Search

They begin to induce the flickering of fear and excitement (as circus has always done) when Zanzu begins a methodical tying process for another suspension with jute rope - but this time, around their face. This is where Zanzu (they/them) comes in. I EZ i (see Figure 1) is a circus piece with one performer, a recorded voice, and an improvising audience member. Elena Zanzu's I EZ i fits neatly into the emerging domain of "new circus" - performances that leave behind the brash ringmaster glam of the traditional circus and the Cirque du Soleil I internationale i of "contemporary circus.". [Extracted from the article]

I recorded information on pre-roost habitats of Western Marsh Harriers (Circus aeruginosus) near communal roost sites located in and around Keoladeo National Park (KNP), India, during three winters from 1997 to 2000. Harriers pre-roosted in different habitats in KNP compared to the surrounding areas (25-km radius). Harriers used trees as their main pre-roosting perches in KNP, but mainly used open fields in the surrounding areas. All nine tree species present near roost sites in KNP were used for pre-roosting. Among tree species used for pre-roosting, harriers preferred sacred fig (Ficus religiosa), a tall tree with a wide canopy. Babul (Vachellia nilotica) trees, though not preferred, were more utilized for pre-roosting, probably because of their abundance. The lack of suitable open areas near the primary roost site in KNP may help explain why harriers used trees as pre-roosting perches there. At other roost sites outside KNP where trees were sparse, harriers mainly pre-roosted on the ground. By perching on trees, harriers may be conspicuous to other arriving harriers, which likely helps the birds gather into a large roosting flock. Such large roosts may benefit harriers by providing protection from predators and a site where birds may obtain information on food resources. Although trees were used as pre-roosting sites at KNP, I did not observe any harriers roosting on trees overnight during the 3-yr study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article acknowledges for the first time in an academic context the significant role played by social circus in conflict transformation across Northern Ireland and, more specifically, urban regeneration in Belfast after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The focus is on the Belfast Community Circus School (BCCS) and the annual Festival of Fools, which emerged from the social mission and practical delivery of BCCS activities. BCCS was founded in the mid-1980s to offer children and young people in Belfast an alternative, creative outlet for their feelings and to establish "common ground" between communities amid conflict. This essay takes its lead initially from BCCS founders, reconsidering their motivations and the fundamental tenets of the School – as expressed by teachers and former pupils – alongside other studies of social circus in action around the world throughout a similar period. It also theorises the political intent and impact of BCCS through reference to the performance philosophy of Alan Read. Evidence in support of the argument is drawn from a range of available sources including policy and strategy documents, annual reports, performance evaluations, and interviews with key figures within the organisation. From this body of evidence, it becomes clear that, in the move towards what we might term (after Read) a Republic of Play, a change in BCCS, its own sense of identity and purpose within society was inevitable, as Northern Ireland continues the process of reconciliation and post-conflict transformation. Finally, then, the article attends to the recent transformation within BCCS itself, which in 2021 became Circusful: an organization with its own set of social and economic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: It has been suggested that a circus has a limited ability to make improvements in animal welfare. Though the horse is a domesticated species, the activities as well as the management that horses are subjected to could perturb homeostasis, alerting the organism and resulting in stress conditions. In the current study, the plasma concentrations of noradrenaline, dopamine and serotonin, as well as the reactive oxygen metabolites (d-Roms) and the biological antioxidant potential (BAP), were assessed in horses managed in different circuses. According to the results herein found, it appears that the welfare of horses under circus management was not compromised; nevertheless, better attention to the management of old horses is advocated, as they could be more susceptible to oxidative stress. Due to the paucity of information on circus management effects on the welfare of horses, this study investigated the plasma concentrations of noradrenaline, dopamine and serotonin, known to be indices of mental status, as well as the reactive oxygen metabolites (d-Roms) and the biological antioxidant potential (BAP), likely to denote the oxidant/antioxidant equilibrium of organisms, in horses managed in different Italian circuses. For the study, 56 circus horses of different breeds and ages were enrolled and divided into six groups according to the horses' management (circus management, groups G1–G5; classic riding management representing the control group, CG). From each horse, blood samples were collected in order to assess the concentration of selected parameters. One-way ANOVA showed no differences (p > 0.05) in serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, d-Roms and BAP values between circus and control horses. No differences related to the breed of the horses enrolled in the study were found in the values of all investigated parameters (p > 0.05). Furthermore, neurotransmitters showed overlapping levels between the different age classes of investigated horses (p > 0.05); contrariwise, the age of the horse displayed a significant effect on BAP values, with the oldest horses (16–21 age class) exhibiting lower BAP values compared to 4–5, 6–10 and 11–15 age classes (p < 0.05), whereas the d-Roms showed similar values in horses of different age classes (p > 0.05). The results gathered in the present study suggest that the