Every child knows what a circus is — laughter, fun, clowns, smart animals, magicians, and clever acrobats. But rarely, one of the adults can explain what the features of the circus as a form of art consist of. After all, we most often present it as a fascinating sight, a show. In fact, circus artists have been mastering all their life not only skill, but also art - the ability to convey emotion and aesthetic feelings in the audience.
The appearance of the circus
The name "circus" comes from the Roman oval venues, which were held various public holidays, competitions, shows were shown. In those days, the Romans loved to watch people competing in strength, dexterity, and various skills. So there was a special kind of spectacle, which today is called the circus. But the way we know and love him, he became only in the 18th century. In Paris, a special round building was built to show the art of horse-riding and acrobatic studies. Later, Italians picked up this idea and added numbers with animals and mimes to the presentation program. What is a circus, in Russia they learn at the end of the 18th century. In 1764, an English rider visited Moscow on tour, and this show marked the beginning of the opening of several stationary circuses at once. By the mid-19th century, such sites were built in many Russian cities. Gradually, the scope of the show expanded, traditional programs formed and circus professions took shape. The modern circus is a complex synthesis of the entertainment industry, art, management and technology.
Circus as an art form
Researchers see the origins of the circus in ancient competitions in strength and dexterity. It was formed as a way of demonstrating special skills that often did not have practical application. Specialists characterizing the circus as art, first of all pay attention to the lack of any effectiveness in the actions of artists. They do not compete, winning prizes, namely they allow you to see the possibilities of a person and experience at the same time aesthetic pleasure. The main expressive means of circus art is a trick; it is designed to evoke emotion among the audience: laughter, surprise, fear, delight. All this makes the circus related to other types of spectacular arts: theater, cinema. In the arena, a man shows nature’s abilities for metamorphoses, only the object of these transformations is not stone, clay or paint, but the man himself. He creates eccentrics according to the laws, demonstrating the highest possibilities of man. The main aesthetic categories of circus art are: reprise, trick, number, super task, eccentricity.
Circus device
A special art requires a special space. The circus is not just a round building, but a complex structure with many possibilities. The circus arena is the heart of the site. Traditionally, it is round in shape, about 13 meters in diameter. Spectators ’seats rise from the stage with an amphitheater. In modern, stationary circuses, there are often several arenas for different types of performances: horse, illusion, light, ice, water. But the arena is just the visible part of the circus. Behind the scenes there are many office rooms: dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, places for keeping animals, dressing rooms. Technical services also play a large role in the design of the theater: lights, fixtures, decorations, curtains - all this serves to ensure that the viewer sees an unusual and complex performance.
Circus professions
Having heard the question "what is a circus", we recall people of different professions. Each of them requires special abilities from the artist and is a special art, with its own laws, secrets and traditions. The classical circus program includes performances by various artists, they can be classified according to the main expressive means and materials. So, there are people working with animals - these are trainers, with a human body - jugglers, balancers, gymnasts, tightrope walkers. There are special professions that are at the intersection of skill and technology - these are illusionists. The highest step in the circus professional hierarchy is occupied by clowns who combine acting, pantomime, buffoonery. But circus performers cannot work without the attendants of the theater, who take on the provision of various services and assistants.
Jugglers
As already clear from the name of the profession, jugglers first appeared in France. This word literally means “hobbyist”. Initially, people in this profession sang songs, danced in market squares and fairs. But as a type of activity, juggling appeared in ancient Egypt. Clever manipulations with many objects mesmerized the audience, causing surprise and admiration. Today, a rare circus performance does without these artists, their performances have become an indispensable element of circus art. In their numbers, jugglers surprise the audience by throwing a lot of different objects into the air, and also use balancing, comic and acrobatic elements to complicate the trick. Juggling is paired and solo, artists not only throw and catch objects, they can simultaneously rotate them, rhythmically alternate, throwing a partner. The rhythm of juggling forces the audience to keep an eye on the flying objects, and the artist’s dexterity makes them feel delighted.
Balancers
Another artist, without whom it is impossible to imagine a circus performance, is a balancer. This genre of circus art is built on the ability of a person to maintain balance on unstable surfaces. Traditionally, balancers performed various body movements on ropes, balls, cylinders. Often the artist combines the ability to balance with acrobatic, comic acts, as well as with juggling. Even in ancient China, the performances of tightrope walkers were very popular. In many cultures of the world, folk amusements were often accompanied by performances by equilibrists. There are such variants of this genre as performances on a ball, on a wire, on coils, on stairs, on a trapezoid (matte trap), on unicycles.
Illusionists
Magicians or illusionists are representatives of the profession that glorified circus art. The basis of the genre was sleight of hand. Artists who knew how to perform magical manipulations with various objects, for example, cards, were obligatory participants in medieval fairs. Modern illusionists, in addition to the ability to make amazing hand movements, use various technical tricks to mislead the audience. Among magicians there are real world celebrities whose names are passed down from generation to generation. Such illusionists include Harry Houdini, Alessandro Cagliostro, the Kio family, Uri Geller, David Copperfield.
Clownery
Ask any child what a circus is and get the answer: these are clowns. Masters working in this role have become a real symbol of the circus, without them, representations are impossible. The beginning of the profession was laid in the Institute of buffoonery, because the jesters were at the court of all monarchs. Their task was not only amusement, but also ridicule of vices, while the buffoon, clown, could tell the truth to anyone. The art of the clown is often built not on humor, but on irony, buffoonery and grotesque. The exaggerated manner of playing goes back to the traditions of booths at fairs. A clown should not only make laugh, but also scoff, but at the same time his performance should not be cruel or offensive. Often, clowns perform in pairs, where the roles are clearly distributed. In the Italian theater, these roles were assigned to Pierrot and Harlequin, in the Russian tradition these are the Red (sly and crook) and White (important prim Mr.) clowns. Between them, conflicts constantly occur, which are funny scenes, which fill in the pauses in the performance. In the circus world, it is believed that clowns are an artistic elite. Often, they include elements of juggling, acrobatics, training, pantomime in their performances. Among them there are real, greatest actors. The most famous clowns are M.N. Rumyantsev (Pencil), V. Polunin, Yu. Nikulin and M. Shuydin, who worked in pairs, L. Yengibarov, M. Marceau, O. Popov. Any circus show can save a clown who appears in the arena whenever there is a pause in the program.
Trainers
It is impossible to imagine circus art without animals and trainers. Today, a wave of protest against this art form has begun around the world, as it is believed that trainers torture animals. But this is not so. In fact, this art lies in the ability to establish contact with the animal, this is psychology, fearlessness, risk. A true professional will never torture his charges. Therefore, the training belongs to the genres of circus art. Traditionally, dogs, horses, large predators, elephants, birds, and marine animals appear in the arena. The most famous trainers can be called the dynasties of the Durovs, Zapashny, Baghdasarovs, as well as M. Nazarov and I. Bugrimov.