha Houcke]] were long associated with such circuses as [[Circus Krone|Krone]] in Germany and [[The Knie Dynasty|Knie]] in Switzerland, and although he was himself an excellent equestrian, [[Gilbert Houcke]] eventually turned into a unforgettable tiger trainer&mdash;and a major circus star when he became the first "Tarzan" of the big cage in the 1940s, wearing only leopard-skin briefs.
-Nadia Houcke made her debut as a high school rider at an early age (she was billed as the "youngest high school rider" of her time) in her father's circus, then based at the Municipal Circus of [[Cirque Jules Verne|Amiens]], in the North of France. She later embarked in an international career as a high school rider, appearing in some of Europe’s leading circuses, including the [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]] and the [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, and three seasons with [[Circus Mullens]] in Holland. In 1954, she was signed by [[John Ringling North]] to be featured in the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey]] show, with which she remained until 1956&mdash;the last season under canvas of ''The greatest Show On Earth''. There, she worked along two of the greatest high school riders of the time, [[Roberto de Vasconcellos]] and [[Arthur Könyöt]].
+Nadia Houcke made her debut as a high school rider at an early age (she was billed as the "youngest high school rider" of her time) in her father's circus, then based at the [[Cirque Jules Verne|Municipal Circus of Amiens]] (today the Cirque Jules Verne) in the North of France. She later embarked in an international career as a high school rider, appearing in some of Europe’s leading circuses, including the [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]] and the [[Cirque d'Hiver]] in Paris, and three seasons with [[Circus Mullens]] in Holland. In 1954, she was signed by [[John Ringling North]] to be featured in the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey]] show, where she remained until 1956&mdash;the last season under canvas of ''The greatest Show On Earth''. There, she worked along two of the greatest high school riders of the time, [[Roberto de Vasconcellos]] and [[Arthur Könyöt]].
-Upon her return to Europe, Nadia Houcke was hired by [[Cyril Mills]], and performed as a high school rider for the [[Bertram Mills Circus]]’s Olympia Season in London (where her father had been Artistic Director, from 1920 to 1923) and then toured with the Mills tenting show, presenting their liberty and other equestrian acts until 1963&mdash;at the end of which season the Mills brothers ceased the activities of their touring show. Her last assignment for Mills was at the [[Belle Vue Circus]] in 1963-64, where she presented Mills’s liberty horses and a novelty act with ponies pulling sulkies.
+Upon her return to Europe, Nadia Houcke was contracted by [[Cyril Mills]] and performed as a high school rider for the [[Bertram Mills Circus]]’s Olympia Season in London (where her father had been Artistic Director, from 1920 to 1923) and then toured with the Mills tenting show, presenting their liberty and other equestrian acts until 1963&mdash;at the end of which season the Mills brothers ceased the activities of their tenting show. Her last assignment for Mills was at the [[Belle Vue Circus]] in 1963-64, where she presented Mills’s liberty horses and a novelty act with ponies pulling sulkies.
 Nadia Houcke spent her last season as a circus equestrienne the following year, with the celebrated [[Boswell-Wilkie Circus]] in South Africa. Back to Europe, she retired and settled in England with her husband, Geoff Morris, a former saxophonist in the Bertram Mills Circus orchestra. Nadia Houcke passed away in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, on September 5, 2011, at age eighty-six.