mental status of horses under circus management was not compromised; however, better attention and care in the management of older horses is advocated, as they showed a lower biological antioxidant potential than younger horses; thus, they could be more susceptible to oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modern era, London's streetscape changes with great rapidity as buildings are demolished and replaced. Carel Weight's painting, Holborn Circus, 1947, records that fallow period between bombsite and rebuilding that often lasted for years after the war, but now is often only a matter of weeks. Weight had not long returned from ten months in Europe as an official war artist when he painted the scene around Holborn Circus from a friend's studio flat. It is an image of a London past: almost nothing in this painting still exists, and the streetscape has changed more than once since the 1940s. While there is nothing especially innovative about the painting, it addresses our nostalgia for what was and is no more through the vision of an artist tempered by experience of war-ravaged Italian cities. This article situates Weight's painting in the context of other depictions of London after the war and describes the fundamental changes to the area wrought by widespread demolition and reconstruction in the post-war era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Careful observation of parasites, masters of camouflage, reveals an ingenious and fascinating world. However, students often perceive parasitology as impenetrable. What if a flamboyant flea circus director passionately introduced the multidimensional contexts of this discipline? Will role-play capture the imagination of students and guide them in their future learning? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social circus refers to programs that use circus arts to facilitate social intervention with people experiencing marginalization. Although some programs focus specifically on youth, little is known about how they are impacted by their participation. We examined the experiences of youth participating in a four-day social circus event. Four themes were identified that characterized participants' experiences: (a) creating a safe social space; (b) enriching your self-understanding; (c) bolstering your expressive capacities; and (d) experiencing the world around you. This research highlights how social circus activities can create safe and enriching social spaces that are adapted to the experiences of youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Circus Arts industry has been an integral part of Indian culture for centuries, and circus training schools have played a crucial role in sustaining this tradition. Circus training schools hold a vital position in promoting and preserving the circus arts. This paper, through case studies and interviews, analyses the essential role of the circus training schools in India. The research delves into the challenges, prospects, and the present state of circus training schools in India. In the process, critical challenges faced by these schools are uncovered. including inadequate infrastructure, declining interest, and financial struggles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the late 20th and early 21st century, European circus has become embroiled in public debates about the inclusion of live animal acts, some of which have recently been replaced with hologram alternatives. I ask what such replacements of live bodies with technically mediated one's does to the sense of risk and sensation which has always defined live circus acts and their claim to authenticity through the threat of live danger. I investigate recent revaluations (Schulze, Funk, and Vermeulen) in Theatre Studies of the concept of authenticity after postmodernism to reflect on how the complex mix of loss, assertion, and compensation in these debates can be deployed in analyzing two distinct narrative representations of the circus (Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants and Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus); the first exemplifies classic realism, the second a version of postmodernism. I ask how the texts negotiate and interrogate the ongoing problem of circus’s relationship to authenticity, where authenticity is at once an impossible imperative against which circus strives to measure itself, a condition and guarantee of its danger and immediacy, and a performative promise which disappears in the moment of its delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating multiple perspectives is key to successful co-design, yet often hampered by communication gaps arising from different epistemological backgrounds and lived experiences. This challenge is amplified when the design problem centres around experiences that are difficult articulate in words, such as those in Parkinson’s disease (PD). To explore alternative strategies for communication between diverse PD stakeholders, Piece of Mind brought together neuroscientists, performing artists and individuals with lived experience to co-create an interdisciplinary performance grounded in scientific and experiential knowledge. Participants met on Zoom over nine months, in which creative, embodied approaches were used to share scientific concepts, facilitate discussion, and identify key issues for the performance. We built on emergent themes through virtual and in-studio collaborations, culminating in a 45-min filmed and live performance. We conducted semi-structured interviews with a subset of participants regarding their co-design experience and take-aways, to identify elements of process, space and materials contributing to its success. We found that an embodied approach, in virtual space and incorporating multiple artistic media, enabled participants to leave their comfort zones and disciplinary boundaries to engage with one another through curiosity and generosity – and consider how these conditions facilitated disparate starting points to converge towards a common goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Wonders: Lifting the Curtain on the Freak Show, Circus and Victorian Age" by John Woolf is a well-researched history of the freak show in nineteenth-century Britain and America. The book provides insights into the performers and behind-the-scenes figures of the freak show, as well as the promotion, exhibition spaces, costuming, and styles of performance. While the book offers valuable information on the development of popular entertainment and pop culture, it could benefit from a more thorough engagement with disability studies to challenge ableist perspectives. Overall, "The Wonders" is a valuable resource for scholars of theater and popular entertainment. [Extracted from the article]

