An introductory word is needed, before I describe how the modern circus originated. The circus is as old as mankind, it can be said that in the context of time and the genre of history, the circus is everlasting. Mankind has always fancied the show, demonstration and performance. The majority of actors presenting their extraordinary abilities and skills were jugglers, in a broad sense of the word.
It is its immense diversity that seems to be the crucial element necessary to understand the idea of the circus. Circus performances, or rather juggling performances, evaluated through the centuries. They came through both aesthetic and cultural development. Circus and juggling, in contrast to other domains and human artefacts, came from all echelons of human culture, performing various cultural and social functions. From market stall demonstrations, through blood-soaked shows nurturing humanity’s basic instincts (like bear baiting) to huge Olympic Circus shows, filled with splendour, that today are hard to visualize.
Modern circus was born in the second half of the XVIII century. Right from its beginning, there were two co-existing elements – the show of abilities – a trick – and stories it illustrated.
Depending on the period, there were many various emphasis put on it, the prevailing trends were also changing. It is Philip Astley who is believed to be the precursor of the modern circus. At the age of 26, he left the army and a group of fine riders soon gathered around him.
Astley who was a brilliant rider himself and his shows were based around horse riding and athletic and military exercises; the whole pageantry was enriched with elements of horseback riding. With time, the show rose in popularity. Astley put up a canvas tent and in order to make the show more attractive, he recruited ropedancers, athletes, clowns and acrobats. As and when horse circus required. There was also ‘a taught horse’ performing clever tricks. This is how the first modern circus was born.
In the next few years, Astley’s shows presented in the amphitheatre were gradually evolving.
The quality and artistic level of the shows were higher and higher, however they still contained purely juggling and theatrical elements. Over time, more complicated shows were being built. These, were inspired by events from the modern history, so called heroic mime shows, e.g. ‘Fight and death of General Marlborough’ and even staging’, e.g. Don Kichot (in which horses played the major part).
After Philip Astley’s death, and six years after his son’s death, amphitheatre was taken over by Andrew Ducrow. At that time, the theatre was also operating on the continent, in France. Ducrow decided to direct the circus into staging huge re-enactments. His mime show, ‘Waterloo Battle’ received worldwide recognition.
The English circus often referred to Shakespeare - clowns and horseback riders often played characters of his plays.
Ducrow’s mime shows were famous all over the world, all the newspapers covered this topic. His character entered modern mythology for good and nurtured the mass culture of the XIX century. However, he got both, good reviews and lampooned by the critics in response. It is their number and content that proves the popularity it enjoyed, but also the controversies it stirred up, confronting fixed aesthetic standards, existing also in the English theatre. His shows were described as vivid, vulgar, immoral, coarse, but also celebrating the beauty of human body. Ducrow, himself, was compared to a zephyr, elf, Mercury, Phidias. All these interrelations emphatically show how important the circus was to his contemporaries; what chief cultural functions it performed – its aim was to break the existing rigid forms, to define new trends, to shape a new aesthetic sensitivity.
The Astley’ circus era was finished with the fire that broke out during the staging of ‘Cromwell’s War’. However, this event began a new era of the Francovich’ Circus.
The Francovich Family influenced modern circus for more than hundred years. They were the first to use the antique word - ‘circus’. Napoleon, himself, contributed to this as it was him who issued in 1806 a decree forbidding using the word ‘theatre’ for market stall demonstrations. The official name of the Francovich amphitheatre was Theatre d'Equitation –
under the threat of the confiscation of estate, they decided, in the spirit of the age, to use a word with origins in Antiquity – ‘circus’. They decided to call their amphitheatre ‘Cirque Olympique’ (Olympic Circus).
Performances presented in the Olympic Circus were a circus in a theatre or rather the theatre in the circus. They were a realization of an unattainable ideal of linking two arts with separate origins. The splendour and grandeur of Olympic Circus’ buildings astounded their contemporaries - they were the biggest, of the period, devoted to cultural events. The last Olympic Circus building could hold six thousand spectators. The respect given to the members of Francovich Family was also the proof of the popularity of Olympic Circus. The Francovich Family ceased to be treated as a despised repertory company consisted of various troublemakers or jugglers. Now, they were the artists enjoying fame, money and respect.
Despite the fact that shows presented on the Olympic Circus stage were still far from the modern notion of the theatre, in that period, they were the melange of dramatic and spectacular functions. They satisfied the tastes of ordinary citizens at the same time influencing and addressing their programme to the tastes of the upper classes. The popularity of the Olympic Circus eclipsed all cultural phenomena of the age. The XIX century is the century of the Olympic Circus.
It should also be stressed that it is the circus in the XVIII and XIX century that revolutionized performance domains in all aspects – social, aesthetic and technical.
Interested? If you find this topic exciting, I strongly recommend the book written by Bogdan Danonowicz entitled ‘There was an Olympic Circus...’ („Był Cyrk Olimpijski...”).
By: Rafał Sadownik
References:
Bogdan Danowicz - Był Cyrk Olimpijski...