THE HISTORY OF THE CIRCUS Author(s): ANTONY D. HIPPISLEY COXE Source: Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol.

104, No. 4975 (13TH APRIL, 1956), pp. 414417 Published by: Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41364918 . Accessed: 29/01/2014 01:49
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THE

HISTORY

OF

THE

CIRCUS

A Dr. MannJuvenile Lecture by ANTONY D. HIPPISLEY COXE

, 4thJanuary , 7956 Wednesday The circusis notjust a Christmas forthechildren. treat knowsthat Everyone mostofthemlove it; butthen,so do mostsensiblegrown-ups. If there are more children thanparentsin a circusaudienceit onlygoes to provethatthereare moresensiblechildren thanadults.The reasonforthisis thata lot of grown-up to finda hidden meaningin things.A kind action people are alwaystrying makes them search for an ulteriormotive,and few things are accepted at their facevalue. Yet the circsmust alwaysbe acceptedin this way,because it is the spectacleof actuality. in the circus ringis exactly Everytrick performed what it appears to be; and there are eyes all roundto see thatthereis no deception. It is no use trying to tracethishistory ofthecircusbackto Greeceand Rome, for theclassiccircuses and amphitheatres fora completely weredesigned different of know of we back no more the as entertainment. The it, circus, type story goes than 187 years,to the timewhen Philip Astleydiscovered if he that, galloped in a circlewhile standing on a horse's back, he could use centrifugal upright force to helphimkeephis balance.In thiswaytheringwas born; and thesecret ofthecircusis thering.To thiscircleof sawdustcamejugglers, acrobats, strong - in fact,all thosewhose featsreliedon dexterity, and gymnasts men,trainers and practicalskill. For the ringenabled themto perform in the midst agility of the spectacle. From of the spectators, thus establishing the authenticity 's Amphitheatre in WaterlooBridgeRoad the circusspread throughout Astley the world.Everywhere the centralpivotof a circusperformance remained the for whom The the the first circus is was one trick-rider, ring designed. really international because humanskillcan be appreciated entertainment, anywhere; it does not relyon languageto get across. An American Variousnationalities to its development. contributed invented the mechanicor ridingmachine,now used in training all trick-riders; and a artistes like in the to rehearse on Fredianis enabling safety 'three-men-high' horse back, and Lucio Christiani fromthe back of one to turna somersault horseoverthesecondto land on a third, in Indian fileroundthe as theycanter A whenhe saw thecords called the invented Leotard, ring. Frenchman, trapeze, ofa ventilator a down roof of bath.The Rumanians from the swimming hanging bar the some of the greatest act. Czechoslovakians animal developed produced trainers. There is morenonsensetalkedabout animaltraining than any otheraspect of the circus.I once set out to see formyself if training could be carriedout 4H

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THE HISTORY OF THE CIRCUS I3TH APRIL1956 I chosecats,themostdifficult animals in theworldto train. entirely bykindness. walked the worked a see-saw, counted, Theyjumpedthrough hoops, tight-rope, and rangbells.To teachthem to ringbells, I madethemlittle and belfries, tucked a pieceofmeatbetween thestrands oftherope.Theysoonlearnt to pull therope to getat themeat.The nextthingwas to get themto dissociate the meatfrom whilestillremembering theropeitself, that theaction ofpulling a reward. brought

