Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

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<br><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Bienvenida! ✫ Benvenuto! ✫ 歡迎 ! ✫ Vítejte! ✫ Καλώς ήρθατ
 
<br><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Bienvenida! ✫ Benvenuto! ✫ 歡迎 ! ✫ Vítejte! ✫ Καλώς ήρθατ
 
ε!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Üdvözöljük! ✫ Добре Дошли! ✫ Welkom! ✫ Ласкаво Просимо!</div><div style="font-size:165%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Velkommen! ✫ Tervetuloa! ✫ Дабро Запрашаем! ✫ Välkommen!</div><br/>
 
ε!</div><div style="font-size:175%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Üdvözöljük! ✫ Добре Дошли! ✫ Welkom! ✫ Ласкаво Просимо!</div><div style="font-size:165%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Velkommen! ✫ Tervetuloa! ✫ Дабро Запрашаем! ✫ Välkommen!</div><br/>
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<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:98%;"> ''Circopedia is an independent educational website, originally created as a project of the non-profit [[Big Apple Circus]]''.</div><br/>
+
<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:98%;"> ''Circopedia is an independent educational website, initially created as a project of the original, non-profit [[Big Apple Circus]]''.</div><br/>
  
 
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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
  
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===WALTER NONES===
+
===THE INDIAN CIRCUS===
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[[File:Walter_Nones.jpeg|right|400px]]
+
[[File:Rambo_Circus_Poster_(2014).jpg|right|320px]]
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Even though he was not born in the circus, Walter Nones (1934-2016) was, in Italy, a reformer of the classic circus form, one of the few circus visionaries who have marked the second half of the 20th century (from Arturo Castilla to Jean Richard and Gerry Cottle) and built true circus empires in their own countries equating in strength the circus empires of yore.
+
The circus tradition in India dates back to the late nineteenth century—although India has of course a much more ancient tradition of traveling entertainers, comparable and parallel to those of Asia and Europe, and who often cross-pollinated with them. But the first Indian circus, according to the definition of the art form created by Philip Astley in 1770, didn’t appear until 1880.
  
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Walter Nones was also a remarkable acrobat and a superb animal trainer; he had an engaging personality—as much when ha addressed his audience as when, away from the spotlight, he acted as the "general" of his enterprises, or in his dealing with the media and the Italian administration. Endowed with a solid intuition and a rare ability for taking calculated risks, he was able to change directions and diversify his company many times; his constant imperative was novelty, for which he was faithful to the style and methods of the great Italian variety entrepreneurs.
+
Its creator was Vishnupant Chatre, a riding master who doubled as a singing teacher. Chatre was born in the village of Ankakhop (now part of the city of Sangli), in the province of Maharashtra, southeast of Bombay (the present Mumbai). Chatre was in charge of the stables of the Rajah of Kurduwadi, where he occasionally performed "feats of horsemanship"—in the tradition of old English riding masters such as Philip Astley.
  
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Walter Nones was able to build with his wife, Moira Orfei, a legend that went well beyond their circus—a circus that was certainly unique in the fact that it traveled constantly for fifty-five years without ever taking a true break! Nones was among the Italian pioneers of the internationalization of show business and, as such, he even became instrumental in the establishment of new relations between the former USSR and the Vatican.
+
As legend has it, Chatre and the Rajah went to see a performance of the Royal Italian Circus of Giuseppe Chiarini in Bombay. The peripatetic Italian director (whose company was generally based in North America) was on one of its many world tours, and visited Bombay for the first time in 1774. Chiarini was a remarkable equestrian, and Chatre was duly impressed by his performance, and also by his show. During a conversation with Chatre and the Rajah, Chiarini bluntly stated that India was not ready to have a circus of its own, and that it would take at least ten years before it could happen; Chatre was piqued.
  
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Walter Nones was born in Trent, capital of the Trentino province in northern Italy, on June 18, 1934, the oldest of the four children of Giuseppe Nones and his wife, Adele, née Medini, a circus artist. Giuseppe was a cabinet maker; he spent his life between his workshop and the gym, following in that an old Trent tradition: A great number of its citizen had developed over the years a passion for gymnastics. With three of his gymnast friends, he had gone to perform as an acrobat in Bernardo Medini’s circus, where he met Adele, the seventh of the fourteen children that Medini had with his wife, Adalgisa Caroli. They fell in love and got married…
+
Thus Vishnupant Chatre decided to organize his own circus, of which he would be the star equestrian, and his wife would become a trapeze artist and an animal trainer. He probably used some of his pupils in the equestrian department as well. The first performance of Chatre’s Great Indian Circus was held on March 20, 1880 in the presence of a selected audience—among which was the Rajah of Kurduwadi, who may have helped him in starting his venture.
  
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At the outbreak of World War II, however, Giuseppe Nones stopped his circus escapades and returned to his workshop and a stable and more secure occupation. Walter, his brother Guglielmo, and his sister Loredana, were sent to study in a Salesian college. Sharing their father's passion for acrobatics, the siblings began to perform in school shows and took lessons from a well-known acrobat, Bruno Marcantoni, who had performed in the United States with the Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1910.... ([[Walter Nones|more...]])
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Following the model of Chiarini, Chatre’s Great Indian Circus went on to travel extensively, first in the vast regions of North India, then further south, to the large east-coast city of Madras (today’s Chennai), and down to the Island of Ceylon (today’s Sri Lanka). In 1884, Chatre embarked in a tour of Southeast Asia, and, according to Indian circus lore, he then crossed the ocean to conquer the United States. But here, Chatre had badly overestimated his powers: He was indeed unable to measure up to the giant American circuses, neither in size nor in quality, and he returned to India in defeat. However, no record is known of Chatre's performing in the United States.
... ([[The Indian Circus|more...]])
  