The purpose of the article is to reveal the specifics of the use of visual art tools in the creation of a modern screen product by the director-author in close collaboration with the cameraman and the artist. Research methodology. In the study of the problem, a complex methodological approach was applied, the method of analysis and synthesis, sociocultural determination, systematisation and generalisation, the method of comparison, the comparative method was used. The method of figurative and stylistic analysis and the analytical method in their combination was aimed at considering the art-historical aspect of the problem. The scientific novelty of the study is that the director's creativity is investigated in the context of the visual culture of the screen work and became the subject of a special study for the first time; the accuracy of the use of the system method in the study of the features of the director's plastic language of the screen work is substantiated; a figurative and stylistic analysis was carried out and the peculiarities of creating a frame by means of fine art were revealed. Conclusions. The materials presented in the study expand the knowledge about the specifics of the visual culture of the author's directorial screen language in various worldview models and enable their application in educational courses, the creation of educational and methodological literature on the theory and history of cinema and television, visual arts, directing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Many countries continue to allow the use of non-domesticated animals, such as tigers, in travelling circuses, as introducing legislation or bans often requires sufficient scientific evidence that the environment negatively impacts animal welfare. Whilst we know that larger territorial animals are least suited to captive environments, to date there has been very limited investigation into the welfare of tigers in travelling circuses. By reviewing the scientific evidence available on the topic, this paper suggests that the travelling nature of a circus often negatively impacts on the suitability of the physical environment for tigers, as well as their nutrition, health, and mental state. However, training for performances could positively impact welfare, dependent on the techniques used. Nevertheless, the preponderance of the scientific literature supports additional nationwide bans on the use of tigers in travelling circuses internationally, due to animal welfare concerns. There are very few studies that have focused on species-specific welfare implications for tigers in a travelling circus. The absence of scientific evidence to inform nationwide legislation means that tigers are still commonly used in travelling circuses across the world. A systematic review of relevant published studies was conducted using the bibliographic databases Web of Science and Scopus, supplemented by a narrative search. In total, 42 relevant studies were identified that assessed the welfare of tigers in captivity, including circuses and zoos. Only eight papers assessed the welfare implications for tigers in circuses directly, evidencing the lack of research in this area. Given that circuses provide a sub-optimal environment compared to zoos, implications for tiger welfare were also inferred from zoo research, within the Five Domains framework. Collectively, these papers infer that the travelling nature of a circus often negatively impacts the welfare domains of nutrition, physical environment, health, and mental state. This is due to limitations in enclosure size, as well as in both environmental and behavioural enrichment. There is also often difficulty in sourcing appropriate food and specialised routine veterinary care. The literature is divided concerning behavioural interactions, specifically whether training can improve welfare by offering mental stimulation. However, circus performances are often associated with negative welfare due to noise disruption from spectators. The collective scientific evidence indicates that tigers are not well suited to circus living, due to the inability of a travelling circus to provide for their species-specific psychological, physiological, and behavioural needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Anthropogenic impact is causing the decline of a large proportion of species worldwide and reduces their genetic diversity. Island species typically have smaller ranges than continental species. As a consequence, island species are particularly liable to undergo population bottlenecks, giving rise to conservation challenges such as inbreeding and unmasking of deleterious genetic load. Such challenges call for more detailed assessments of the genetic make‐up of threatened island populations. The Mascarene islands (Indian Ocean) present many prime examples, being unusual in having been pristine until first human arrival ~400 years ago, following which anthropogenic pressure was unusually intense. A threatened harrier (Circus maillardi) endemic to the westernmost island of the archipelago is a good example of the challenges faced by species that have declined to small population size following intense anthropogenic pressure. In this study, we use an extensive set of population genomic tools to quantify variation at near‐neutral and coding loci, in order to test the historical impact of human activity on this species, and evaluate the species' (mal)adaptive potential. We observed low but significant genetic differentiation between populations on the West and North‐East sides of the island, echoing observations in other endemic species. Inbreeding was