Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

From Circopedia

 
Line 4: Line 4:
 
------------------------------Banner across top of page------------------------------>
 
------------------------------Banner across top of page------------------------------>
 
{| id="mp-topbanner" style="width:100%; background:#fcfcfc; margin-top:1.2em; border:1px solid #ccc;"
 
{| id="mp-topbanner" style="width:100%; background:#fcfcfc; margin-top:1.2em; border:1px solid #ccc;"
|style="width:56%; color:#000"| <!--  
+
|style="width:56%; color:#0000"| <!--  
  
 
-----------"Welcome to Circopedia" and article count---------->
 
-----------"Welcome to Circopedia" and article count---------->
{| style="width:500px; border:solid 0px; background:none;"
+
{| style="width:100%; border:solid 0px; background:none;"
 
|style="width:500px; text-align:center; white-space:nowrap; color:#000;"|
 
|style="width:500px; text-align:center; white-space:nowrap; color:#000;"|
<div style="font-size:162%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#000;">Welcome to Circopedia,</div>
+
<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>
+
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, initially created as a project of the original, non-profit [[Big Apple Circus]]''.</div><br/>
  
------------Category list on righthand side---------->
+
|}
|style="width:11%; font-size:95%;"|
+
*[[:Category:Artists and Acts|Artists and Acts]]
+
*[[:Category:Circus Arts|Circus Specialties]]
+
*[[:Category:Circuses|Circuses]]
+
*[[:Category:History|Circus History]]
+
|style="width:11%; font-size:95%;"|
+
*[[:Category:Oral History|Oral History]]
+
*[[:Category:Photo Archive|Photo Archive]]
+
*[[:Category:Video Archive|Video Archive]]
+
*[[Links]]
+
 
|}
 
|}
  
 +
==In The Spotlight==
  
==In the Spotlight==
+
===DAVID BALDING===
 +
[[File:Balding_and_Flora_(2000).jpg|right|300px]]
 +
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.
  
===THE CIRCUS GYMNASTICUS (VIENNA)===
+
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.
  
[[Image:Circus_Gymnasticus_1808.jpg|right|120px]]The Circus Gymnasticus (Gymnastischer Zirkel) was one of the earliest permanent circuses built in continental Europe. It had been designed by the fashionable Austrian architect Joseph Kornhäusel for the Latvian equestrian Christoph de Bach (1768-1834), who had settled in Austria around 1805. The Circus Gymnasticus’s elegant building was erected in 1808 on the Prater—the old Imperial hunting ground that had become Vienna’s favorite park, and a focal point for fairgrounds amusements. It was a large structure shaped as a sixteen-sided polygon, built of stone on a heavy wooden frame. Its roof was supported by two circular rows of fourteen columns, and topped by a cupola above the ring, with large glass windows around its drum wich provided sunlight—since the performances had to be given in matinee only, so as not to compete with Vienna’s patented theaters. Its façade fronted an extension containing the foyer, with stairs leading to the Imperial box and eighteen private boxes on the balcony facing the ring entrance. Another extension at the back of the building contained the stables, which expanded under the seating at each side of the ring entrance....  ([[Circus Gymnasticus|more...]])
+
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.
  
==New Biographies==
+
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...]])
*[[Rogana]], Sword Balancer
+
 
*[[Circus Gymnasticus]], History
+
==New Essays and Biographies==
*[[Crystalle]], Aerialist, Tightwire Dancer
+
 
*[[The Nikitin Brothers]], Circus Owners
+
* [[Émilien Bouglione/fr|Émilien Bouglione]], French version
*[[Garamov Troupe]], Flying Act
+
* [[Kremo Family]], icarists
 +
* [[The Ziratron]], Israel's first Circus
 +
* [[Carlos Guity]], acrobat
 +
* [[James Clowney]], acrobat
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
*[[Les_Acrostiches_Video_1995|Les Acrostiches]], Comedy Acrobatics (1995)
 
*[[Alexandra_Pauwels_Video_1995|Alexandra Pauwels]], Juggling Act (1995)
 
*[[Fratellini_1947_Video|Les Fratellini]], Clown Entrée (1947)
 
*[[Walgardi_Brothers_Video_1973|The Walgardi Brothers]], Teeterboard Act (1973)
 
*[[Sampion_Bouglione_Horses_-_1948|Sampion Bouglione]], Horses at Liberty (1948)
 
  
==Featured Oral Histories==
+
* [[Lothara_Bros._Video_(1983)|Lothara Brothers]], high wire (1983)
*[[Alberto_Zoppé_Interview_2003|Alberto Zoppé]], Equestrian - Interview (McCutcheon & Distasio, 2003)
+
* [[Dunai_Troupe_Video_(1983)|The Dunais]], jugglers on horseback (1983)
*[[Olivier Taquin Interview 2008|Olivier Taquin]], Mime - Interview (Jando, 2008)
+
* [[Ma-Mao_Video_(2026)|Ma-Mãho Company]], comedy acrobatics (2026)
*[[Barry Lubin Interview 2008|Barry Lubin]], Clown (Grandma) - Interview (Jando, 2008)
+
* [[Rodokhov_Video_(1981)|Rodokhov Troupe]], teeterboard act (1981)
*[[Fumagalli Interview 2008|Fumagalli]], Clown - Interview (Jando, 2008)
+
* [[Ozhiganova_Video_(2026)|Tatyana Ozhiganova]], aerial straps (2026)
*[[Kris Kremo Interview 2007|Kris Kremo]], Juggler - Interview (Jando, 2007)
+
 
 +
==New Oral Histories==
 +
 
 +
* [[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)
 +
* [[BAC_Blumberg_Video_(1977)|''For A Moment You Fly'']], The First Season of The Big Apple Circus (1977)
 +
 
 +
==Circopedia Books==
 +
 
 +
* [[Circopedia Books|Philip Astley & The Horsemen who invented the Circus]], by Dominique Jando (2018)
  
==A Message from the Editor==
+
==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 21:59, 3 July 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

  • Lothara Brothers, high wireA tight, heavy metallic cable placed high above the ground, on which wire walkers do crossings and various acrobatic exercises. Not to be confused with a tight wire. (1983)
  • 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)

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