Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

From Circopedia

 
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-----------"Welcome to Circopedia" and article count---------->
 
-----------"Welcome to Circopedia" and article count---------->
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<div style="font-size:162%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#000;">Welcome to Circopedia,</div>
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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
<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:95%;">the free encyclopedia of the international circus.<br />A project of the [http://www.bigapplecircus.org/ Big Apple Circus],<br />inspired and funded by the [http://www.sdrubin.org/ Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation].</div>
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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, initially created as a project of the original, non-profit [[Big Apple Circus]]''.</div><br/>
 
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*[[:Category:Artists and Acts|Artists and Acts]]
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*[[:Category:Circus Arts|Circus Specialties]]
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*[[:Category:Circuses|Circuses]]
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*[[:Category:History|Circus History]]
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*[[:Category:Oral History|Oral History]]
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*[[:Category:Photo Archive|Photo Archive]]
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*[[:Category:Video Archive|Video Archive]]
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*[[Links]]
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==In The Spotlight==
  
 +
===THE BLUMENFELD FAMILY===
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[[File:5_Blumenfelds_Poster.jpg|right|300px]]The huge Blumenfeld family holds an important place in German and European circus history. One of the three major German-Jewish circus dynasties before World War II&mdash;along with the Strassburgers and the Lorches&mdash;the Blumenfelds were driven to bankruptcy and then brutally decimated by the Nazis. Before that tragedy, they had been a highly respected family of talented acrobats, aerialists, equestrians, and circus owners. Although some members of the family resurfaced after World War II, the Blumenfelds were never able to reclaim the position they had once held in the circus world.
  
==In the Spotlight==
+
The Blumenfelds are allied with several other prominent Jewish families, such as the Goldkettes (Brönett), the Strassburgers, the Lorches, and the Könyots. They always married within their faith and, at times, like the Rothschilds, within their family&mdash;with perhaps the notable exceptions of Erich Blumenfeld, the youngest son of Simon Blumenfeld, who married Fanny Houcke, from the Franco-Swedish Houcke family, and his brother Alex, whose wife, Eugenie, came from an old Italian circus family, the Cardinales.
  
===NEW YORK CIRCUSES===
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Since Hirsch Blumenfeld (1788-1867), founder of the dynasty, created his circus in the mid-nineteenth century, many of his descendants have operated several different circuses under the Blumenfeld name. Hirsch had a large family that developed many branches, and it can be sometimes difficult to determine which branch a given Blumenfeld belonged to. The Blumenfeld circus owners, however, shared one defining trait: they were equestrians who served the equestrian circus tradition with distinction, even as the circus-menagerie was becoming the norm in Germany by the beginning of the twentieth century.
  
The following is a list of the various circus structures that were built (or buildings that were adapted) to house New York's resident circuses. Some had a very ephemeral life, other lasted several years or even decades. When they appeared in Europe at the end of the eighteenth century (see [[Short History of the Circus]]), circus performances were originally presented in buildings, either permanent structures, or wooden constructions that were erected in a town, and then dismantled and transported to the next—or simply sold at wood value at the end of the run. Circus in America became an itinerant affair in the first half of the nineteenth century, but major cities, like New York, often retained a resident circus. New York's last permanent circus building, the Hippotheatron, or New York Circus, stood on 14th Street, near Union Square—in what was then the heart of the Theater District—until as late as 1872. But in a country in constant expansion, itinerant circuses were much more profitable, and they quickly prevailed: From roughly 1870 to 1930, they made circus the most popular performing art in America.... ([[New York Circuses|more...]])
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Hirsch Blumenfeld was born Hirsch Levy in 1788 in Isenburg, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, one of the many German states. His parents were Levy Wolf (1770-1828), a Jewish cantor, and his wife Rosa (Rösgen), née Cahn (?-1840). The Blumenfeld patronym came later: Under Jewish naming tradition, a son took his father’s given name as a patronym, so Hirsch, as Levy’s son, became Hirsch Levy. Hirsch didn't embrace his father's calling: He became instead a traveling entertainer, an occupation that had attracted many of his coreligionists over the centuries..... ([[The Blumenfeld Family|more...]])
  
==New Biographies==
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==New Essays and Biographies==
*[[Ella Levitskaya]], Dog Trainer
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*[[Molly Saudeck]], Tight Wire Dancer
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* [[The Blumenfeld Family]], circus owners, artists
*[[Liazeed Trio|The Liazeed Trio]], Hand Balancers
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* [[Émilien Bouglione/fr|Émilien Bouglione]], French version
*[[Zhengzhou Acrobatic Troupe]], Chinese Acrobats
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* [[Kremo Family]], icarists
*[[Elena Drogaleva]], Juggler
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* [[The Ziratron]], Israel's first Circus
 +
* [[Carlos Guity]], Acrobat
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
*[[Con_Colleano_Movie_c1939|Con Colleano]], Tight Wire Act (c.1939)
 
*[[Gerd_Siemoneit_Lion_Act_Video_(1975)|Gerd Siemoneit]], Lion Act (1975)
 
*[[Lucien_Gruss_Haute_Ecole_Video_(1975)|Lucien Gruss]], Equestrian (1975)
 
*[[Annie_Fratellini_and_Pierre_Etaix_Video_1975|Annie Fratellini & Pierre Etaix]], Clowns (1975)
 
