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The story of circus. Circuses have been a popular form of entertainment for centuries, but their acts have changed greatly over time. The V&A holds in its collection a large number of objects that reveal the fascinating history of the circus. Print depicting Philip Astley, unknown maker, about 1800, England.
- Philip Astley: The Father of The Modern Circus
- The Circus Is Born
- The American Traveling Circus
- Circus Conquers The World
- Evolution of The Circus Performance
- The End of The Equestrian Circus
- Circus Today
In 1768, Astley settled in London and opened a riding-school near Westminster Bridge, where he taught in the morning and performed his "feats of horsemanship" in the afternoon. In London at this time, modern commercial theater (a word that encompassed all sorts of performing arts) was in the process of developing. Astley's building featured a circu...
Astley opened Paris's first circus, the Amphithéâtre Anglois, in 1782. That same year, his first competitor arose: equestrian Charles Hughes (1747-97), a former member of Astley's company. In association with Charles Dibdin, a prolific songwriter and author of pantomimes, Hughes opened a rival amphitheater and riding-school in London, the Royal Cir...
In the early nineteenth century, the United States was a new, developing country with few cities large enough to sustain long-term resident circuses. Furthermore, settlers were steadily pushing the American frontier westward, establishing new communities in a process of inexorable expansion. To reach their public, showmen had little choice but to t...
In 1836, the British equestrian Thomas Cooke visited the United States and brought back to England the American traveling-circus tent. This innovation was to ease the task of a group of European circus pioneers consumed by global ambitions. The most remarkable of these early touring companies was managed by the Italian equestrian Giuseppe Chiarini(...
From its inception, the core of the circus performance had been equestrian acts (trickAny specific exercise in a circus act.-riding, bareback acrobatics, dressage or High School, presentation of horses "at liberty"Liberty act", "Horses at liberty": Unmounted horses presented from the center of the ring by an equestrian directing his charges with hi...
The most consequential early-twentieth-century innovation in the circus, however, occurred in Russia. In 1919, Lenin nationalized the Russian circuses, and the vast majority of their performers, natives of Western Europe, fled the country. Faced with the task of training a core of uniquely Russian performers, the Soviet government established, in 1...
There was obviously a strong planetary need for a circus renaissance: That same year (1974), in Adelaide, Australia, a young company of clowns, acrobats and aerialists that called itself "New Circus" began to perform and attract attention. It was followed a year later by the Soapbox Circus; both companies merged in 1977, to become Circus Oz. Meanwh...
May 17, 2017 · The circus as it’s known today can be traced to 1768, when trick rider Philip Astley discovered that when his horse galloped in a circle, the centrifugal and centripetal forces allowed him to...
November 12, 2023. ( 2023-11-12) The Circus is an American documentary television series initially following the 2016 presidential race, [1] [2] the Trump administration, the 2020 United States presidential election, and then the Biden administration.
The earliest circus in Rome was the Circus Maximus, built in the Old Kingdom era. When finished, it could receive 250,000 people, 400m long and 90m wide. Circus Flaminius, Circus Neronis, and Circus of Maxentius are other famous circuses of the Roman era. The modern circus began in the 18th century with Philip Astley, a cavalry officer from ...
The Circus. This four-hour mini-series tells the story of one of the most popular and influential forms of entertainment in American history. Through the intertwined stories of several of the...
A circus is an entertainment or spectacle usually consisting of trained animal acts and exhibitions of human skill and daring. A circus is typically held in a circular performance area usually bounded by a short fence. The ring may be enclosed in an arena, in a building designed for circus performances, or in a tent.
