with Great Danes The modern and commonly held idea of a circus is of a Big Top with various acts providing entertainment therein; however, the history of circuses is more complex, with historians disagreeing on its origin, as well as revisions being done about the history due to the changing nature of historical research, and the ongoing circus phenomenon. For many, circus history begins with Englishman
Philip Astley, while for others its origins go back much further—to the time of the Roman Empire .
Origin In Ancient Rome, the
circus was a roofless arena for the exhibition of horse and chariot races, equestrian shows, staged battles, gladiatorial combat, and displays of (and fights with) trained animals. The circuses of Rome were similar to the ancient Greek
hippodromes, although circuses served varying purposes and differed in design and construction, and for events that involved re-enactments of naval battles, the circus was flooded with water; however, the Roman circus buildings were not circular but rectangular with semi-circular ends. The lower seats were reserved for persons of rank; there were also various state boxes for the giver of the games and his friends. The circus was the only public spectacle at which men and women were not separated. Circus historian
George Speaight has stated that "these performances may have taken place in the great arenas that were called 'circuses' by the Romans, but it is a mistake to equate these places, or the entertainments presented there, with the modern circus". Others have argued that the lineage of the circus does go back to the Roman circuses (even if they may not be plainly
equated with the modern circus) and a chronology of circus-related entertainment can be traced to Roman times, continued by the
Hippodrome of Constantinople, which operated until the 13th century, through medieval and renaissance jesters, minstrels and troubadours to the late 18th century and the time of Astley. The first circus in the city of Rome was the
Circus Maximus, in the valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills. It was constructed during the monarchy and, at first, built completely from wood. After being rebuilt several times, the final version of the Circus Maximus could seat 250,000 people; it was built of stone and measured 400m in length and 90m in width. Next in importance were the
Circus Flaminius and the
Circus Neronis, from the notoriety which it obtained through the Circensian pleasures of Nero. A
fourth circus was constructed by
Maxentius; its ruins have helped archaeologists reconstruct the Roman circus. For some time after the
fall of the Western Roman Empire, large circus buildings fell out of use as centres of mass entertainment. Instead, itinerant performers, animal trainers, and showmen travelled between towns throughout Europe, performing at local fairs, such as the
Bartholomew Fair in London during the
Middle Ages. Astley did not originate trick horse riding, nor was he first to introduce acts such as acrobats and clowns to the English public, but he was the first to create a space where all these acts were brought together to perform a show. Astley performed stunts in a 42 ft diameter ring, which is the standard size used by circuses ever since. Astley referred to the performance arena as a circle and the building as an amphitheatre; these would later be known as a circus. In 1770, Astley hired
acrobats,
tightrope walkers,
jugglers, and a clown to fill in the pauses between acts. The
Royal Circus was opened in London on 4 November 1782 by
Charles Dibdin (who coined the term "circus"), aided by his partner Charles Hughes, an equestrian performer. In 1782, Astley established the
Amphithéâtre Anglais in Paris, the first purpose-built circus in France, followed by 18 other permanent circuses in cities throughout Europe. Astley leased his Parisian circus to the Italian
Antonio Franconi in 1793. In 1826, the first circus took place under a canvas big top. s, in lithograph by Calvert Litho. Co., 1890
Ricketts and the first American circus The Englishman
John Bill Ricketts brought the first modern circus to the United States. He began his theatrical career with Hughes Royal Circus in London in the 1780s, and travelled from England in 1792 to establish his first circus in
Philadelphia. The first circus building in the US opened on 3 April 1793 in Philadelphia, where Ricketts gave America's first complete circus performance.
George Washington attended a performance there later that season.
Expansion of the American format In the Americas during the first two decades of the 19th century, the
Circus of Pepin and Breschard toured from Montreal to Havana, building circus theatres in many of the cities it visited.
Victor Pépin, a native New Yorker, was the first American to operate a major circus in the United States. Later the establishments of Purdy, Welch & Co., and of van Amburgh gave a wider popularity to the circus in the United States. In 1825,
Joshuah Purdy Brown was the first circus owner to use a large canvas tent for the circus performance. Circus pioneer
Dan Rice was the most famous pre-
Civil War circus clown, popularising such expressions as "The One-Horse Show" and "
Hey, Rube!". The American circus was revolutionised by
P. T. Barnum and
William Cameron Coup, who launched the travelling
P. T. Barnum's Museum, Menagerie & Circus, the first
freak show, in the 1870s. Coup also introduced the first multiple-ring circuses, and was also the first circus entrepreneur to use
circus trains to transport the circus between towns. By the 1830s,
sideshows were also being established alongside travelling circuses. At this time, itinerant circuses that could be
fitted-up quickly were becoming popular in Britain.
