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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
  
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===THE ARAGON FAMILY===
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===VALENTIN GNEUSHEV===
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[[File:Pompoff_Thedy_Emilio_Zampabollos.jpeg|right|400px]]
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[[File:Valentin_Gneushev.jpg|300px|right]]
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The Aragón family is one of Europe’s most prolific clown dynasties. A Spanish family with French circus ancestry, it has produced five generations of funnymen, some of whom have become major circus stars in Spain as well as abroad: Pompoff y Thedy, arguably the greatest Spanish clown duet of their generation, which morphed into The Pompoff Thedy Family with the third and fourth generations and have enjoyed an outstanding international career; and Gaby, Fofó y Miliki, from the fourth generation, and their children of the fifth generation, who became major stars on Spanish television.
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Born on December 20, 1951, in Nizhny Tagil, in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, (close to the boundary between Asia and Europe), Valentin Aleksandrovich Gneushev (1951-2026) was one of the most influential circus directors-choreographers of the second half of the twentieth century, and the creator of some of the most innovative and celebrated circus acts of the 1990s.
  
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The founder of the dynasty, Gabriel Aragón Gomez, was a former seminarian who had “run away and joined the circus,” and eventually became a clown under the name of Pepino. Gabriel married the equestrienne Virginie Foureaux (?-1930), daughter of the equestrian Jean-Philippe Foureaux, who came from one of France’s oldest circus dynasties: the Grand Cirque Foureaux had been established by Jacques Foureaux in 1805, and her family had been playing the fairgrounds long before the modern circus was created by Philip Astley in 1770. Gabriel and Virginie had fifteen children—and four sons among them. Little has been recorded of Arturo, the elder, who was probably significantly older than his more famous brothers: Emilio (later known as Emig—?-1946), Teodoro (later known as Thedy—1885-1974), and José-María (later known as Pompoff—1886-1970).
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As the “new circus” movement was drastically changing the traditional imagery of the circus (roughly between 1975 and 1995), Gneushev became the ultimate trendsetter, completely renewing the language of the ring. A master at discovering untapped talents in the disintegrating Soviet circus world, then creating and designing original acts for them, he eventually influenced the style of many young circus artists and companies, including Cirque du Soleil.
  
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At the end of the nineteenth century, Gabriel Aragón created a successful clown duet with his elder son Arturo. As Pepino y Tonino (Arturo’s stage name), they acquired a strong reputation in Spain and all over Europe. Gabriel’s other sons participated in their father’s act as they grew up (the act was sometimes billed as the Aragón Family), but in 1909, José-María and Teodoro decided to take their independence and create a clown act of their own. They flopped: At twenty-four and twenty-two respectively, they probably still lacked the maturity necessary to carry a comedy act by themselves—especially in a country that appreciated good clowning, and where great clowns were aplenty!... ([[The Aragón Family|more...]])
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Valentin Gneushev fell in love with the circus as a teenager. He was fourteen when he began to perform in 1965 in a local Amateur Circus (the Russian equivalent of our Youth Circuses, albeit at a much higher artistic and technical level than in the West). He eventually decided to leave the Sverdlovsk Province and the industrial fumes of Nizhny Tagil (birthplace of the first Russian steam locomotive) and headed for Moscow, where he was accepted in the State College for Circus and Variety Arts (the legendary "Moscow Circus School"). There, he specialized as a clown.
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In Moscow, Gneushev studied under Roman Viktiuk, Firs Zemtsev, and especially Serguei Kashtelyan, who had a lasting influence on his work. He graduated in 1978 and formed a short-lived clown trio with two partners, in which he revealed a special aptitude for pantomime, as well as a need to distance himself from the conventional circus clowning of the period.
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An eager student of the arts (literature, history, painting, music), Valentin developed a remarkable artistic culture, and an aesthetic vision rooted in classic as well as contemporary art, and widely open to new influences—a far cry from the prevalent rhetoric of the Soviet artistic scene.... ([[Valentin Gneushev|more...]])
  
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==

Latest revision as of 21:11, 13 March 2026


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

In The Spotlight

VALENTIN GNEUSHEV

Valentin Gneushev.jpg

Born on December 20, 1951, in Nizhny Tagil, in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, (close to the boundary between Asia and Europe), Valentin Aleksandrovich Gneushev (1951-2026) was one of the most influential circus directors-choreographers of the second half of the twentieth century, and the creator of some of the most innovative and celebrated circus acts of the 1990s.

As the “new circus” movement was drastically changing the traditional imagery of the circus (roughly between 1975 and 1995), Gneushev became the ultimate trendsetter, completely renewing the language of the ring. A master at discovering untapped talents in the disintegrating Soviet circus world, then creating and designing original acts for them, he eventually influenced the style of many young circus artists and companies, including Cirque du Soleil.

Valentin Gneushev fell in love with the circus as a teenager. He was fourteen when he began to perform in 1965 in a local Amateur Circus (the Russian equivalent of our Youth Circuses, albeit at a much higher artistic and technical level than in the West). He eventually decided to leave the Sverdlovsk Province and the industrial fumes of Nizhny Tagil (birthplace of the first Russian steam locomotive) and headed for Moscow, where he was accepted in the State College for Circus and Variety Arts (the legendary "Moscow Circus School"). There, he specialized as a clownGeneric term for all clowns and augustes. '''Specific:''' In Europe, the elegant, whiteface character who plays the role of the straight man to the Auguste in a clown team..

In Moscow, Gneushev studied under Roman Viktiuk, Firs Zemtsev, and especially Serguei Kashtelyan, who had a lasting influence on his work. He graduated in 1978 and formed a short-lived clown trio with two partners, in which he revealed a special aptitude for pantomimeA circus play, not necessarily mute, with a dramatic story-line (a regular feature in 18th and 19th century circus performances)., as well as a need to distance himself from the conventional circus clowning of the period.

An eager student of the arts (literature, history, painting, music), Valentin developed a remarkable artistic culture, and an aesthetic vision rooted in classic as well as contemporary art, and widely open to new influences—a far cry from the prevalent rhetoric of the Soviet artistic scene.... (more...)

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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.

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