significant, with a substantial fraction of samples being first or second‐degree relatives. Historical effective population sizes have declined from ~3000 to 300 individuals in the past 1000 years, with a more recent drop ~100 years ago consistent with human activity. Based on our simulations and comparisons with a close relative (Circus melanoleucos), this demographic history may have allowed purging of the most deleterious variants but is unlikely to have allowed the purging of mildly deleterious variants. Our study shows how using relatively affordable methods can reveal the massive impact that human activity may have on the genetic diversity and adaptive potential of island populations, and calls for urgent action to closely monitor the reproductive success of such endemic populations, in association with genetic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this study was to analyze perceptions of strength training in vocational circus and dance students. It was hypothesized that due to the higher relative strength demands and associated risks of working at height in some aerial and acrobatic disciplines that circus students would be more open to strength training than dancers. Methods: Eighty students completed the Training Information Survey (TIS) (Mean age = 20.74 ± 2.71); 39 circus students and 41 dance students. 97% of circus students and 69% of dance participants reported that strength training was a required part of their training with students participating in strength training 4.24 ± 0.98 and 3.05 ± 1.42 day per week respectively. Results: Perceptions of strength training amongst vocational circus and dance students appear to be favorable, with both sets of students strongly agreeing with the statements "Strength training is essential to my overall development as a dancer/circus artist" (5.00 (IQR 1.00) and 5.00 (IQR 1.00) respectively). Following Bonferonni correction only one statement returned statistically significant results with dance students agreeing more strongly with the statement "Strength training increases muscle size," U = 473.00, P = .001. Students also agreed that strength training helped them to feel better mentally and physically, that strength training is beneficial for both men and women and that it should not be designated as specific to either sex. Conclusion: Results support earlier studies that suggest a cultural shift in perceptions of strength training and ideal esthetic in dance, particularly amongst students and that they are keen to incorporate strength training into their practice. Educational establishments should note students' interest in participating in strength training, reviewing how to embed effective strength training education, more coaching and time allowance for these activities within their timetable. Further research with a greater sample size is recommended to further substantiate these indications of a shift in perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to investigate the role of the Social Circus in the construction of citizenship through the learning and practice of citizenship competencies. The Social Circus provides a platform for learning circus and creating spaces for collective creation to promote personal, group and community empowerment to improve the quality of life of the participants and the society that surrounds them. Previous research has focused on the Social Circus' personal and group workspace, but there's still little literature on the construction of community and citizenship. This research studies the qualitative component in more depth, using a case analysis approach and The Reference Framework of Competencies for Democratic Culture developed by the Council of Europe (2018). To achieve so, two projects that use the concept of Social Circus and have a community perspective have been selected. Semi-structured interviews, group discussion and data analysis were used for the selection process. The results indicate that the Social Circus is an ideal setting to learn and practice citizenship competencies for a Democratic Culture during class, in the preparation of the show or final exhibition and/or in the community spaces related to the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A powerful and robust control system is a crucial, often neglected, pillar of any modern, complex physics experiment that requires the management of a multitude of different devices and their precise time synchronisation. The AEḡIS collaboration presents CIRCUS, a novel, autonomous control system optimised for time-critical experiments such as those at CERN's Antiproton Decelerator and, more broadly, in atomic and quantum physics research. Its setup is based on Sinara/ARTIQ and TALOS, integrating the ALPACA analysis pipeline, the last two developed entirely in AEḡIS. It is suitable for strict synchronicity requirements and repeatable, automated operation of experiments, culminating in autonomous parameter optimisation via feedback from real-time data analysis. CIRCUS has been successfully deployed and tested in AEḡIS; being experiment-agnostic and released open-source, other experiments can leverage its capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the historical context of public health in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Posen in Prussian-partitioned Poland of the mid-nineteenth century, focusing on the circus as a local entertainment attraction that could indirectly contribute to well-being and the physical and mental health of the Polish population. Non-reactive research methods used in historical sciences were applied to analyse archival materials related to the widely acclaimed Olympic circus of that era. The findings of the conducted research are press releases, particularly the note published in the local press on June 11, 1856. Circus performances, showcasing sports, culture, and human prowess, exemplified high physical culture levels, offering relaxing, imaginative, and sensory experiences. It is argued that through the performances of professional athletes, the circus promoted attitudes of self-development and the need to strive for set goals, especially important for the Poles in the context of their independence aspirations.