William Batty's circus, for example, between 1838 and 1840, travelled from Newcastle to Edinburgh and then to Portsmouth and Southampton.
Pablo Fanque, who is noteworthy as Britain's only black circus proprietor and who operated one of the most celebrated travelling circuses in Victorian England, erected temporary structures for his limited engagements or retrofitted existing structures. One such structure in Leeds, which Fanque assumed from a departing circus, collapsed, resulting in minor injuries to many but the death of Fanque's wife. Traveling circus companies also rented the land they set up their structures on sometimes causing damage to the local ecosystems. Three important circus innovators were the Italian
Giuseppe Chiarini, and Frenchmen
Louis Soullier and
Jacques Tourniaire, whose early travelling circuses introduced the circus to Latin America, Australia, Southeast Asia, China, South Africa, and Russia. Soullier was the first circus owner to introduce Chinese acrobatics to the European circus when he returned from his travels in 1866, and Tourniaire was the first to introduce the performing art to Ranga, where it became extremely popular. , in lithograph by Gibson & Co., 1873 After an 1881 merger with
James Anthony Bailey and James L. Hutchinson's circus and Barnum's death in 1891, his circus travelled to Europe as the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show On Earth, where it toured from 1897 to 1902, impressing other circus owners with its large scale, its touring techniques (including the tent and circus train), and its combination of circus acts, a zoological exhibition, and a freak show.This format was adopted by European circuses at the turn of the 20th century. The influence of the American circus brought about a considerable change in the character of the modern circus. In arenas too large for speech to be easily audible, the traditional comic dialogue of the clown assumed a less prominent place than formerly, while the vastly increased wealth of stage properties relegated to the background the old-fashioned equestrian feats, which were replaced by more ambitious acrobatic performances, and by exhibitions of skill, strength, and daring, requiring the employment of immense numbers of performers, and often of complicated and expensive machinery. , c. 1891, depicting a backstage area at the circus From the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, travelling circuses were a major form of spectator entertainment in the US and attracted huge attention whenever they arrived in a city. After World War II, the popularity of the circus declined as new forms of entertainment (such as television) arrived and the public's tastes changed. the West Coast of the United States, and the United Kingdom. New Circus combines traditional circus skills and theatrical techniques to convey a story or theme. Compared with the traditional circus, this genre of circus tends to focus more attention on the overall aesthetic impact, on character and story development, and on the use of
lighting design, original music, and
costume design to convey thematic or narrative content. Music used in the production is often composed exclusively for that production, and aesthetic influences are drawn as much from contemporary culture as from circus history. Animal acts rarely appear in new circus, in contrast to traditional circus, where animal acts have often been a significant part of the entertainment. Early pioneers of the new circus genre included:
Circus Oz, forged in Australia in 1977 from SoapBox Circus (1976) and New Circus (1973); the
Pickle Family Circus, founded in
San Francisco in 1975;
Ra-Ra Zoo in 1984 in
London;
Nofit State Circus in 1984 from
Wales;
Cirque du Soleil, founded in
Quebec in 1984;
Cirque Plume and
Archaos from France in 1984 and 1986 respectively. More recent examples include:
Cirque Éloize (founded in Quebec in 1993); Sweden's
Cirkus Cirkör (1995);
Teatro ZinZanni (founded in Seattle in 1998); the West African Circus Baobab (late 1990s); and Montreal's Les 7 doigts de la main (founded in 2002). The genre includes other circus troupes such as the Vermont-based
Circus Smirkus (founded in 1987 by
Rob Mermin) and Le Cirque Imaginaire (later renamed Le Cirque Invisible, both founded and directed by
Victoria Chaplin, daughter of
Charlie Chaplin). The most conspicuous success story in the new circus genre has been that of
Cirque du Soleil, the Canadian circus company whose estimated annual revenue exceeds US$810 million in 2009, and whose
cirque nouveau shows have been seen by nearly 90 million spectators in over 200 cities on five continents.
Contemporary Circus The genre of contemporary circus is largely considered to have begun in 1995 with 'Le Cri du Caméléon', an ensemble performance from the graduating class of the French circus school Le Centre National des Arts du Cirque (CNAC), directed by Joseph Nadj. In contrast to New Circus, Contemporary Circus (as a genre) tends to avoid linear narrative in favour of more suggestive, interdisciplinary approaches to abstract concepts. This includes a strong trend for developing new apparatus and movement languages based on the capacities, experience and interests of individual performers, rather than finding new ways to present traditional repertoire.
Social Circus ==Performance==