*[[Alexis_Gruss_Sr_Liberty_Act_(1975)|Alexis Gruss, Sr.]], Liberty Act (1975)
 
  
==Featured Oral Histories==
+
* [[Fumagalli_Video_(2003)|Fumagalli & Daris]], clown entrée (2006)
*[[Olivier Taquin Interview 2008|Olivier Taquin]], Mime - Interview (Jando, 2008)
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* [[Ariz_Bros_Video_(1983)|The Ariz Brothers]], banquine (1983)
*[[Barry Lubin Interview 2008|Barry Lubin]], Clown (Grandma) - Interview (Jando, 2008)
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* [[Les_Chicky_Video_(1983)|Les Chicky]], clown entrée (1983)
*[[Fumagalli Interview 2008|Fumagalli]], Clown - Interview (Jando, 2008)
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* [[The_Astoris_Video_(1975)|The Astoris]], Aerial Perch (1975)
*[[Kris Kremo Interview 2007|Kris Kremo]], Juggler - Interview (Jando, 2007)
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* [[Evelyn_and_André_Interview_(2025)|Evelyn & André]] Interview by the Fővárosi Nagycirkusz (2025)
 +
 
 +
==New Oral Histories==
 +
 
 +
* [[Evelyn_and_André_Interview_(2025)|Evelyn & André]] Interview by the Fővárosi Nagycirkusz (2025)
 +
* [[Bouglione_Video_(2013)|The Bouglione Family]] France 3 TV documentary (2013)
 +
* [[Gneushev_Video_(c.1990)|Valentin Gneushev interview]] on Russian Television (c.1990)
 +
* [[Dominique_Jando_Video_(2025)|Dominique Jando interview]] by the Circus Historical Society (2025)
 +
* [[Evelyn_and_Andre_Video_(2015)|Evelyn & André Interview]] on Blikk TV (2015)
 +
 
 +
==Circopedia Books==
 +
 
 +
* [[Circopedia Books|Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus]], by Dominique Jando (2018)
  
==A Message from the Editor==
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==A Message from the Founder==
  
:''CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding encyclopedia of the international circus. New videos, biographies, essays, and documents are added to the site on a weekly&mdash;and sometimes daily&mdash;basis. Keep visiting us: even if today you don't find what you're looking for, it may well be here tomorrow!''  
+
''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&mdash;and sometimes daily&mdash;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 [[Circopedia:Contact|contact us]]: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.''  
  
:Dominique Jando
+
:'''Dominique Jando'''
 +
:Founder and Curator

Latest revision as of 05:35, 6 September 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 BLUMENFELD FAMILY

5 Blumenfelds Poster.jpg
The huge Blumenfeld family holds an important place in German and European circus history. One of the three major German-Jewish circus dynasties before World War II—along with the Strassburgers and the Lorches—the Blumenfelds were driven to bankruptcy and then brutally decimated by the Nazis. Before that tragedy, they had been a highly respected family of talented acrobats, aerialists, equestrians, and circus owners. Although some members of the family resurfaced after World War II, the Blumenfelds were never able to reclaim the position they had once held in the circus world.

The Blumenfelds are allied with several other prominent Jewish families, such as the Goldkettes (Brönett), the Strassburgers, the Lorches, and the Könyots. They always married within their faith and, at times, like the Rothschilds, within their family—with perhaps the notable exceptions of Erich Blumenfeld, the youngest son of Simon Blumenfeld, who married Fanny Houcke, from the Franco-Swedish Houcke family, and his brother Alex, whose wife, Eugenie, came from an old Italian circus family, the Cardinales.

Since Hirsch Blumenfeld (1788-1867), founder of the dynasty, created his circus in the mid-nineteenth century, many of his descendants have operated several different circuses under the Blumenfeld name. Hirsch had a large family that developed many branches, and it can be sometimes difficult to determine which branch a given Blumenfeld belonged to. The Blumenfeld circus owners, however, shared one defining trait: they were equestrians who served the equestrian circus tradition with distinction, even as the circus-menagerie was becoming the norm in Germany by the beginning of the twentieth century.

Hirsch Blumenfeld was born Hirsch Levy in 1788 in Isenburg, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, one of the many German states. His parents were Levy Wolf (1770-1828), a Jewish cantor, and his wife Rosa (Rösgen), née Cahn (?-1840). The Blumenfeld patronym came later: Under Jewish naming tradition, a son took his father’s given name as a patronym, so Hirsch, as Levy’s son, became Hirsch Levy. Hirsch didn't embrace his father's calling: He became instead a traveling entertainer, an occupation that had attracted many of his coreligionists over the centuries..... (more...)

New Essays and Biographies

New Videos

  • Fumagalli & Daris, clown entrée(French) Clown piece with a dramatic structure, generally in the form of a short story or scene. (2006)
  • The Ariz Brothers, banquine(French) Acrobatic presentation in which an acrobat performs various acrobatic jumps propelled from a living platform made by the crossed hands of two other acrobats (as in "sauts de banquine" &mdash; See also: Basket Acrobatics). (1983)
  • Les Chicky, clown entrée(French) Clown piece with a dramatic structure, generally in the form of a short story or scene. (1983)
  • The Astoris, Aerial Perch (1975)
  • Evelyn & André Interview by the Fővárosi Nagycirkusz (2025)

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