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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/>
<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/>
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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==
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[[File:Adi_Enders_and_Vauta.jpg|300px|right]]
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===ADI ENDERS===
  
===STRUPPI HANNEFORD===
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Adi Enders (1935-2025) was born Adolf Hermann Enders on April 16, 1935 in Köln (Cologne), Germany, to an old family of circus equestrians. His parents were Hugo Enders (1899-1952), a jockey and horse trainer, and Alma von der Gathen (1905-1944). Adi had five siblings: Rudolf, known as Rudi or "Männe" (February 22, 1927 - April 5, 2004, Aachen), who became an animal trainer; Jean, known as "Schengel" (April 9, 1929, Alsdorf - March 3, 2004, Breinig) who became a clown under the name of Pipo; Willi (1932 - December 6, 1988); and Jakob, known as Jacomo or Jacky (May 8, 1938 Neustadt an der Weinstraße - November 24, 1994) who became a jockey, but would also be known for his plate-spinning act, and as a clown; and his sister, Medi (born February 19, 1928).  
[[File:Princess_Tajana_Portrait.jpg|right|300px]]
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Struppi Hanneford (1931-2014) was a major star aerialist before becoming a high-wire dancer, a wild animal trainer, and eventually, one of the United States’ foremost circus producers along with her husband, Tommy Hanneford (1927-2005). Her circus career, both as an artist and a producer, spanned the entire second half of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first.
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She was born Gertrude Zimmerman on September 26, 1931 in Speyer, a small town in Rhineland-Palatinate, near Mannheim in Germany. Her family had no connection with the circus or the performing arts: Her father was a baker, and her mother a homemaker. Yet at a very young age, Gertrude showed a keen interest for gymnastics and all things physical, which was strongly encouraged by her parents&mdash;in a country where, at the time, physical education was kept in very high regard.
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Adi and Jakob Enders grew up in the family of their aunt, Maria Althoff, née von der Gathen (1908-1999), who was Alma’s sister and was married to the circus director and animal trainer Adolf Althoff (1913-1998). Adi was trained in acrobatics by Mohamed "Momo" Saharaoui Faroki, who was a member of the [[Ben Mohamed Troupe]], a Morrocan tumbling act, and by his uncle Adolf, who took care of his education in equestrian arts and animal training.
  
As a little child, Gertrude used to hang from a bar that her father held with his hands; she enjoyed it, and created little routines of her own. When she was seven, her mother heard of a former trapeze artist whose husband was in the military, and who gave trapeze lessons to augment the family income. Thus Gertrude (Trude) Johann entered the life of Gertrude Zimmerman and became her trapeze teacher.  
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In the 1950's and 1960's, Adi Enders was considered one of the world’s finest jockeys. He and his brother Jakob performed for many years their jockey act as Gebrüder Enders (The Enders Brothers), or sometimes as Enders Reitertruppe. (When they toured in 1956 with CCircus Scott-Williams, they were billed as ''Williams Reitertruppe''.) They had various partners over the years, among whom Carla Barlay (who married François Bronett, later Director of Cirkus Scott) and GGünther Gebel. For a long time, they also had for partner Claus Lehnert, who would later become Circus Krone’s operations manager.... ([[Adi Enders|more...]])
 
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Trude Johann is also credited with giving Gertrude the nickname under which she would be known for the rest of her life, "Struppi." It was a diminutive of ''Struppigel'', a made-up word that is hard to translate, but would mean something like "hedgehog turned wild," perhaps a good description of what Gertrude’s character was like then&mdash;and indeed in adulthood Struppi was a very strong woman, in all meanings of the term.  
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Little Struppi showed good dispositions for trapeze, and eventually Trude built an act for her. She believed Struppi was ready to perform, but WWII had broken out and it was not the best time to start a career if you were not born into the business:  The project didn’t come to fruition. Furthermore, as the war dragged on, life became increasingly difficult in Germany, and Struppi and Trude’s worlds eventually drifted apart.  
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Nonetheless, Struppi continued training in gymnastics, took ballet classes, and dreaming of participating one day in the Olympics (which had been held in Berlin in 1936 and had left a strong impression on the five-year-old girl she was then), she also began to train in Competitive Diving. Meanwhile the Wehrmacht had drafted Struppi’s father; some time later he was killed in action.... ([[Struppi Hanneford|more...]])
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==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
  