Ancient stadia and circuses were considered by Greeks and Romans to be excellent places for live events. Back in ancient times, many people participated in public entertainment from athletic games, as typical of Greek traditions, to combats between gladiators and wild beasts. Among all of them, the most acclaimed were the horse races conducted with chariots, and this was the main sport of ancient Roman stadia. This paper deals with the digital reconstruction of three stadia belonging to the 2nd century B.C. (i.e., Panathenaic Stadium) and to the 1st century A.D. (i.e., Circus Maximum and Stadium of Domitian). The digital models have been rebuilt based on historical resources and archaeological discoveries to conduct the acoustic simulations and understand the acoustic behavior within these places. After the assessment of the main acoustic parameters, the noise levels from crowds have been predicted in different ways: based on information gathered from historic annals, and the comfort used for modern stadia to predict the ancient conditions with reference to the crowd noise levels measured in modern stadiums. The results indicate that the acoustic response of ancient stadia is very similar to the modern ones, in terms of both reverberation and noise level from crowds.

Due to the paucity of information on circus management effects on the welfare of horses, this study investigated the plasma concentrations of noradrenaline, dopamine and serotonin, known to be indices of mental status, as well as the reactive oxygen metabolites (d-Roms) and the biological antioxidant potential (BAP), likely to denote the oxidant/antioxidant equilibrium of organisms, in horses managed in different Italian circuses. For the study, 56 circus horses of different breeds and ages were enrolled and divided into six groups according to the horses’ management (circus management, groups G1–G5; classic riding management representing the control group, CG). From each horse, blood samples were collected in order to assess the concentration of selected parameters. One-way ANOVA showed no differences (p > 0.05) in serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, d-Roms and BAP values between circus and control horses. No differences related to the breed of the horses enrolled in the study were found in the values of all investigated parameters (p > 0.05). Furthermore, neurotransmitters showed overlapping levels between the different age classes of investigated horses (p > 0.05); contrariwise, the age of the horse displayed a significant effect on BAP values, with the oldest horses (16–21 age class) exhibiting lower BAP values compared to 4–5, 6–10 and 11–15 age classes (p < 0.05), whereas the d-Roms showed similar values in horses of different age classes (p > 0.05). The results gathered in the present study suggest that the mental status of horses under circus management was not compromised; however, better attention and care in the management of older horses is advocated, as they showed a lower biological antioxidant potential than younger horses; thus, they could be more susceptible to oxidative stress.

The article focuses on the multifaceted roles of public schools in students' lives, including education, supervision, discipline, and even parental responsibilities, leading to challenges in balancing legal rights and responsibilities. School administrators must navigate the constitutional rights to free speech and religion for both employees and students while upholding the Establishment Clause.

