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This beautiful book charts the development of the circus as an art form around the world, from antiquity to the present day.

Using over 200 circus related artworks from the French National Library's private collections, celebrated cultural historian Pascal Jacob tells the story of travelling entertainers and their art and trade. From nomadic animal tamers of the Dark Ages to European jugglers and acrobats of the 1800s, from the use of the circus as Soviet propaganda to the 20th-century Chinese performance art renaissance, this is an exhaustive history with a uniquely international scope.

Jacob draws on both rare and famous artworks, including prints dating from the 13th century, and paintings by Picasso and Doré. In doing so he demonstrates the circus to be a visual and physical masterpiece, constantly moving and evolving, and just as exciting an experience for audiences now as it was 1,000 years ago.

The world of the circus has a long and colourful history, but it was with a man named Philip Astley that the 'modern' circus was founded. It was 250 years ago, in April 1768, that Astley pegged out a circular ride on the banks of the Thames and gave performances of trick riding to a paying audeince. Trick riding was nothing new, so what made Astley so popular? He was an accomplished horseman, a military hero and an instincitve showman. Above all, he was an entrepreneur who realized that people would pay good money to be entertained--and to be entertained well. He created the comic character of Billy Buttons, and other acts were added to his performances: clowns, rope dancers, tumblers, and strongmen. The circus, as we might recognize it today, was born. _Father of the Modern Circus-- 'Billy Buttons'_ investigates the life and times of this veritable giant of the circus world. From his early days as an apprentice cabinetmaker and his military exploits in the 15th Dragoons to the trials and tribulations of establishing himself as a respected performer and his international successes in France and Ireland, this book gives a detailed account of the larger than life figure that was Philip Astley. [editor summary]

In this fascinating and carefully researched book, Dominique Jando tells us when, why and how the former sergeant-major of a British Hussars regiment created the most universal form of entertainment, the Circus. It was not a chance occurrence: the place, the times and the social context, all led to this pivotal moment. Philip Astley became England's greatest showman, but if he was indeed a visionary, he was not a lone experimentalist: immediately, other equestrians followed his example and participated in the development and expansion of the circus in Europe and the Americas. This is the story, too, of these extraordinary and colorful pioneers who were Astley's contemporaries, whether pupils, competitors or colleagues: Charles Hughes, John Bill Ricketts, Philip Lailson, Antonio Franconi and a few others-including Astley's own son, John Conway Astley. Relying in large part on their contemporaries' testimony, Dominique Jando places these pioneers back in their historical and social context, as well as in the often-overlooked context of the nascent show business of the late eighteenth century-principally in Great Britain, but also in Europe and in America. [editor summary]

Chacun possède sa propre vision du cirque, un univers aux richesses insoupçonnées et en constante évolution. Cet ouvrage en propose une histoire abondamment illustrée, de ses origines saltimbanques à ses formes les plus contemporaines.

Au fil des pages, affiches, dessins, estampes et photographies dévoilent les secrets de chacune des disciplines qui peuplent le grand chapiteau et offrent un voyage planétaire haut en couleurs. Né en Angleterre en 1768, développé en France, il magnifie avant tout le cheval. Entre 1880 et 1930, c’est l’âge d’or du dressage, de la splendeur allemande et du gigantisme américain motivé par le développement du chemin de fer. Viennent ensuite la révolution du cirque soviétique, la puissance d’évocation du théâtre acrobatique chinois, et le renouveau du cirque avec les écoles françaises, belges ou canadiennes.

Un ouvrage complet pour retrouver son âme d’enfant. [résumé de l'éditeur]

This is the story of one of the most famous and popular entrepreneurs of the 18th Century - a man dubbed "the father of the modern circus". Philip Astley was a teenager who yearned for adventure and above all who wanted to work with horses. He served in the British Army in the Seven Years War, learning how to train horses for battle, and then left to find his fortune in London giving riding lessons and putting on exhibitions of trick riding. In doing so he came up with a formula for entertaining thousands, with his demonstrations of clowning on horseback, juggling, rope walking and acrobatics. He dazzled with fireworks, he impressed with colour and he amazed his audiences with re-enactments of battles and sieges. In doing so he launched the modern circus, building circus premises across Europe and inspiring others to follow the trail which he blazed. It is a story of courage and resilience, and of how one man, in the right place at the right time, achieved a remarkable success in the field of popular entertainment. [editor summary]

The circus is a source of nostalgia for Americans of all ages, either from memories of attending P. T. Barnum's "Greatest Show on Earth," or through the colorful evocations in many movies, television programs, and books. Interest in the circus phenomenon is unflagging, yet there have been few publications that look closely at how the circus's European origins were refashioned for an American audience. Lavishly illustrated and carefully researched, this volume explores how American culture, values, demography, and business practices altered the fundamental nature of the European circus, and how, by the end of the 19th century, they had transformed it into a distinctly American pastime.

