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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
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[[File:Ricketts,_Equestrian_Hero.png|300px|right]]
 
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===JOHN BILL RICKETTS===
 
  
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On April 3, 1793, a crowd of theatergoers, horsemanship enthusiasts, and prying citizens gathered at the corner of Market and Twelfth Streets in Philadelphia to witness the debut performance of Mr. John Bill Ricketts's company at the Circus. The Circus was a roofless arena that could accommodate some eight-hundred spectators (divided between pit and boxes) surrounding a circular riding space filled in with a mixture of soil and sawdust, forty-two feet in diameter—the ring.
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===CIRQUE BUREAU===
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[[File:Bureau_Frères_Program.jpg|right|200px]]
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From the late nineteenth century to the early 1950s, the Cirque Bureau was one of France's most popular circuses. Over its long existence, it had built in the French provinces a faithful audience that appreciated the constant high quality of its offerings and its simplicity, devoid of the advertising hype of its competitors. Wherever it went, its visits were expected and anticipated, practically at the same time each year. Sadly, this steady routine was disturbed by World War II and the Nazi occupation of France—and Jules Glasner, its last director, had a hard time trying to restore its place in the new economic era that followed the war: The Cirque Bureau folded its big top in 1953, at the end of what was advertised as its "99th season."
  
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The wooden construction had been erected in a matter of weeks by Ricketts, a British equestrian who had arrived from Scotland the previous year and had quickly established a riding school in Philadelphia, then the capital of the newly formed United States of America. Ricketts (1769-1802) had followed the example of Philip Astley, who had established just such a riding school in London in 1768, at the foot of Westminster Bridge, before creating there the first modern circus two years later.
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Its founder was Jean Bureau (1836-1899), born on May 31, 1836, in Villeréal, a small village of the Lot et Garonne department that has kept its medieval architecture and is classified today as one of the "most beautiful villages of France." His father, Jean, Sr. (1809-1844), a carpenter and the son of a farmer, and his mother, Françoise (née Arché, 1815-1880), had two other children: Cosme (1838-1885) and Jeanne (1844-1908). Jean Bureau was just eight years old when he lost his father, and to alleviate the burden on his family, he was soon placed in apprenticeship to a blacksmith.
  
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Before long, a small group of performers from Ricketts's former British company joined him in Philadelphia. Among them were his brother Francis (1777-?), an equestrian and tumbler; Mr. Spinacuta, the rope-dancer, along with his wife, an attractive equestrienne who rode two horses at full gallop; Mr. McDonald, another tumbler who performed comic acrobatic intermezzos as the Clown; and Ricketts's pupil, young Master Strobach. The performance included a great many "feats of horsemanship," most of them presented by Ricketts himself, rope-dancing, some tumbling, and McDonald's acrobatic parodies. This was the first circus show ever put on in America.
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In 1853, a small traveling equestrian circus came to Villeréal. It was a modest affair owned by William Tagg (1822-1884), and his wife Elizabeth, née Woodley, a couple of British traveling performers who had long settled in France. The Taggs needed a blacksmith to reshoe their horses, and his boss sent seventeen-year-old Jean Bureau, a horse lover, to do the job. Jean was immediately fascinated by these people whose horizon seemed limitless; he asked William Tagg if he could join the company as a groom—and the Taggs, whose human resources were probably wanting, left Villeréal with Jean in tow.  
  
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Young and good-looking, talented and enterprising, Ricketts had become an instant sensation. But if his contemporaries have described his acts extensively, little is known of his early life outside of circus. Fortunately, Gilbert Stuart left a superb, if unfinished, portrait which is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and John Durang, one of the first American actors—who worked for Ricketts as a dancer, equestrian, acrobat, clown, scenic painter, and deputy manager from 1795-1800—has provided some hints of the man's character in his Memoir, composed circa 1820.
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Thus, Jean Bureau had started his circus career. Young, athletic, and interested in horsemanship, he trained in trick-riding and quickly became a proficient bareback rider. Having become a full-fledged performer in the company, he began to pay attention to the young Anna Tagg (1840-1913), the director's daughter, who was born in Paris and was four years his junior. Apparently, the feeling was mutual—to the extent that, in 1862, Anna gave birth to their first child, Françoise Elizabeth (known as Elizabeth, b.1862). It was time indeed to legalize their union: The young couple was married on March 6, 1863, in Cenon, in the outskirts of Bordeaux. By then, Jean was twenty-seven and Anna, twenty-three.... ([[Cirque Bureau|more...]])
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John Bill Ricketts was born in October 1769 in Bilston, a small town near the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, to Thomas Ricketts and his wife, Kinborrow, née Perry. His baptism was recorded on October 28, which suggests he was born a few days before. The Ricketts family, which was of Norman extraction and whose original patronymic was Ricard, had long belonged to the landed gentry of Staffordshire. At the turn of the eighteenth century, the elder branch settled in Jamaica, although several members of this very large branch of the family returned to England, either to study or to resettle; others established themselves in the colony of New Jersey in America. Thus Ricketts was not in alien territory when he landed in the newly formed United States. Neither would he be heading to unknown territories when, at the end of his American adventures, he sailed to the West Indies.... ([[John Bill Ricketts|more...]])
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==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
  