Indian big top circuses carry an ensemble of people, animals, and infrastructures over long distances. Interviews with circus managers and owners about their itineraries suggest their representations of India elude some regional conceptions of space that are widespread and prevalent in South Asian studies. While regions bind together nearby places with a history of exchanges and common practices, circus routes are one modality by which distant places and regions can be defined and connected through the history of the people traveling through them. This article surveys some of the spatial features that managers and owners consider when determining circus routes. Circus routes highlight dynamic and business-oriented ways of thinking about India's territory, factoring in monsoons and droughts, ground availability and prices, and competition with other itinerant businesses. Building on ethnographic material, I show that business acumen in the circus community is primarily defined by a reading of space that successfully factors in this information. Ultimately, the development of circus geographies that do not readily map onto national, international, or subnational scales demonstrates how time and space can be configured in a specific way by one's belonging to a professional community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the material interrelation in the dance performance Feathers, created by the small, independent theatre Upsala Circus located in Saint Petersburg. The socio-cultural circus project is led by Larisa Afanasyeva and refers to itself as a “Circus of Hooligans”. For more than two decades, it has been working with children that come from dysfunctional and marginalized families or have special needs. The performance is a memory work that uses a tightly woven canvas of bodies, props, and sounds to encourage the spectator to reflect on their own past. Relying on the concepts of scenographic materiality and kinaesthetic empathy, the article analyses how the dance performance strives to communicate what potentially lies beyond representation – trauma of others. The dance performance explores the possibility of the language of bodies, human and non-human, in exploration of the past, often forgotten, hidden, or suppressed. The article examines how different means of communication available to the dance performance influence affective and meaning-making processes in the experience of the spectator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In 1839 the Gazeta Wielkiego Xięstwa Poznańskiego (Gazette of the Grand Duchy of Posen) announced the holding of the Olympic Games in the city of Posen by Rudolph Brilloff's circus troupe. The aim of this study is to examine the role of Rudolph Brilloff in the history of nineteenth-century circus and to ascertain whether he consciously advocated for the organization of Olympic Games in circus format as part of the legacy of the Olympic tradition. Moreover, it aims to explore the distinctive characteristics of his circus performances within the realm of the Grand Duchy of Posen. Materials and Methods: The study used the historical methodology of the humanities of physical culture. Books, newspapers and other documents from archives and library collections in Poznan, Berlin and Potsdam were consulted. Findings: The research results show that although Rudolph Brilloff is considered the father of the German circus, little biographical information about him h as survived. As a talented circus entrepreneur, who performed with his troupe under the name of the Olympic Games, he probably had little awareness or knowledge of the Olympic idea and therefore did not intend to promote it. However, Brilloff's circus staged unique performances in the form of pantomimes or feats rarely seen in Poland before due to their dangerous nature, e.g. the salto mortale, also known as the leap of death. Summary: Rudolph Brilloff can be regarded as the forgotten father of German circus and should not be directly associated with the question of the Olympic legacy. However, Brilloff's work had a real impact on nineteenth-century society and certainly contributed to other circuses expanding their repertoires with new elements based on various physical activities, ultimately leading to the development of modern circus art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Trabajo Social is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It is the aim of this article to critically assess the (re)valorisation of nonhuman animals in contemporary circus. Though contemporary circus has declared itself to be an 'animal-free' artform, animals have been increasingly reappearing in contemporary circus performances over the past few years. In opposition to traditional circus, neither the presentation of the talents of nonhuman animals nor the demonstration of human power and dominance are the objective, rather, contemporary circus attempts to create critical and experimental artworks that function as social commentaries on the relation between humans and nonhuman animals. This article is divided into three parts. The first provides an overview of the staging strategies of nonhuman animals in traditional circus, as well as a contextual map of the renewed interest in animal performances in contemporary circus. The second is an analysis of the contemporary circus performance Dresse-toi (2018) by Cie Equinoctis, which sets out to counter the human dominance of animals in performance through the lens of the nonhuman turn. The third part reflects on further ways to decentre the human being and the anthropocentric telos in circus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fabrica Litterarum Polono-Italica is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Slaskiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Theatralia is the property of Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Addressing intersections of performances, practices, and practitioners of circus aerial and BDSM, I investigate how "play" manifests in both activities. Circus aerial and kink both involve forms of play that experiment with what is possible, tenable, and worthwhile for bodies to do under restrictive and painful conditions. Both practices are both pleasurable and serious, seeking transcendent, less "controlled" experiences, while maintaining the level of control necessary in forms of play involving real risk. Aerialists select their performance apparatuses not just aesthetically, but for the planes of intensity that playing on and with them enables them to traverse in experimentation and performance, mirroring the complex factors determining an individual's preferred forms of kink play. Combining