Circus
On the 4th of April 1768, Philip Astley opened his first amphitheatre in Lambeth, London. He stood inside a circle forty-two feet wide and began performing trick horse riding for crowds gathered on the south side of the Thames River. Astley did not invent horsemanship or acrobatics, but he was the first to combine them into a single show within that specific circular space. The diameter of his ring allowed an acrobatic rider to stand upright while the horse cantered around him without falling off. This geometric choice became the standard for all circuses that followed. In 1770, Astley hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers, and a clown to fill the pauses between equestrian demonstrations. His format evolved over fifty years to include large-scale theatrical battle reenactments. By the late nineteenth century, the traditional circus had developed into a ringmaster-led variety show set to music.
Ancient Rome hosted roofless arenas called circuses where chariot races and gladiatorial combat took place. The Circus Maximus seated two hundred and fifty thousand people and measured four hundred meters in length. These structures were rectangular with semi-circular ends rather than perfectly round like modern rings. Roman circuses served varying purposes and differed significantly in design from their ancient Greek counterparts known as hippodromes. Men and women sat together in these public spectacles unlike other events of the time. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, large circus buildings fell out of use as centers of mass entertainment. Itinerant performers traveled between towns throughout Europe performing at local fairs such as the Bartholomew Fair in London during the Middle Ages. A chronology of circus-related entertainment can be traced back to Roman times through the Hippodrome of Constantinople which operated until the thirteenth century.
John Bill Ricketts brought the first modern circus to the United States in 1792 establishing his theater in Philadelphia. George Washington attended a performance there later that same season. P.T. Barnum revolutionized American circus operations by launching the traveling P.T. Barnum's Museum Menagerie & Circus in the 1870s. William Cameron Coup introduced multiple-ring circuses and was the first entrepreneur to use trains to transport equipment between towns. By 1838 Thomas Taplin Cooke returned to England with a canvas tent making itinerant shows popular across Britain. Pablo Fanque became Britain's only black circus proprietor operating one of the most celebrated traveling circuses in Victorian England. His circus troupe erected temporary structures for limited engagements or retrofitted existing venues. In 1854 a structure in Leeds collapsed causing minor injuries to many but resulting in the death of Fanque's wife. The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show On Earth toured Europe from 1897 to 1902 impressing other owners with its scale and touring techniques.
A shift in form began in the late 1970s when groups started experimenting with new formats avoiding animal acts entirely. Cirque du Soleil founded in Quebec in 1984 has become the most conspicuous success story in this genre. Their estimated annual revenue exceeded eighty-one million dollars in 2009 while their shows reached nearly ninety million spectators across five continents. Other pioneers included Circus Oz forged in Australia in 1977 and the Pickle Family Circus established in San Francisco in 1975. These companies combined traditional skills with theatrical techniques to convey stories or themes using original music and lighting design. Animal acts rarely appear in new circus contrasting sharply with traditional formats where they were significant parts of entertainment. Contemporary circus emerged around 1995 with Le Cri du Caméléon an ensemble performance from the French circus school Le Centre National des Arts du Cirque. This genre tends to avoid linear narrative favoring more suggestive interdisciplinary approaches to abstract concepts.
Criticism from animal rights activists grew steadily from the 1960s onward forcing many circuses out of business or into mergers. The earliest involvement of animals was simply displaying exotic creatures in menageries going back to the early eighteenth century. Isaac A. Van Amburgh entered a cage with several big cats in 1833 generally considered the first wild animal trainer in American history. Mabel Stark became a famous female tiger-tamer during this era. Many traveling circuses went out of business as public tastes changed following World War II. New forms of entertainment like television arrived while the popularity of traditional animal acts declined. Legal restrictions on wildlife use have resulted from these controversies affecting how modern circuses operate today. Some companies found new ways to draw in the public by focusing exclusively on human artistry instead of trained beasts.
The earliest modern circuses performed in open-air structures with limited covered seating before canvas tents were introduced mid-nineteenth century. Custom-made circus buildings often wooden were built between the late eighteenth and late nineteenth centuries featuring various types of seating and sometimes a stage. The traditional large tents known as big tops eventually became the most common venue for touring shows. Contemporary circus is now performed in theaters casinos cruise ships and open-air spaces rather than just outdoors. Many performances still take place within a ring usually forty-two feet in diameter adopted by Astley in the late eighteenth century. Purpose-built circus buildings exist globally including Blackpool Tower Circus Budapest Circus and Cirque d'hiver in Paris. Other countries maintain venues no longer used solely as circuses such as Cirkusbygningen in Copenhagen or Carré Theatre in Amsterdam. Modern productions may be staged in theaters for aesthetic or economic reasons aligning with the shift toward 21st Century Circus styles.
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Common questions
When did Philip Astley open his first amphitheatre in London?
Philip Astley opened his first amphitheatre on the 4th of April 1768. He performed inside a circle forty-two feet wide located in Lambeth, London.
What was the capacity and design of the Circus Maximus in Ancient Rome?
The Circus Maximus seated two hundred and fifty thousand people and measured four hundred meters in length. These structures were rectangular with semi-circular ends rather than perfectly round like modern rings.
Who brought the first modern circus to the United States in 1792?
John Bill Ricketts brought the first modern circus to the United States in 1792 establishing his theater in Philadelphia. George Washington attended a performance there later that same season.
Where and when was Cirque du Soleil founded?
Cirque du Soleil was founded in Quebec in 1984. Their estimated annual revenue exceeded eighty-one million dollars in 2009 while their shows reached nearly ninety million spectators across five continents.
Why did animal acts decline in popularity during the mid-twentieth century?
Many traveling circuses went out of business as public tastes changed following World War II. New forms of entertainment like television arrived while the popularity of traditional animal acts declined.