At the peak of its cultural significance, the circus was a sophisticated combination of theater and business, and made effective use of advertising, train travel, and hyperbole. The subjects in The American Circus reflect this complexity, ranging widely from thematic explorations of circus music and elephants to more closely focused studies of objects such as circus toys, souvenirs, and performers' costumes. The book also explores the dark and even nefarious side of the circus, and its associations with marginalized dimensions of American life and culture. With contributions from leading scholars, this stylishly designed volume aims to identify the salient features of an Americanized cultural product and to analyze its appeal for American audiences.

Quelles sont les raisons qui poussèrent l'homme à s'aventurer à plusieurs mètres du sol, sur un fil ou sur une corde ? Cherchait-il à atteindre Dieu dans un élan d'orgueil ou d'adoration ou tentait-il simplement de prouver son courage en quittant la terre ferme ?
Pourquoi le cirque et l'acrobatie se sont-ils nourris, depuis la nuit des temps, de folklores, de pratiques païennes et religieuses, d'appartenance à des sociétés secrètes, d'emprunts à l'art militaire ou aux pratiques des marchands ?

Dans Planète cirque, Dominique Mauclair nous invite à partir à la découverte des origines, des sources, des motivations de ces hommes qui, à travers les siècles, ont fait évoluer le cirque et son art le plus célèbre : l'acrobatie.
Du Néolithique au Nouveau cirque nous sommes conviés à faire un tour d'horizon de l'acrobatie, du cirque, de la fête foraine, de la pantomime et des arts de la rue qui sont autant de planètes d'une même galaxie. Planète cirque se présente comme un spectacle, avec un prologue, des actes, des tableaux, un entracte et un final. Sous le titre " Les enfants du voyage ", le premier acte de ce spectacle nous amène, dans l'espace et dans le temps, à la découverte de l'ethnologie et de la sociologie du cirque. Dans le deuxième acte intitulé " Le cirque nouveau est arrivé ! "
Dominique Mauclair répons à la question : Le cirque a-t-il un avenir ? Avec la passion qui, depuis son plus jeune âge, l'a animé et qui l'a fait " entrer en cirque " comme on " entre en religion ", Dominique Mauclair nous fait partager, avec bonheur, sa connaissance de cet art, aujourd'hui, en pleine évolution.

Chinese acrobatics with a rich national style has become known all over the world. Audiences abroad praise it "Chinese acrobatics brim with poetic beauty". As a matter of fact, Chinese acrobatics today owes its achievement to its deep-rooted national and folk traditions. lf we want to understand its origin and development, it is necessary to trace back more than 2 000 years ago to ancient Chinese society. This book provides for the reader background information based on academic research and images of ancient Chinese acrobatics through the pictures of many stone sculptures, brick reliefs, rnurals, paintings and other precious cultural relics. [editor summary]

This is a monumental history of that universally trancing, international phenomenon-the circus. It is the most complete chronicle of circuses and circus lore ever written in the english language. No reader can fail to be impressed by the scope of its coverage and the vividness of its descriptions. No lover of circus wonders can remain unmoved while reading of the people and performances that illuminated circus life.

The author reveals the origins of circus acts among Greek and Roman acrobats and medieval minstrels, tracing their development through eighteenth-century
fairs where they were combined with displays of horse riding in a circular ring to form a new style of presentation. He then follows the evolution of circuses during the nineteenth century, showing how novel acts and exhibitions of animal training were introduced to produce the circus we know today.

Mr. Speaight demonstrates the special way in which the circus grew in the United States, where three-ring circuses were transported over vast distances by railroad; and he describes the Golden Age of the circus in Europe, when circus riders ranked with ballet stars in popular esteem. Finally, he provides an up-to-the-minute account of circuses in the world today.

The author's account is based on many years of research in unpublished manuscripts and museum collections, and he reverses some long.held errors of previous writers on the subject. His book contains exhaustive notes and an appendix, listing circus buildings in London, New york and paris, which brings together information never before printed, giving the book great value as a permanent work of reference. [editor summary]