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<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
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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
 
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/>
<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:98%;"> ''Circopedia was originally created with the support of the Big Apple Circus Ltd.''</div><div style=font-size:98%;">''and inspired and funded by the [http://www.sdrubin.org/ Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation]''.</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==
[[File:Alfredo_and_Vera_Codona_(c.1932).jpg|right|300px]]
 
===ALFREDO CODONA===
 
  
The Codonas (and Alfredo Codona in particular) were conceivably, in terms of international fame, the greatest circus stars of the first half of the twentieth century. They owe their distinctive place in circus history to the exceptional talent of Alfredo Codona, but also to the dramatic ending of his career, and subsequently, the tragic conclusion of his life. Not only was The Codonas’ act recorded on film (in E.A. Dupont’s ''Varieté'' in 1925), but they were also the subjects of an Academy Award-nominated documentary, Jack Cummings’s ''Swing High'' (1932), a romanticized biopic, A.M. Rabenalt’s ''Die drei Codonas'' (1940)&mdash;a very rare occurrence for circus artists&mdash;and two romanticized biographies.
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===VIRGINIE KENEBEL===
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[[File:Virginie_Kenebel_-_Bordeaux.jpg|right|300px]]
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Virginie Kenebel (1819-1884)—whose name is sometimes spelled Kennebel—was one of the brightest stars of the equestrian circus in its "Romantic" period (roughly from 1820 to 1880). She was one of the first écuyères de panneau, who danced various movements of classical ballet on a large flat saddle (the panneau). More than the equestriennes who practiced haute-école dressage, like their male counterparts, it was these ballerinas on horseback who truly defined the equestrian circus's Romantic period.
 +
 
 +
Marie Virginie Kenebel was born into a circus family on April 23, 1819, in La Guillotière, a neighborhood of Lyon, in France. Her father, Ludwig (Louis) Daniel Knebel (or Knoebel, according to his signature—1794-1878), whose name was francized to Kenebel (or Kénébel), has been said to be a Sinti (a subgroup of the Romani people), but there is no clear documentation to support this assertion. If ever the Knebels had been seen as "outsiders" in Germany, it could also be because they were Jewish, as were many dynasties of German traveling entertainers: Ludwig's parents, Michel Knebel (or Knoebel) and Leonore, née Östermann, bore names with strong Jewish connections.
 +
 
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According to Signor Saltarino (Valdemar Otto) in his ''Artisten Lexikon'' (1895), the Knebels were a "second-rate [circus] family," but they were capable and polyvalent. Principally a rope dancer but also an equestrian trick-rider, Ludwig was born in Mannheim, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on February 22, 1874. As for Virginie's mother, Françoise Sophie Avrillon (known as Sophie, 1799-1862), she was an equestrienne, also born into a circus family in Tuscany, Italy—in Prato, according to her marriage certificate, or in Florence, according to her death and other French certificates; Prato, which is very close to Florence, seems to be the right location.
  
Alfredo (1893-1937) and Abelardo ("Lalo," 1895-1951) Codona were born into a circus family. Their grandfather, Henry, came from a long line of Scottish showmen of Swiss-Italian descent. Francesco (Frank) Codoni (1765-1849), the dynasty's founder, settled in Scotland in the nineteenth century; he was a fairground showman, and illiterate&mdash;which led the family's name to be registered under a great variety of spellings over the years: Cardoni, Cardownie, Cardone, Codone, Candone, and Codona, which eventually stuck in the 1870s. Henry Codona married a French woman, Victorine Régnier (1841-1924), with whom he had two children, Enrique and Eduardo, who was born in Mexico on September 21, 1859. (Enrique and Eduardo also had a half-brother, William). When and for which purpose Henry and Victorine immigrated to Mexico is not known.  
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Louis and Sophie had married on March1, 1819 in Colmar, France, just in time to welcome their daughter into an established family. With three brothers and two sisters, Virginie was the first born of a large brood: she was followed by André (1820-1876), François Amédée (known as Amédée, 1825-1877), Etienne Stephan Antoine (known as Stephan, 1830-18091), Clémentine (1831-1833), and Marie-Honorine (1835-1878).
  
