Auteurs : Thayer, Stuart (Auteur)

Date de publication : 2005

Langue : Anglais

Description : [6] p. : ill. ; 28 cm.

Sujets :
Histoire des arts du cirque - États-Unis

Collection : Bibliothèque de l'École nationale de cirque

Localisation : Traitement documentaire

Ex. 1 — Consultation sur place

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Circus life : performing and laboring under America's big top shows, 1830-1920The nineteenth century saw the American circus move from a reviled and rejected form of entertainment to the “Greatest Show on Earth.” Circus Life by Micah D. Childress looks at this transition from the perspective of the people who owned and worked in circuses and how they responded to the new incentives that rapid industrialization made possible.
The circus has long been a subject of fascination for many, as evidenced by the millions of Americans that have attended circus performances over many decades since 1870, when the circus established itself as a truly unique entertainment enterprise. Yet the few analyses of the circus that do exist have only examined the circus as its own closed microcosm—the “circus family.” Circus Life, on the other hand, places circus employees in the larger context of the history of US workers and corporate America. Focusing on the circus as a business-entertainment venture, Childress pushes the scholarship on circuses to new depths, examining the performers, managers, and laborers’ lives and how the circus evolved as it grew in popularity over time. Beginning with circuses in the antebellum era, Childress examines changes in circuses as gender balances shifted, industrialization influenced the nature of shows, and customers and crowds became increasingly more middle-class.
As a study in sport and social history, Childress’s account demonstrates how the itinerant nature of the circus drew specific types of workers and performers, and how the circus was internally in constant upheaval due to the changing profile of its patrons and a changing economy. [editor summary]
Downsizing and transforming : the post industrial american circus
The Circus at the Edge of the Earth : Travels with the Great Wallenda CircusWilkins chronicles a month on the road in his native Canada with the Great Wallenda Circus in the spring of 1997 and, in the process, offers remarkable insight into a subcultureAthe diverse assortment of gymnasts, animal trainers, daredevils and wanderers who identify themselves as circus folk. Ricky Wallenda, the producer, inherited his famous name from his grandfather Karl Wallenda, the patriarch of the famous "Flying Wallendas" circus family. Wallenda, forced off the high wire and into show production by two harrowing accidents and haunted by the memory of family and personal tragedy. [editor summary]
A tale of origins : deconstructiong North American «cirque» : where québécois and americain circus cultures meet
En route to the great eastern circus : and other essays on circus historyWilliam L. Slout, entertainment historian par excellence, here provides five fascinating essays on the development of the American traveling circus in the post-Civil War era. These vivid essays, highlighted by numerous contemporaneous excerpts from local newspapers, help bring a long-forgotten era alive again. [editor summary]
A reckless era the evolution of trapezeA typical nineteenth-century program was overwhelmingly a presentation of horse acts. There were child riders, women riders and men riders. There were two, four and six horse acts. There was hurdle riding, dressage and even horses that performed riderless. From seventy-five to ninety percent of the acts in a circus of that time involved horses. The popularity of the rider was a reflection of the place of the horse in society. Nearly everyone in the nineteenth-century owned, bought, sole, rode or drove horses, even in urban areas. Because of this they appreciated watching fine animals brought to the peak of training.

The decade of the 1880’s saw the beginning of the greatest period of expansion in America. Almost every aspect of life grew at a rapid pace. Immigration, financial structures and the construction of the cities all boomed exponentially. With this, the simple circus of the Civil War era became touched with what has been termed giantism. Competition between the showmen led to the acquisition of herds of elephants, many caged menageries, expanded programs and huge tents, seating as many as seven or eight thousand people. The trapeze acts, which had been confined to single performers in the low-ceilinged tents of the sixties, now became the flying acts of our time. With fifty and sixty foot high tents two and three hundred feet long, there was at least room for these aerial acts, which until that time had been confined to theatres and halls. It was this change that led to the relative demise of the horse acts, which had not changed, essentially, since the beginning of the institution. The trapeze performers, high above the crowd, throwing their bodies through the air, literally defying injury, became the favorites of the crowd. To this day, it is the aerial acts that are the climax of the circus programs.

Surprisingly, the literature of the circus has lagged far behind the popularity of the flying trapeze. Moreover, the history of these acts has been virtually ignored until quite recently. Why this should be, we are not sure, but we are thankful that Steve Gossard has decided to take upon himself the research into and chronicling of that history. There is something of present excitement as well as nostalgia in watching men and women thrust their bodies through the air in what is often the most graceful and athletic pursuits. That their efforts have a long and interesting history is borne out by the pages that follow.

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