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
  
 +
* [[Richiardi Jr.]], magician
 +
* [[Astley's Amphitheatre]], circus
 +
* [[Virginie Kenebel]], equestrienne
 +
* [[Chongqing_Acrobatic_Troupe|Chongqing Acrobatic Troupe]], History
 
* [[Cirkus_Verdensteater_(Oslo)|Cirkus Verdensteater]], Oslo Circus Building
 
* [[Cirkus_Verdensteater_(Oslo)|Cirkus Verdensteater]], Oslo Circus Building
−
* [[Eddie Murillo]], Circus Agent and Producer
 
−
* [[The Biasini Family]], Circus Owners, Artists
 
−
* [[Paul Jerome]], Clown
 
−
* [[Evelyn and André]], Aerialists, Acrobats
 
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
−
* [[Holzmair_Video_(1976)|Wolfgang Holzmair]], lion act (1976)
+
* [[Madagascar_Video_(2025)|Massimiliano Martini]], mixed animals act (2025)
−
* [[Lu_Mingyue_Video_(2025)|Lu Mingyue]], foot juggling (2025)
+
* [[Burger_Sisters_Video_(1980)|The Burger Sisters]], trapeze act (1980)
−
* [[Rudi-Llata_Video_(1956)|The Rudi-Llatas]], clown entrée (1956)
+
* [[Bellei_Video_(1975)|Bellei Troupe]], acrobats on camels (1975)
−
* [[Steve_Bor_Video_(1985)|Steve Bor]], juggler (1985)
+
* [[Rudat_Video_(1974)|Helmut & Irmgard Rudat]], liberty act (1974)
−
* [[Casartelli_Elephants_Video_(1997)|Eros Casartelli]], elephant act (1997)
+
* [[Florees_Video_(2024)|Sarah Florees]], aerial chandelier (2024)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==

Latest revision as of 20:45, 4 January 2026


Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!
Bienvenida! ✫ Benvenuto! ✫ 歡迎 ! ✫ Vítejte! ✫ Καλώς ήρθατ ε!
Üdvözöljük! ✫ Добре Дошли! ✫ Welkom! ✫ Ласкаво Просимо!
Velkommen! ✫ Tervetuloa! ✫ Дабро Запрашаем! ✫ Välkommen!

Circopedia is an independent educational website, initially created as a project of the original, non-profit Big Apple Circus.

In The Spotlight

THE INDIAN CIRCUS

Rambo Circus Poster (2014).jpg

The circus tradition in India dates back to the late nineteenth century—although India has of course a much more ancient tradition of traveling entertainers, comparable and parallel to those of Asia and Europe, and who often cross-pollinated with them. But the first Indian circus, according to the definition of the art form created by Philip Astley in 1770, didn’t appear until 1880.

Its creator was Vishnupant Chatre, a riding master who doubled as a singing teacher. Chatre was born in the village of Ankakhop (now part of the city of Sangli), in the province of Maharashtra, southeast of Bombay (the present Mumbai). Chatre was in charge of the stables of the Rajah of Kurduwadi, where he occasionally performed "feats of horsemanship"—in the tradition of old English riding masters such as Philip Astley.

As legend has it, Chatre and the Rajah went to see a performance of the Royal Italian Circus of Giuseppe Chiarini in Bombay. The peripatetic Italian director (whose company was generally based in North America) was on one of its many world tours, and visited Bombay for the first time in 1774. Chiarini was a remarkable equestrian, and Chatre was duly impressed by his performance, and also by his show. During a conversation with Chatre and the Rajah, Chiarini bluntly stated that India was not ready to have a circus of its own, and that it would take at least ten years before it could happen; Chatre was piqued.

Thus Vishnupant Chatre decided to organize his own circus, of which he would be the star equestrian, and his wife would become a trapeze artist and an animal trainer. He probably used some of his pupils in the equestrian department as well. The first performance of Chatre’s Great Indian Circus was held on March 20, 1880 in the presence of a selected audience—among which was the Rajah of Kurduwadi, who may have helped him in starting his venture.

Following the model of Chiarini, Chatre’s Great Indian Circus went on to travel extensively, first in the vast regions of North India, then further south, to the large east-coast city of Madras (today’s Chennai), and down to the Island of Ceylon (today’s Sri Lanka). In 1884, Chatre embarked in a tour of Southeast Asia, and, according to Indian circus lore, he then crossed the ocean to conquer the United States. But here, Chatre had badly overestimated his powers: He was indeed unable to measure up to the giant American circuses, neither in size nor in quality, and he returned to India in defeat. However, no record is known of Chatre's performing in the United States.
... (more...)

New Essays and Biographies

New Videos

  • Massimiliano Martini, mixed animals act (2025)
  • The Burger Sisters, trapeze act (1980)
  • Bellei Troupe, acrobats on camels (1975)
  • Helmut & Irmgard Rudat, liberty"Liberty act", "Horses at liberty": Unmounted horses presented from the center of the ring by an equestrian directing his charges with his voice, body movements, and signals from a ''chambrière'' (French), or long whip. act (1974)
  • Sarah Florees, aerial chandelier (2024)

New Oral Histories

Circopedia Books

A Message from the Founder

CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding archive of the international circus, maintained by reliable circus historians and specialists. New videos, biographies, essays, and documents are added to the site on a weekly—and sometimes daily—basis. Keep visiting us: even if today you don't find what you're looking for, it may well be here tomorrow! And if you are a serious circus scholar and spot a factual or historical inaccuracy, do not hesitate to contact us: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.

Dominique Jando
Founder and Curator
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