Virginie Kenebel

Equestrienne

By Dominique Jando

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.

The Kenebel-Avrillon family

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!)

Virginie's Beginnings

In the late 1810s, the Kenebels had joined the celebrated company of Christoph de Bach, who managed Vienna's Circus Gymnasticus. There, they worked along with such equestrian luminaries as Gaetano Ciniselli and Alessandro Guerra, and Christoph de Bach's second wife, Laura, a brilliant high-schoolA display of equestrian dressage by a rider mounting a horse and leading it into classic moves and steps. (From the French: Haute école) rider. The company performed six months each year in Vienna and spent the rest of the season touring the Austrian Empire, and the German and Italian states—where Virginie was born during their 1819 tour.

Alessandro Guerra left Christoph de Bach in 1826 to form his own company, with the Kenebels and Gaetano Ciniselli in tow. The previous year, the very young Virginie had just begun performing; she was six years old. She proved to have a natural aptitude for it, and besides her parents, she was in an environment of superior equestrian talents from whom she could learn rapidly. She specialized as a ballerina on horseback, working on the newly developed "panneau(French) A flat, padded saddle used by ballerinas on horseback.," a large flat saddle on which a ballerina could stand and do dance steps.

As a child, already, she caught the attention of audiences and professionals alike. In his book Das Buch von Zirkus (1926), Joseph Halperson quotes the comment of a chronicler of the time describing Virginie: "The painter who needs an ideal model for Cupidon can go there [to the circus] and find what he is looking for in this child. Nature and art join hands here to create something brilliant. One must admire the calm, the serenity and the dexterity with which this delicate girl moves on the back of a galloping horse."

Pretty, extremely graceful, Virginie was what is called a "natural." She enjoyed performing and, conscious of her emerging talent and the effect she had on her audiences, she strove to reach perfection. She learned mostly under the tutelage of her mother, as well as of other members of the Avrillon family, but there is no doubt that she observed the great artists along whom she had the chance to perform and tried early to emulate them. In her specialty, she was indeed a child prodigy.

Ballerinas on horseback were as old as the circus itself: the first one was none other than Patty Astley, the wife of the creator of the modern circus, Philip Astley. These gracious equestriennes struck elegant poses or sketched a few dance steps, standing on the back of their trotting, cantering, or galloping horses. The panneau(French) A flat, padded saddle used by ballerinas on horseback. allowed more elaborate dance steps—and its use began just as the Romantic Ballet era, served by outstanding prima ballerinas such as Marie Taglioni (1804-1884) and Fanny Elssler (1810-1884), was at its peak.

Both Taglioni and Elssler danced in Vienna, and it is quite possible that young Virginie saw them there: Filippo Taglioni, Marie's father, was at that time Ballet Master at the Vienna Opera, on the stage of which Marie Taglioni made her solo debut in 1922, at age eighteen, while a twelve-year-old Fanny Elssler was a dancer in the corps de ballet.

Born in Sweden of an Italian father and a Swedish mother (who was also a ballerina), Marie Taglioni spent most of her career in the Austrian Empire and in France, where she established herself as one of the greatest ballerinas of her time; she is credited for being the first ballerina to dance in pointe shoes and in tutu (in La Sylphide), which indeed contributed to her celebrity.

The Taglioni of The Circus

Over the years, Virginie Kenebel would build a repertoire that was inspired by those of Taglioni and other stars of the Romantic Ballet era. What made Virginie stand out in the equestrian world, however, is that she had the skills and grace that allowed her to transform what could be simple imitations in form of vignettes into creations of her own—among which La Cachucha, a Spanish folkdance that had been revisited by Fanny Esllser in the ballet Le Diable Boiteux.

Virginie's most celebrated piece, however, was to be La Sylphide ("The Sylph"), after Taglioni's much admired role—in a ballet that had been created and choreographed by Marie's father, Filippo Taglioni, in 1832 at the Paris Opera, after he had become its Ballet Master. It was the first time, too, that Marie danced "en pointes," and in the romantic tutu, a style that Virginie would adopt on her panneau(French) A flat, padded saddle used by ballerinas on horseback.. Hence, Virginie Kenebel would become known as the "Taglioni of the Circus."

Before Virginie Kenebel earned that distinguished nickname, however, she had already cultivated a successful career marked by increasing fame and widespread popularity. The Kenebel family parted ways with Alessandro Guerra and sought new opportunities by joining various companies—including their own troupe, with which they competed with François Avrillon’s company in Catalunya in 1831.