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* [[Astley's Amphitheatre]], circus
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* [[Alexis Gruss, Jr/fr|Alexis Gruss, Jr]] (version française)
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* [[Virginie Kenebel]], equestrienne
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* [[Cirque_d'Hiver/fr|Le Cirque d'Hiver]] (Version française)
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* [[Chongqing_Acrobatic_Troupe|Chongqing Acrobatic Troupe]], History
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* [[Virginie Kenebel/fr|Virginie Kenebel]] (Version française)
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* [[Cirkus_Verdensteater_(Oslo)|Cirkus Verdensteater]], Oslo Circus Building
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* [[Cirque Bureau]], circus (English/Français)
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* [[Eddie Murillo]], Circus Agent and Producer
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* [[Richiardi Jr.]], magician
  
 
==New Videos==
 
==New Videos==
  
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* [[Richiardi_Video_(1974)|Richiardi Jr.]], illusionist (1974)
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* [[Kaylicoas_Video_(c.1980)|The Kaylicoas]], perch-pole balancing (c.1980)
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* [[Francescos_Video_(1974)|The Francescos]], clowns (1974)
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* [[Florian_Richter_Video_(2026)|Florian Richter]], liberty act (2026)
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* [[Ronni_Niemen_Video_(2010)|Ronni Niemen]], juggler (2010)
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* [[Sinnekos_Video_(1977)|The Sinnekos]], hand-to-hand balancing (1977)
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* [[Heaven_Niemen_Video_(2025)|Heaven Niemen]], trick roping act (2025)
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* [[Bobby_Roberts_Video_(1977)|Bobby Roberts, Jr.]], elephant act (1977)
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* [[Franchinni_Video_(2025)|Duo Franchinni]], bicycle act (2025)
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* [[Quiros_Video_(c.2020)|Los Quiros]], high wire (c.2020)
  
 
==New Oral Histories==
 
==New Oral Histories==

Latest revision as of 19:51, 9 February 2026


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Circopedia is an independent educational website, initially created as a project of the original, non-profit Big Apple Circus.

In The Spotlight

CIRQUE BUREAU

Bureau Frères Program.jpg

From the late nineteenth century to the early 1950s, the Cirque Bureau was one of France's most popular circuses. Over its long existence, it had built in the French provinces a faithful audience that appreciated the constant high quality of its offerings and its simplicity, devoid of the advertising hype of its competitors. Wherever it went, its visits were expected and anticipated, practically at the same time each year. Sadly, this steady routine was disturbed by World War II and the Nazi occupation of France—and Jules Glasner, its last director, had a hard time trying to restore its place in the new economic era that followed the war: The Cirque Bureau folded its big topThe circus tent. America: The main tent of a traveling circus, where the show is performed, as opposed to the other tops. (French, Russian: Chapiteau) in 1953, at the end of what was advertised as its "99th season."

Its founder was Jean Bureau (1836-1899), born on May 31, 1836, in Villeréal, a small village of the Lot et Garonne department that has kept its medieval architecture and is classified today as one of the "most beautiful villages of France." His father, Jean, Sr. (1809-1844), a carpenter and the son of a farmer, and his mother, Françoise (née Arché, 1815-1880), had two other children: Cosme (1838-1885) and Jeanne (1844-1908). Jean Bureau was just eight years old when he lost his father, and to alleviate the burden on his family, he was soon placed in apprenticeship to a blacksmith.

In 1853, a small traveling equestrian circus came to Villeréal. It was a modest affair owned by William Tagg (1822-1884), and his wife Elizabeth, née Woodley, a couple of British traveling performers who had long settled in France. The Taggs needed a blacksmith to reshoe their horses, and his boss sent seventeen-year-old Jean Bureau, a horse lover, to do the job. Jean was immediately fascinated by these people whose horizon seemed limitless; he asked William Tagg if he could join the company as a groom—and the Taggs, whose human resources were probably wanting, left Villeréal with Jean in tow.

Thus, Jean Bureau had started his circus career. Young, athletic, and interested in horsemanship, he trained in trickAny specific exercise in a circus act.-riding and quickly became a proficient bareback rider. Having become a full-fledged performer in the company, he began to pay attention to the young Anna Tagg (1840-1913), the director's daughter, who was born in Paris and was four years his junior. Apparently, the feeling was mutual—to the extent that, in 1862, Anna gave birth to their first child, Françoise Elizabeth (known as Elizabeth, b.1862). It was time indeed to legalize their union: The young couple was married on March 6, 1863, in Cenon, in the outskirts of Bordeaux. By then, Jean was twenty-seven and Anna, twenty-three.... (more...)

New Essays and Biographies

New Videos

  • The Kaylicoas, perch-poleLong perch held vertically on a performer's shoulder or forehead, on the top of which an acrobat executes various balancing figures. balancing (c.1980)
  • Florian Richter, liberty"Liberty act", "Horses at liberty": Unmounted horses presented from the center of the ring by an equestrian directing his charges with his voice, body movements, and signals from a ''chambrière'' (French), or long whip. act (2026)
  • The Sinnekos, hand-to-handAn acrobatic act in which one or more acrobats do hand-balancing in the hands of an under-stander. balancing (1977)
  • Bobby Roberts, Jr., elephant act (1977)
  • Los Quiros, 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. (c.2020)

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
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