Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

From Circopedia

 
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<div style="font-size:165%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!</div><div style="font-size:165%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#996666;">Bienvenida! ✫ Benvenuto! ✫ 歡迎 ! ✫ Vítejte! ✫ Καλώς ήρθατε!</div><div style="font-size:165%; 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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<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:110%;"> Circopedia was originally created with the support of the [http://www.bigapplecircus.com/ Big Apple Circus]<br />and 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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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
  
===ELENA SERAFIMOVICH===
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===DAVID BALDING===
[[File:Serafimovich_Portrait.jpg|right|400px]]
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[[File:Balding_and_Flora_(2000).jpg|right|300px]]
Elena Serafimovich was born in Minsk, Belarus (then in the USSR) on February 18, 1972 in a family that was not connected with the circus: Both her parents worked for import-export companies. As a child, the mixture of dance and acrobatics that rhythmic gymnastics offers attracted her, and she started training at age six. She participated in many national competitions, and eventually obtained a Master degree in Rhythmic-Gymnastics.
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Ivor David Balding (1939-2014) was born March 3, 1939 in Manhattan, and grew up in a horse farm in Camden, South Carolina. His father was the famous British polo player Ivor G. Balding (1909-2005), who, along with his brothers Barney and Gerald, played polo in the United States throughout the 1930's at the Meadow Brook Club on Long Island, then the national center of the sport. Ivor G. Balding subsequently went on to work at the C.V. Whitney Farm in Old Westbury, New York, before becoming manager of the Whitney Farm in Lexington, where he raised and trained racing-horses.
  
But Elena wanted to see the world, to go out of the confined atmosphere of the Soviet Union; so she did what many former gymnasts there did: she enrolled in Kiev’s State Institute of Variety and Circus Arts in Ukraine (still part of the Soviet Union at the time). The year was 1987. In 1989, she was hired as a top mounter in the famous perch-pole balancing act of Aleksei Sarach&mdash;although she was still technically a student of the school. She graduated as a "generalist" (a performer without a specific act) in 1991.  
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In Britain, Ivor David Balding’s grandfather had sold horses to various circuses in his time, and David himself was introduced to the circus and theater worlds through his father’s connections. He began his show business career as stage manager at the Westport Country Playhouse for legendary Broadway actress Eva Le Gallienne (1899-1991). Le Gallienne, who had performed in her youth as an equestrienne at the illustrious Cirque Medrano in Paris, gave David an introduction to the Fratellini family, who helped him land a job as spotlight operator at the famous Parisian circus. There, David had an invaluable initiation into the circus world.
  
Elena worked with Sarach in the Soviet Union and on foreign tours of the "Moscow Circus" for eight years. Meanwhile, she had a desire to create an act of her own, and in 1993, she began to train on the aerial hoop, or cerceau&mdash;an apparatus that was ideal to showcase her amazing grace and flexibility. While doing so, she caught the attention of Tatiana Assovskaya, then director of SoyuzGosTsirk (later, RosGosTsirk), the Russian state central circus organization.
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Back to the U.S., David Balding worked for Joe Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival, and then founded the New Theatre in New York. During his tenure there, he produced 21 plays, including ''The Knack'', ''The Ginger Man'', ''Scuba Duba'', ''Steambath'', ''The Man in the Glass Booth'', and ''Lenny''. His productions were nominated for two Tony Awards and won five Obie Awards.
  
With Assovskaya’s help, Elena further developed her act during a long engagement of the Moscow Circus with Circus Williams-Althoff in Germany, where she eventually premiered it in 1995. Her beautifully choreographed aerial presentation, combined with Elena’s natural grace and elegance, was an immediate sensation.... ([[Elena Serafimovich|more...]])
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The vagaries of theater production, however, forced him to change course, and David went to work for CBS Sports in Europe, where his attraction to the circus only grew bigger. This led him to conceive and co-produce the ''Circus World Championships'': Held annually in London from 1976 to 1986, this circus competition was broadcast on the BBC (with network specials for both CBS and NBC) and became quite an event in the European circus world. While in England, Balding also managed Jimmy Chipperfield's Circus World.... ([[Ivor David Balding|more...]])
  
==New Biographies==
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==New Essays and Biographies==
  