In any event, Eduardo Codona (1859-1934) became a Mexican circus performer and entrepreneur. In 1883, he married the fourteen-year-old Hortense (Hortensia) Buislay (1869-1931), a trapezist who hailed from an old French circus family of "acrobats, pantomimists, and gymnasts" (i.e. aerialists). The enterprising [[The Buislay Family|Buislays]] had come to Mexico where, in 1869 (the year of Hortense’s birth), they created with Ricardo Bell the ''Circo Océano'', and rented Giuseppe Chiarini’s circus building in Mexico City before touring the country for some time. Like Chiarini, with whose company they had previously traveled around the world, the Buislay family had settled in San Francisco, in the United States.
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Except for Clémentine, who died in infancy, all followed in their parents' footsteps and embraced a circus career. Amédée created his own company and moved to England from where, in 1846, he sailed to Mauritius, along with his brother André, and then to India, where he eventually settled (he died in Calcutta). André returned to France and worked in Paris for the Franconis. Stephan married his cousin, the equestrienne Émilie Lambert (1824-1890—her mother, Anna, was an Avrillon), but it doesn't seem that his career was particularly brilliant. Marie Honorine married in 1855 the equestrian Jean-Baptiste Auriol, Jr. (1834-1857), son of the illustrious clown Jean-Baptiste Auriol (1806-1881)&mdash;a union that, sadly, was short-lived.
  
By 1888, Eduardo Codona had formed his own traveling company. He had with him a Comanche Indian who wrestled a bear named Samson, and Hortense partnered with a girl billed as Matilde in a trapeze act. Eduardo worked as a tumbler and in a flying trapeze act "à la Léotard"&mdash;the creator of the genre, who had been the toast of Europe and had even performed in New York in 1868. In essence this means that, like Léotard, Eduardo worked alone, leaping from trapeze to trapeze. Flying trapeze, in whatever form, proved to be a specialty to which Eduardo was particularly attracted. ([[The Codonas|more...]])
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The Avrillons were a French circus family. Claude Avrillon (1766-1819), Sophie's father, was an equestrian, as was her brother, François (1801-1845), who managed his own circus company; after having tried, unsuccessfully, to establish a permanent circus in Marseille, he had moved to Spain and opened there the first Madrilene circus in 1834, becoming in effect a pioneer of Spanish circus history. (Louis Kenebel and Sophie Avrillon would also create their own circus company with which they traveled intermittently in southern Europe: In 1831, they would find themselves in competition with François Avrillon in Barcelona!)... ([[Virginie Kenebel|more...]])
  
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
  
* [[Mikhail Shuydin]], Clown
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* [[Virginie Kenebel]], equestrienne
* [[Yury Nikulin]], Clown, Actor, Circus Director
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* [[Chongqing_Acrobatic_Troupe|Chongqing Acrobatic Troupe]], History
* [[Serge]], Circus Chronicler and Illustrator
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* [[Cirkus_Verdensteater_(Oslo)|Cirkus Verdensteater]], Oslo Circus Building
* [[Alexandre Palisse]], Clown, Circus Owner
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* [[Eddie Murillo]], Circus Agent and Producer
* [[Rico y Alex]], Clowns
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* [[The Biasini Family]], Circus Owners, Artists
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Grichenko_Video_(2003)|The Grichenko Brothers]], hand-to-hand balancing (2003)
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* [[Didier_et_Jade_Video_(1995)|Didier & Jade]], high wire (1995)
* [[Credo_Video_(2019)|Quatuor Credo]], Russian barre (2019)
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* [[Mateo_et_Aelia_Video_(2025)|Matéo & Amélia]], diabolo act (2025)
* [[Dorozhko_Video_(2007)|Andriy Dorozhko]], aerial hoop (2007)
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* [[Golyshev_Video_(1984)|Golyshev Troupe]], comedy acrobatics (1984)
* [[Paolo_Kaiser_Video_(2011)|Paolo Kaiser]], rola-bola (2011)
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* [[Nazarova_Video_(1960)|Margarita Nazarova]], tiger act (excerpts) (1960)
* [[Volozhanin_Video_(2020)|Volozhanin Troupe]], balancing act (2020)
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* [[Casselly_Comedy_Horse_Video_(2025)|Merrylu Casselly]], comedy horse act (2025)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==
  
 +
* [[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)
 
* [[BAC_Blumberg_Video_(1977)|''For A Moment You Fly'']], The First Season of The Big Apple Circus (1977)
 
* [[BAC_Blumberg_Video_(1977)|''For A Moment You Fly'']], The First Season of The Big Apple Circus (1977)
 
* [[Durov_Documentary_Video_(c.2000)|Vladimir Durov Documentary]] on Russian Television (c.2000)
 
* [[Durov_Documentary_Video_(c.2000)|Vladimir Durov Documentary]] on Russian Television (c.2000)
 