* [[Nouveau_Cirque_(Paris)/fr|Nouveau Cirque]], History &mdash; Version Française (French Version)
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* [[Virginie Kenebel]], equestrienne
* [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)/fr|Cirque Medrano]], History &mdash; Version Française (French Version)
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* [[Chongqing_Acrobatic_Troupe|Chongqing Acrobatic Troupe]], History
* [[The Reverhos]], Acrobatic Jugglers
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* [[Cirkus_Verdensteater_(Oslo)|Cirkus Verdensteater]], Oslo Circus Building
* [[Francis Brunn]], Juggler
+
* [[Eddie Murillo]], Circus Agent and Producer
* [[Tereza Durova]], Animal Trainer
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* [[The Biasini Family]], Circus Owners, Artists
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
* [[Berosinis_Video_(1964)|The Berosinis]], Risley act (1964)
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* [[Lan_Shi_Xiang_Video_(2024)|Lan Shi Xiang]], slack wire (2024)
* [[Pieric_Video_(1993)|Pieric and Djuboudiep]], clowns (1993)
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* [[Alcaraz_Video_(1973)|Los Alcaraz]], comedy teeterboard/trampoline act (1973)
* [[Duo_Disar_Video_(2024)|Duo Disar]], strap act (2024)
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* [[Bennett_Video_(1979)|Archie & Diana Bennett]], contortion act (1979)
* [[Sattarov_Konovalov_Video_(2023)|Anvar Sattarov & Nikolai Konovalov]], clowns (2023)
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* [[Azizov_Video_(2025)|Azizov Troupe]], Russian barre (2025)
* [[Kolev_Sisters_Video_(2024)|The Kolev Sisters]], hand-to-hand balancing (2024)
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* [[Coudoux_Video_(1973)|Les Coudoux]], contortionists/hand-to-hand balancing (1973)
  
 
==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==

Latest revision as of 00:15, 6 October 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

Adi Enders and Vauta.jpg

ADI ENDERS

Adi Enders (1935-2025) was born Adolf Hermann Enders on April 16, 1935 in Köln (Cologne), Germany, to an old family of circus equestrians. His parents were Hugo Enders (1899-1952), a jockeyClassic equestrian act in which the participants ride standing in various attitudes on a galoping horse, perform various jumps while on the horse, and from the ground to the horse, and perform classic horse-vaulting exercises. and horse trainer, and Alma von der Gathen (1905-1944). Adi had five siblings: Rudolf, known as Rudi or "Männe" (February 22, 1927 - April 5, 2004, Aachen), who became an animal trainer; Jean, known as "Schengel" (April 9, 1929, Alsdorf - March 3, 2004, Breinig) who became a clown under the name of Pipo; Willi (1932 - December 6, 1988); and Jakob, known as Jacomo or Jacky (May 8, 1938 Neustadt an der Weinstraße - November 24, 1994) who became a jockeyClassic equestrian act in which the participants ride standing in various attitudes on a galoping horse, perform various jumps while on the horse, and from the ground to the horse, and perform classic horse-vaulting exercises., but would also be known for his plate-spinning act, and 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.; and his sister, Medi (born February 19, 1928).

Adi and Jakob Enders grew up in the family of their aunt, Maria Althoff, née von der Gathen (1908-1999), who was Alma’s sister and was married to the circus director and animal trainer Adolf Althoff (1913-1998). Adi was trained in acrobatics by Mohamed "Momo" Saharaoui Faroki, who was a member of the Ben Mohamed Troupe, a Morrocan tumbling act, and by his uncle Adolf, who took care of his education in equestrian arts and animal training.

In the 1950's and 1960's, Adi Enders was considered one of the world’s finest jockeys. He and his brother Jakob performed for many years their jockeyClassic equestrian act in which the participants ride standing in various attitudes on a galoping horse, perform various jumps while on the horse, and from the ground to the horse, and perform classic horse-vaulting exercises. act as Gebrüder Enders (The Enders Brothers), or sometimes as Enders Reitertruppe. (When they toured in 1956 with CCircus Scott-Williams, they were billed as Williams Reitertruppe.) They had various partners over the years, among whom Carla Barlay (who married François Bronett, later Director of Cirkus Scott) and GGünther Gebel. For a long time, they also had for partner Claus Lehnert, who would later become Circus Krone’s operations manager.... (more...)

New Essays and Biographies

New Videos

  • Lan Shi Xiang, slack wireA Tight Wire, or Low Wire, kept slack, and generally used for juggling or balancing tricks. (2024)
  • Los Alcaraz, comedy teeterboardA seesaw made of wood, or fiberglass poles tied together, which is used to propel acrobats in the air./trampoline act (1973)
  • Archie & Diana Bennett, contortion act (1979)
  • Azizov Troupe, Russian barreFlexible pole, held horizontally by two catchers, or under-standers, with which they propelled a flyer in acrobatic figures from and to the pole. (2025)
  • Les Coudoux, contortionists/hand-to-handAn acrobatic act in which one or more acrobats do hand-balancing in the hands of an under-stander. balancing (1973)

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