performance analysis, interviews with kink-involved circus aerial performers, and my own experience as an aerialist and a kink practitioner, in conversation with theories of play and of sexuality, I explore how intersections of pain, pleasure, and play in BDSM and aerial practice inform each other on embodied and aesthetic registers. I argue that, as an assemblage of aerialist and apparatus, the performer engages in a Deleuzian act of becoming, evoking a Body without Organs that, in its play of intensities, is more than incidentally masochistic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of a lived calling for Christian variety performers. A basic qualitative study method was employed to explore vocational meaning-making among thirty seasoned Christian variety performers (jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, clowns, and other similar entertainers) who claim to live out a life calling through their vocations. Based on the findings from this study, the major themes were named as journey, joy, community, and oblation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 8 April 1920, the first sports editorial cartoon by teenager Jack Nicolle appeared in Health & Strength magazine. The series of illustrations in the world's oldest physical culture periodical captured the absurdity of 'circus lifts' performed at a recent W.A. Pullum lifting exhibition. The piece ignited a torrid eleven-month run of insightful, humorous, and bitingly satirical commentary often directed towards leaders of the British strength community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction to this issue provides an overview of the New York Hippodrome's construction, the historical references and symbolic resonances of its exterior and interior theatrical space, and the human and animal performers who contributed to its overall importance in the opening season and beyond. First, we discuss how Thompson and Dundy drew on the vibrant transatlantic theatrical networks of the era to conceptualise the New York Hippodrome as a theatrical space, while at the same time highlighting the uniquely American quality of their venture. This played out in periodical coverage of the venue's construction, where the celebrations of oversized scale and backstage technological innovation took on a nationalistic tone. The boosterism had local resonance as well, since New York City was undergoing a building boom at that time, staking its claim as a world-class city representative of the whole nation. The venue's architecture, interior design, and onstage performances work together in ways that recent scholarship has identified as racialising: we suggest that this overall racialised aesthetic creates a transportive experience where audience members feel part of an exoticised space. We conclude by considering how performing animals develop all these overarching concerns, calling upon local, national, and international resonances in popular performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marceline Orbes' clowning proved so popular during the New York Hippodrome's 12 April 1905 inaugural performance and the succeeding months that he purportedly signed a lifetime contract with that theatre in 1906. Marceline left this venue in 1912 to perform in his own 1913 roadshow based upon his 'Hippodrome Idea', which was described as central to how otherwise fragmented vaudeville acts were bound together by Marceline's artistry – evidence of how closely his identity intertwined with that of the New York Hippodrome's. Largely forgotten by the time of his death in 1927, scholars were generally unaware of Marceline until 1964, when Charles Chaplin revealed that this great artist was an inspiration for his classic 1952 film, Limelight. This study reveals how Marceline's mastery of nineteenth-century circus traditions, and brilliant trademark auguste, enabled this famous Hippodrome clown to develop a distinctive performance art uniquely associated with the New York Hippodrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Publicity materials heralded the New York Hippodrome as the world's largest theatre and the National Theatre. Managers Elmer Dundy and Fred Thompson based their claim for national status on the venue's size. Their ideology considered big to be better because it proclaimed success, efficiency, and the organisation and consumption of pleasurable experiences to be the responsibility of every American citizen-consumer. Using publicity, costume designs, sketches, illustrations, production stills, newspaper reports and a scrapbook, I explore their nationalistic vision. I demonstrate how the opening's entertainments performed Dundy and Thompson's populist Americanness through narrative, design aesthetics and moments that exceeded the dramatic frame. The first of the two night's productions, A Yankee Circus on Mars (1905), presented Mars as an idealised surrogate America. The production deliberately centred circus to designate their venue as 'American' due to circus's status as an intrinsically American entertainment. Circus provided practical benefits in filling the vast interior with spectacle and covering long stage waits. Presenting circus end-on in the New York Hippodrome designated the venue 'American', but created an experience that was akin to circus. Focusing on responses to aerial acts, I demonstrate the visual gains and visceral losses to experiencing aerialists within the Hippodrome space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the migration of three Italian-born artists working in France in the field of ephemeral entertainment and argues that their stories were part of a broader process of cultural history and artistic mobility of the long eighteenth century. These artists are the firework makers Ruggieri brothers, the circus performer Antonio Franconi and his family and the stage designer Ignazio Degotti. They left their home country at different points (1730s, 1750s and 1790 respectively), settling in Paris under different socio-political circumstances. Due to the immaterial and contingent medium in which these artists chose to work, which is difficult to replicate and collect, the mobility of these artists has often remained a neglected story. To explore the reasons why these artists moved from their home country and the motivation that convinced them to stay in France, this research combines an attentive examination of archival material with a methodology influenced by methods of cultural history. The paper argues that their lives and their artistic expertise were not only aesthetically relevant, but also very much integrated within the defined social and cultural context they chose to live in.