During that period, it seems that Sophie Kenebel devoted her time to raising her children, while the versatile Louis Kenebel found engagements for himself and his daughter. Yet, Virginie soon emerged as the family's most prominent member: As she matured in both age and skill, her remarkable talent made her the Kenebels' principal drawing card. Her growing reputation ensured that she was in high demand, and she quickly became the central reason for the family's engagements.

Little is documented of the Kenebels' activities after they left Guerra; however, we know that in 1832, they were touring with the company of Jacques Tourniaire—a remarkable equestrian and director who would introduce the Circus to Russia five years later. The Cirque Tourniaire had installed its construction(French) A temporary circus building, originally made of wood and canvas, and later, of steel elements supporting a canvas top and wooden wall. Also known as a "semi-construction." for the Christmas season on the Place des Quinconces in Bordeaux, where Virginie, who was thirteen then, made a strong impression.

When Virginie Kenebel returned to Bordeaux in the spring of 1833, that time with the Cirque Loisset, she had firmly established herself as a true emerging star in the equestrian world. Her latest creation, a personal interpretation of Marie Taglioni’s new ballet La Sylphide, captivated audiences. They were enchanted by Virginie's exceptional grace and talent, sometimes going as far as to express their admiration by dedicating poems to their favorite equestrienneA female equestrian, or horse trainer, horse presenter, or acrobat on horseback.—such was the impression she made on her many devotees. She was only fourteen, but "The Taglioni of the Circus" was born.

The Kenebels' whereabouts during the next four years are not well documented, but we know that they toured in Italy in 1833, another country where Virginie became popular. One must remember that, in the nineteenth century, horses were all important in everyone's daily life, and great equestrians—especially trickAny specific exercise in a circus act. riders—were appreciated by all strata of society. Female high-schoolA display of equestrian dressage by a rider mounting a horse and leading it into classic moves and steps. (From the French: Haute école) riders and ballerinas on horseback, however, were in a class of their own, and very much admired by the male element of the fashionable elite, which was well attuned to the subtleties of dressage and the grace of classical ballet.

Virginie Kenebel in Paris

Virginie Kenebel's reputation eventually reached Paris and caught the attention of the Franconis. Adolphe Franconi, was the régisseur(French) The stage (or ring) manager—and sometimes Ringmaster—in a French circus. (See also: Monsieur Loyal) (a title that, in the French circuses of the time, was akin to artistic director) of Louis Dejean's circuses, the Cirque Olympique on the Boulevard du Temple, and the brand new Cirque des Champs Élysées, its summer annex, in the Jardins des Champs-Élysées. (It was situated then where the Théâtre Marigny stands today.)

Antonio Franconi (1737-1836), the founder of the dynasty, and his sons, Laurent (1776-1849) and Henri (1779-1849), had been the pioneers of the French circus, especially in Paris, and the Cirque Olympique on the Boulevard du Temple (the third of that name) had been operated by Henri's son Adolphe (1802-1855), along with the dramatists Ferdinand Laloue (1794-1850) and Amable Vilain de Saint-Hilaire (1799-c.1865), until it went bankrupt in 1830&mdas;three years only after its opening! Louis Dejean, on whose land the circus had been built, helped the triumvirate out by buying the building and leasing it to its former owners.

Not yet a circus man, Louis Dejean (1797-1879) was already a shrewd businessman. A former butcher, he had made a considerable fortune providing meat for the foreign troops (from Britain, Prussia, Austria, the German states, and even Switzerland and Sardegna) that occupied France in 1814 after the fall of Napoléon. He had then invested most of his wealth in the acquisition of real estate in the capital, notably around the Boulevard du Temple, then Paris's theater and amusement epicenter.

When the Cirque Olympique went bankrupt again in 1833, Dejean took over what was now his property, but he was smart enough to keep Adolphe Franconi and Ferdinand Laloue, who were experienced professionals, in charge of the artistic side of the operation. Adolphe's package came replete with the other Franconis, notably Laurent, one of the greatest master equestrians of his generation, and his son Victor (1811-1897), himself a remarkable equestrian (who will publish a treatese of dressage, Le Cavalier et l'Écuyer, in 1891). Virginie Kenebel made her debut in Dejean's company at the Cirque des Champs-Élysées in the spring of 1837.

