Performers - Part 25

 Circus Performers

Some elements of the circus go back to Roman times, like these tightrope walkers in a fresco from Pompeii.  By the way, we can tell they're satyrs because they have tails, but although they're naked, we can't see much because the fresco has deteriorated.

The word "circus" comes from ancient Rome, but it didn't mean our type of circus; it meant circle.  The circle has survived in the modern circus as the ring that circus performances are staged inside, such as a three-ring circus.

The modern type of circus started in the 1700s.  Philip Astley, an English equestrian, performed exhibitions of trick horse riding, such as standing up on a horse galloping around in a circle.  He hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and a clown to fill the time between equestrian demonstrations.

European circuses continued to feature trick riding.  Above is a cartoon lampooning Quintino Sella, who was the Italian Minister of Finance in the 1860s and 1870s, as a circus trick horse rider.

This undated vintage photo shows "the daring young man on the flying trapeze," a classic circus performer.

This photo of a man on a trapeze is from a 1894 book of nude photos of art models called Der Akt by Max Koch and Otto Rieth.

These are Ukrainian trapeze artists Mykhaylo Pavlov and Nataliya Piontek.  Circus performers have always worn skimpy costumes showing a lot of skin to attract audiences, but not quite this much skin in public.

This is Cayden on the Trapeze by artist Felix d'Eon.

And then there are the acrobats.  This is Gilding the Acrobats by artist Paul Cadmus, 1937.

These acrobats seem to be practicing some kind of human pyramid routine.

In 2013, Yeiner Perez, a circus acrobat, turned up naked in San Francisco's 16th Street BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station (above).  After performing some gymnastics atop the entry turnstiles, he attacked a passenger coming though.  A maintenance worker helped to fend him off, and then the acrobat jumped onto a newsstand platform, did some exercises, and dismounted as if nothing had happened.  The police were called and Perez was taken away but later released to get mental health care.  Apparently he was having a delusional episode at the time of this video.

So, apart from delusional acrobats, what could go wrong at the circus?  How about scary naked clowns?

We're not done with the circus.  American circuses often had a sideshow.  Sideshows had their own performers.  We'll see them in a future post.  Stay tuned.