Mr JosMoreno themeeting demonstrating during 415

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Journal of the royal society of arts 13THapril 1956 in size, whilebigger bitsweregivenfrom So themeatin theropewas decreased hand. were while looked Soon the at me. The fact rope they they pulling my themat all. thata bell rangdid not worry whether lionsor tigers, Such is the basis of all good animaltraining, bearsor of human a blend the But the circus is as are pupils. dexterity well as elephants animalskill,so let us studythe juggler.In the old daysjugglingused to be or manipulator But whiletheillusionist withconjuring. uses thequickness linked of the hand to deceivethe eye, the juggleruses the quicknessof the hand to enchantthe eye. Again thereshould be no deception.Let us studythe basic of the 'shower'and the 'cascade'. Eitherthe balls follow movements each other or theycrosseach other,right to leftand leftto right roundin one direction, simultaneously. such as this comes into acrobaticworktoo, and again and agility Dexterity takes the troubleto workit if a spectator can be appreciated the difficulties on thewire.Whichis themoredifficult, Let us takea somersault out forhimself. ? Most people would say a back somersault or a back somersault a forward ; but are traced throughin the mind's eye, it will be realized if the movements as the feetapproachthe wireto land, the eyes will thatin a back somersault, somersault be in a positionto help guide the feet.In a forward theywill not. to perform on wire than a back is more difficult So a forward somersault somersault. is one of the oldestturnswhichgo to makeup a modern circus Wirewalking In to ancient Greece. our word does back It acrobat fact, go programme. really kind of performer on the rope. The a Greekwordfora certain was originally a word which as is stillused , too, appreciated funambule funambulari Romans^ netscomin Franceto-day.And forthemthe EmperorDiocletianmade safety a or sense of the wireso as demands baract, balance, Just rope-walking pulsory. If one swingsat at which Rumaniansseem to excel, requiresgreatstrength. as one comesdownto thevertical, armslength rounda barthepull on thewrists is fourand a halftimesone's own weight. withthebar directly overhead, acts. They use a sortof see-saw, From Hungary come the best spring-board one end, catapultshis partner, a from onto and one person, pedestal jumping land on the shouldersof another air to other end in the on the up standing a column,four-men-high, of the troupe,called the bearer.Sometimes member areexactly as they is no faking is builtup in thisway.Againthere ; things appear. one act in the circuswhich,becauseit is not serious, There is, however, may Clownsintroduce amountof trickery: thisis clowning. a note includea certain of fact.They,whenour nerveshave been screwed of fantasy intoa programme of and danger, enable us to releaseour emotion thrills the excitement with up whitelooks even whiterif we place a spot of in laughter. Justas something in thecircusenhanced so is thesenseofactuality blackalongside, bythepretence : the clownproper, who is of the clowns.There are two maintypesof clowns face is whose and white dressed in satin and sequins, always alwayselegantly others into often leads his he and whonevergetsintotrouble it) partner, (though the Auguste,who wears baggy trousersin loud checks,whose make-up is 416

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THE HISTORY OF THE CIRCUS I3TH APRIL1956 too, goes grotesqueand who gets into any amountof scrapes. Their history, the Comediadell'Arte back far beyondthe circus; back through , to Ancient thatto classicalGreece. Rome,and before But there and technique of some of the performers. So muchforthe history and proprietors. Here you will would be no circusif therewere no directors finddynasties:familieswho oftenspecialize in one branch of the business, The greatest as well as beingdirectors. have been horsemen. Franconi, Astley, Renz and the Schumannsand Kniets who Cooke, Carr, Rancy, Ciniselli, who presented horses.These are are still withus- were greatcircusfamilies animal and men. Krone were the aristocracy. Barnum,Sangerand Hagenbeck of of and the the craft masters Sarassaniwereessentially showmen, organization art of publicity. Behind the scenes thereis alwaysworkto do. Even a small two circuswithfourlions,twelvehorses,six ponies,six dogs, threemonkeys, in for food a of bearsand one elephant takes lot organization, arranging supplies of a show likethiswould have alone. And it costsa lot of money.A proprietor to spend 60 in keep alone. musthave courageas well as performers: fate, courageto fight Proprietors be cruel.Last yeara Germancircuswentto Turkey. whichcan often They were not allowedto takethe moneytheyhad made out of the country. They landed whichmeanttheyhad to pay fivetimesthe normal at Malta in a dock strike, the tent, rates to get the ships unloaded. Three days later a gale destroyed themacrossto Sicily.At Christmas, in Ragusa, and theRoyalNavyhad to ferry floodedthe tent. Between and waterfailed.Next storms the town'selectricity tunnelcollapsedon theirtrain.At Palermothe Messina and Palermoa railway elephants stampeded.In Rome it was so cold thatno one daredgo out, and the . The manager its debts in Italy to 600,000 circuslost 450 a day, bringing said, 'It looks as thoughfatewas againstus. But if we go down,then we go Such is the spiritof the circus. dcwn fighting'. GENERAL LONDON EXHIBITIONS OUTSTANDING the laterpainting of Sir Alfred to dissociate from It is impossible Munnings and whollyuninhibited his exuberant Indeed, the catalogueof his personality. at present the Diploma Gallery of the Royal of over300 works, exhibition filling comments on his work, refers one to the artist's ingenuous continually Academy, and a lifetime's his racymemoirs. alike culledfrom painting Autobiography testify of thisuntiring man: of steeplechases and the drowsy to themanifold experiences his studiosaddle-horse, in white astride breeches of halfthepeerage sitting Stour, at theChelseaArtsBall,ofencounters withprinces, and nights of dayson Exmoor It wouldbe a churlish visitor who could remain and vagabonds. grooms, jockeys, and zest. to so muchbuoyancy quiteindifferent whofailed to recognize one might the It wouldalsobe an uncritical think, visitor, character thatprevailed and evenflashy, ofhis work moreobviously demonstrative, a securely hadbecome established theartist after theFirst World War,when sporting hasbeenableto recover inthepast35 years, thatSirAlfred the It is notoften, artist. 417 NOTES

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