She was apparently engaged by Laurent Franconi, since the Cirque des Champs-Élysées operated under a "privilège" (license) that required the venue to present only equestrian performances (Laurent's domain), in contrast to the Cirque Olympique, which featured a traditional ring and a large stage, following the custom of the period, and was famous for staging elaborate pantomimes (or "hippodramas")—popular theatrical spectacles combining horsemanship, music, and dramatic staging. These pantomimes often had military themes that celebrated Napoléon and French patriotism. The legitimate theaters of the Boulevard (they were many) complained that the Cirque Olympique, which had Paris's largest house, created unfair competition. The new limited privilège for the Champs-Élysées ensured that this would not happen again.

The Cirque des Champs-Élysées had been immediately established as the true "temple" of great horsemanship—but the circus of 1837 was not yet the elegant building that was to replace it, closer to the Rond Point, in 1843: It was a rather uncomfortable wooden construction(French) A temporary circus building, originally made of wood and canvas, and later, of steel elements supporting a canvas top and wooden wall. Also known as a "semi-construction." where the audience sat on rough bleachers under which the stables were located. Yet, due to its fashionable emplacement, its clientele was, from the very beginning, the Parisian high society, where horsemanship connoisseurs—and amateurs of pretty equestriennes—were aplenty. Virginie Kenebel, who was just eighteen, had been offered a contract of 1,500 francs per year (about US$ 30,000 today), which was quite a good salary at the time, and, like the rest of the company, she was to appear in the winter season at Dejean's Cirque Olympique.

Virginie was in good company: the beautiful Antoinette Lejars, née Cuzent, a circus star of first magnitude, presented her horses in 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), as did the greatest horseman of the time, François Baucher, who was also the circus's equestrian director; the extremely talented 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., equestrian, and acrobat, Jean-Baptiste Auriol, whom Virginie had known at the Cirque Loisset (where he had debuted), was already a fixture of Dejean's company and on his way to unrivalled stardom; and there were the young bareback riders François and Baptiste Loisset, the sons of Baptiste Loisset. Also in Dejean's company were Antoinette Lejars's brother, the intrepid Paul Cuzent, creator of the spectacular "Roman Games" and a multitalented equestrian, and his equally talented sisters, Armantine and Pauline (who, under the tutelage of François Baucher, would eventually rival Caroline Loyo)—all of whom were key components of Dejean's company. To this prestigious roster one must add Jean Lejars, Antoinette's husband, who was another horseman of considerable talent.

The Tribulations of Victor and Virginie

A journalist of the period described Virginie Kenebel as "one of the prettiest and most agile equestriennes of the Cirque Olympique." This was not lost on twenty-six years old Victor Franconi, who performed in the company and began to pay serious attention to Virginie. In November, Louis Kenebel, who had not been included in his daughter's engagement (he was not in the same league) and resented probably the loss of his meal ticket, decided to sue Laurent and Victor Franconi for "détournement et séquestration de sa fille mineure" ("corruption and kidnapping of his minor daughter").

The Journal des Débats reported that Maître Delangle, the Franconis' lawyer, reminded Louis Kenebel in court by that his daughter was eighteen, and therefore not a minor anymore, and that she had been legally employed by the Franconis with a rightful contract. The Franconis were swiftly acquitted and left the tribunal under the applause of the circus's performers, who had come to support them (and Virginie); as for the Kenebels, they left Paris and went on with their career without the bonus of their talented elder daughter. Victor Franconi quickly made Virginie part of the Franconi clan.

In June 1844, Virginie performed at last in the brand-new Cirque des Champs-Élysées, an elegant building designed for Dejean by Jacques Ignace Hittorf (1792-1867), the architect who had planned the Place de la Concorde. Hittorf had been asked to remodel the Jardin des Champs-Élysées, incorporating in it the Cirque des Champs-Élysées near the Rond-Point on the north side of the avenue, and its counterpart on the south side, the Panorama (today the Théâtre du Rond-Point), which was basically its architectural replica (and gives us a good idea of how the circus, which was demolished in 1900, looked).

Yet, there had been some seismic changes in the circus organization: Louis Dejean had just left his two circuses to a new operator, Jules Gallois, a fellow real-estate owner from Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, with theatrical ambitions. Gallois created a new company, the Société Gallois et Cie, to manage the Cirque Olympique and the Cirque des Champs Élysées. Unfortunately, he lacked the abilities needed to make a good showman, and he didn't have a strong business acumen either! Nonetheless, like Dejean, Gallois kept the Franconis and Laloue to take care of the artistic side of his operation.