* [[Gilbert Houcke]], Equestrian, Animal Trainer
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* [[Émilien Bouglione/fr|Émilien Bouglione]], French version
* [[Alisher Aliyev]], Acrobat, Equestrian, Aerialist
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* [[Kremo Family]], icarists
* [[Gia Eradze]], Circus Director, Animal Trainer
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* [[The Ziratron]], Israel's first Circus
* [[Rob Torres]], Clown
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* [[Carlos Guity]], acrobat
* [[Tianjin Acrobatic Troupe]], History
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* [[James Clowney]], acrobat
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Shustov_Video_(1995)|The Shustov Brothers]], Hand-to-Hand Balancing (1995)
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* [[Dunai_Troupe_Video_(1991)|The Dunais]], jugglers on horseback (1983)
* [[Voos_Video_(2000)|William Voos]], Tiger Act (2000)
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* [[Ma-Mao_Video_(2026)|Ma-Mãho Company]], comedy acrobatics (2026)
* [[Duo_Flash_Video_(2004)|Duo Flash]], Comedy Acrobatics (2004)
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* [[Rodokhov_Video_(1981)|Rodokhov Troupe]], teeterboard act (1981)
* [[Serebryakov_Video_(1977)|Serebryakov & Shchukin]], Clowns (1977)
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* [[Ozhiganova_Video_(2026)|Tatyana Ozhiganova]], aerial straps (2026)
* [[Gulevich_Video_(2009)|Alesya Gulevich]], Hula-Hoop Act (2009)
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* [[Louis_Knie_Tigers_Video_(1987)|Louis Knie]], tiger act (1987)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==
  
* [[Pinito_del_Oro_RTE_Video_(1970)|Pinito del Oro's Interview]] on Spanish Television (1970)
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* [[Bouglione_Video_(2013)|The Bouglione Family]] France 3 TV documentary (2013)
* [[Eradze_Video_(2015)|Gia Eradze]]'s Interview on SSU TV (2015)
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* [[Gneushev_Video_(c.1990)|Valentin Gneushev interview]] on Russian Television (c.1990)
* [[Rosa_Bouglione_Video_(2012)|Rosa Bouglione]]'s interview on Franch Television (2012)
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* [[Dominique_Jando_Video_(2025)|Dominique Jando interview]] by the Circus Historical Society (2025)
* [[Circo_Price_Video_(2017)|A Short History of Madrid's Old Circo Price]], Documentary (1970)
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* [[Evelyn_and_Andre_Video_(2015)|Evelyn & André Interview]] on Blikk TV (2015)
* [[Anastasia_Dementieva_Video_(2017)|Anastasia Dementieva-Kornilova]] – Vadim Vernik Interview (2017)
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* [[BAC_Blumberg_Video_(1977)|''For A Moment You Fly'']], The First Season of The Big Apple Circus (1977)
  
 
==Circopedia Books==
 
==Circopedia Books==
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* [[Circopedia Books|Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus]], by Dominique Jando (2018)
 
* [[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 archive 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! 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.''  
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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&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
 
:Founder and Curator

Latest revision as of 19:41, 30 June 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

DAVID BALDING

Balding and Flora (2000).jpg

Ivor David Balding (1939-2014) was born March 3, 1939 in Manhattan, and grew up in a horse farm in Camden, South Carolina. His father was the famous British polo player Ivor G. Balding (1909-2005), who, along with his brothers Barney and Gerald, played polo in the United States throughout the 1930's at the Meadow Brook Club on Long Island, then the national center of the sport. Ivor G. Balding subsequently went on to work at the C.V. Whitney Farm in Old Westbury, New York, before becoming manager of the Whitney Farm in Lexington, where he raised and trained racing-horses.

In Britain, Ivor David Balding’s grandfather had sold horses to various circuses in his time, and David himself was introduced to the circus and theater worlds through his father’s connections. He began his show business career as stage manager at the Westport Country Playhouse for legendary Broadway actress Eva Le Gallienne (1899-1991). Le Gallienne, who had performed in her youth as an equestrienneA female equestrian, or horse trainer, horse presenter, or acrobat on horseback. at the illustrious Cirque Medrano in Paris, gave David an introduction to the Fratellini family, who helped him land a job as spotlight operator at the famous Parisian circus. There, David had an invaluable initiation into the circus world.

Back to the U.S., David Balding worked for Joe Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival, and then founded the New Theatre in New York. During his tenure there, he produced 21 plays, including The Knack, The Ginger Man, Scuba Duba, Steambath, The Man in the Glass Booth, and Lenny. His productions were nominated for two Tony Awards and won five Obie Awards.

The vagaries of theater production, however, forced him to change course, and David went to work for CBS Sports in Europe, where his attraction(Russian) A circus act that can occupy up to the entire second half of a circus performance. to the circus only grew bigger. This led him to conceive and co-produce the Circus World Championships: Held annually in London from 1976 to 1986, this circus competition was broadcast on the BBC (with network specials for both CBS and NBC) and became quite an event in the European circus world. While in England, Balding also managed Jimmy Chipperfield's Circus World.... (more...)

New Essays and Biographies

New Videos

  • The Dunais, jugglers on horseback (1983)
  • Ma-Mãho Company, comedy acrobatics (2026)
  • Rodokhov Troupe, teeterboardA seesaw made of wood, or fiberglass poles tied together, which is used to propel acrobats in the air. act (1981)
  • Tatyana Ozhiganova, aerial strapsPair of fabric or leather straps used as an apparatus for an aerial strap act. (2026)
  • Louis Knie, tiger act (1987)

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