* [[Dolly_Jacobs_Interview_Video_(2018)|Dolly Jacobs Interview]] at The Ringling (2018)
 
* [[Dolly_Jacobs_Interview_Video_(2018)|Dolly Jacobs Interview]] at The Ringling (2018)
* [[Pinito_del_Oro_RTE_Video_(1970)|Pinito del Oro's Interview]] on Spanish Television (1970)
 
* [[Eradze_Video_(2015)|Gia Eradze]]'s Interview on SSU TV (2015)
 
  
 
==Circopedia Books==
 
==Circopedia Books==
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==A Message from the Founder==
 
==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.''  
+
''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 01:59, 1 September 2025


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

VIRGINIE KENEBEL

Virginie Kenebel - Bordeaux.jpg

Virginie Kenebel (1819-1884)—whose name is sometimes spelled Kennebel—was one of the brightest stars of the equestrian circus in its "Romantic" period (roughly from 1820 to 1880). She was one of the first écuyères de panneau(French) A flat, padded saddle used by ballerinas on horseback., who danced various movements of classical ballet on a large flat saddle (the panneau(French) A flat, padded saddle used by ballerinas on horseback.). More than the equestriennes who practiced haute-école(French) A display of equestrian dressage by a rider mounting a horse and leading it into classic moves and steps. (See also: High School) dressage, like their male counterparts, it was these ballerinas on horseback who truly defined the equestrian circus's Romantic period.

Marie Virginie Kenebel was born into a circus family on April 23, 1819, in La Guillotière, a neighborhood of Lyon, in France. Her father, Ludwig (Louis) Daniel Knebel (or Knoebel, according to his signature—1794-1878), whose name was francized to Kenebel (or Kénébel), has been said to be a Sinti (a subgroup of the Romani people), but there is no clear documentation to support this assertion. If ever the Knebels had been seen as "outsiders" in Germany, it could also be because they were Jewish, as were many dynasties of German traveling entertainers: Ludwig's parents, Michel Knebel (or Knoebel) and Leonore, née Östermann, bore names with strong Jewish connections.

According to Signor Saltarino (Valdemar Otto) in his Artisten Lexikon (1895), the Knebels were a "second-rate [circus] family," but they were capable and polyvalent. Principally a rope dancer but also an equestrian trickAny specific exercise in a circus act.-rider, Ludwig was born in Mannheim, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on February 22, 1874. As for Virginie's mother, Françoise Sophie Avrillon (known as Sophie, 1799-1862), she was an equestrienneA female equestrian, or horse trainer, horse presenter, or acrobat on horseback., also born into a circus family in Tuscany, Italy—in Prato, according to her marriage certificate, or in Florence, according to her death and other French certificates; Prato, which is very close to Florence, seems to be the right location.

Louis and Sophie had married on March1, 1819 in Colmar, France, just in time to welcome their daughter into an established family. With three brothers and two sisters, Virginie was the first born of a large brood: she was followed by André (1820-1876), François Amédée (known as Amédée, 1825-1877), Etienne Stephan Antoine (known as Stephan, 1830-18091), Clémentine (1831-1833), and Marie-Honorine (1835-1878).

Except for Clémentine, who died in infancy, all followed in their parents' footsteps and embraced a circus career. Amédée created his own company and moved to England from where, in 1846, he sailed to Mauritius, along with his brother André, and then to India, where he eventually settled (he died in Calcutta). André returned to France and worked in Paris for the Franconis. Stephan married his cousin, the equestrienneA female equestrian, or horse trainer, horse presenter, or acrobat on horseback. Émilie Lambert (1824-1890—her mother, Anna, was an Avrillon), but it doesn't seem that his career was particularly brilliant. Marie Honorine married in 1855 the equestrian Jean-Baptiste Auriol, Jr. (1834-1857), son of the illustrious clown Jean-Baptiste Auriol (1806-1881)—a union that, sadly, was short-lived.

The Avrillons were a French circus family. Claude Avrillon (1766-1819), Sophie's father, was an equestrian, as was her brother, François (1801-1845), who managed his own circus company; after having tried, unsuccessfully, to establish a permanent circus in Marseille, he had moved to Spain and opened there the first Madrilene circus in 1834, becoming in effect a pioneer of Spanish circus history. (Louis Kenebel and Sophie Avrillon would also create their own circus company with which they traveled intermittently in southern Europe: In 1831, they would find themselves in competition with François Avrillon in Barcelona!)... (more...)

New Essays and Biographies

New Videos

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