The company he inherited was as brilliant as ever. Victor Franconi and Virginie Kenebel, who had gained in importance, were surrounded with such equestrian stars as Gaetano Ciniselli, whom Virginie had known in Guerra's company, and his wife Adelaïde Hinné, Camille Leroux, Laura Bassin, the Loissets, and the "Diva de la Cravache" ("The Diva of the Whip"), the indomitable Caroline Loyo, the most famous high-schoolA display of equestrian dressage by a rider mounting a horse and leading it into classic moves and steps. (From the French: Haute école) equestrienneA female equestrian, or horse trainer, horse presenter, or acrobat on horseback. of the era, who had married François Loisset and was Baucher's rival as the brightest star of Dejean's company. At the Cirque des Champs-Élysées, Baucher and Loyo performed on alternate days, since Baucher, who was after all the equestrian director, didn't like her competition. There were also Auriol, of course, who had now some competition in the person of another 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.-acrobat, Victor Chabre, known as "L'éclair" ("the flashIn juggling, to flash is the act of juggling objects in a move that is sustained for only a very short time.").

This didn't last long, however. The company was increasingly dissatisfied with Gallois's management. Paul Cuzent had already left with his family (including Antoinette Lejars) to form a company of his own, the Cirque de Paris, in association with Baptiste Loisset and his brother-in-law, Jean Lejars. Dejean had strongly resented their departure, principally because they were some of his most precious assets. But Gallois was soon to encounter much more significant defections.

First, it was Ferdinand Laloue and Victor Franconi who began to consider opening Paris's first Hippodrome at the top of the Champs Élysées, in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe. It would be another summer venue, albeit on a much larger scale, dedicated to equestrian arts—and therefore a direct competition to the Cirque des Champs-Élysées. Contractually, nothing prevented them to do so. Laloue and Franconi opened the Hippodrome de la Barrière de l'Étoile, a vast arena in open air, on July 3, 1845. Virginie Kenebel, who had formed a couple with Victor Franconi for some time by then, joined them, along with a few other members of the company.

Then, in the fall 1846, the Cuzent-Lejars company arrived in Saint-Petersburg, in Russia, on its way to create Russia's first National Circus. There, they were in competition with the company of Alessandro Guerra, who immediately tried to counteract by bringing over the last important stalwarts of Dejean's old company: Gaetano Ciniselli and his family, and more significantly, Gallois's last superstar, the great Caroline Loyo. Victor Chabre then left to rejoin Cuzent in Saint-Petersburg.

Gallois tried to sue all these defectors, but to no avail, and his financial situation had become increasingly alarming. He obtained the authorization to sell the Cirque Olympique to Adolphe Adam, the composer of the ballets Giselle and Le Corsaire; it lost its ring and became a legitimate theater, the Opéra National. Gallois was left with the Cirque des Champs-Élysées, the season of which was limited to the summer months. In 1847, to prevent further disasters, in 1847, Louis Dejean reclaimed his last circus from Gallois and quickly rebuilt its company.

Epilogue: Madame Victor Franconi

Meanwhile, Virginie Kenebel and Victor Franconi had had a son, Marie Luigi Charles Franconi, known as Charles (1844-1910), who was born on July on July 3, 1844, in Turin, in Italy. Then, on February 18, 1846, Vrginie gave birth to their second child, Marie Antoinette Angelina, born February 18,1846, in Passy, then an elegant commune on the Seine before it was annexed to Paris in 1860, where they lived. Virginie Kenebel and Victor Franconi finally tied the knot in Paris, on June 3, 1846. They would have another daughter, Marie Louise Laurence Victorine, born on September 17, 1856, in Brucourt, in the Calvados region of France, known for… its calvados.

Henceforth, Virginie would be known as "Madame Victor Franconi." She had ended her exceptional career before the birth of her son Charles. She was only twenty-five then, but she had already been performing for nearly two decades—with an astonishing success that never demented from the very beginning to the end. Victor Franconi would continue to work for Dejean until 1873, when he took over his two circuses (the Cirque des Champs Élysées and the Cirque d'Hiver, which had replaced the old Cirque Olympique): The Franconi dynasty had finally regained its original position as Paris's first circus family. His son Charles would succeed him in 1897.

Virginie Kenebel passed away on August 31, 1884, in the family's residence, 22 rue de la Faisanderie in Passy, which was now part of the posh sixteenth arrondissement of Paris. She was sixty-five. Except for old circus afficionados and horsemanship enthusiasts, few remembered that she had once been Virginie Kenebel, the "Taglioni of the Circus." Victor Franconi passed away thirteen years later, on June 21, 1897, at age eighty-six.

Image Gallery

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  Virginie Kenebel (c.1840)