In which country did the circus first appear? The very first circus. Circus in Russia
Every child knows what a circus is - it's laughter, fun, clowns, smart animals, magicians and dexterous acrobats. But rarely any of the adults can explain what are the features of the circus as an art form. After all, we most often present it as a fascinating spectacle, a show. But in fact, circus artists spend their whole lives mastering not only skill, but also art - the ability to convey emotion and evoke aesthetic feelings in the audience.
The appearance of the circus
The name "circus" comes from the Roman oval platforms, where various folk holidays, competitions were held, and shows were shown. In those days, the Romans loved to watch people competing in strength, dexterity, and various skills. And so a special kind of spectacle appeared, which today is called a 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, the Italians picked up on this idea and added numbers with animals and mimes to the program. What is a circus, in Russia they will learn at the end of the 18th century. In 1764, an English equestrian visited Moscow on tour, and this show marked the beginning of the opening of several stationary circuses at once. By the middle of the 19th century, such sites were built in many Russian cities. Gradually, the scope of the show expanded, traditional programs were formed and circus professions were formed. 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 to demonstrate special skills that often had no practical application. Specialists who characterize the circus as an art, first of all, pay attention to the lack of any effectiveness in the actions of the artists. They do not compete, winning prizes, but they allow you to see the possibilities of a person and experience aesthetic pleasure at the same time. The main expressive means of circus art is a trick, it is designed to evoke emotions in the audience: laughter, surprise, fear, delight. All this makes the circus related to other types of performing arts: theater, cinema. In the arena, a person shows the ability of nature to metamorphosis, only the object of these transformations is not stone, clay or paint, but the person himself. He creates according to the laws of eccentrics, demonstrating the highest. The main circus arts are: reprise, trick, number, super-task, eccentricity.
Circus device
Special art requires a special space. The circus is not just a round building, but a complex structure with numerous possibilities. The circus arena is the heart of the venue. Traditionally, it is round in shape, about 13 meters in diameter. The seats of the spectators rise from the stage like an amphitheater. In modern, stationary circuses, there are often several arenas for different types of performances: equestrian, illusion, light, ice, water. But the arena is only the visible part of the circus. Behind the scenes there are many office spaces: dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, places for keeping animals, dressing rooms. Technical services also play an important role in the design of the theater: lighting, equipment fixing, decorations, curtains - all this serves to ensure that the viewer sees an unusual and complex performance.
Circus professions
Hearing the question “what is a circus”, we remember people of different professions. Each of them requires special skills 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, tightrope walkers, gymnasts, tightrope walkers. There are also special professions that are at the intersection of skill and technology - these are illusionists. The highest level in the circus professional hierarchy is occupied by clowns, who combine acting, pantomime, buffoonery. But circus performers cannot work without theater workers who take on the provision of various services and assistants.
jugglers
As the name of the profession already implies, jugglers first appeared in France. This word literally means "joker". Initially, people of this profession sang songs, danced in market squares and fairs. But as an activity, juggling appeared in ancient Egypt. Deft manipulations with many objects fascinated 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 many different objects into the air, and also use balancing act, comic and acrobatic elements to complicate the trick. Juggling can be paired and solo, artists not only throw and catch objects, they can rotate them at the same time, alternate rhythmically, throwing them to a partner. The juggling rhythm makes the spectators keep their eyes on the flying objects, and the dexterity of the artist makes them feel delighted.
tightrope walkers
Another artist, without whom it is impossible to imagine a circus performance, is a tightrope walker. This genre of circus art is built on the ability of a person to maintain balance on unstable surfaces. Traditionally, tightrope walkers performed various body movements on ropes, balls, and cylinders. Often the artist combines the ability to keep balance with acrobatic, comic actions, as well as juggling. Even in ancient China, tightrope walkers' performances were very popular. In many cultures of the world, folk amusements were often accompanied by tightrope walkers. There are such variants of this genre as performances on a ball, on a wire, on reels, on stairs, on a trapeze (matte-trape), on unicycles.
Illusionists
Magicians or illusionists are representatives of a profession that has glorified circus art. The basis of the genre was sleight of hand. Artists who knew how to perform magical manipulations with various objects, such as cards, were obligatory participants in medieval fairs. Modern illusionists, in addition to the ability to make amazing movements with their hands, use various technical tricks to mislead the audience. Among the magicians there are real world celebrities whose names are passed down from generation to generation. Such illusionists include Harry Houdini, Alessandro Cagliostro, the Keo family, Uri Geller,
Clownery
Ask any child what a circus is, and you will get the answer: Masters working in this role have become a real symbol of the circus, performances are impossible without them. The beginning of the profession was laid in the institution of buffoonery, because jesters were at the court of all royal persons. Their task was not only to amuse, but also to ridicule vices, while the jester, the clown, could tell the truth to anyone. The art of the clown is often built not on humor, but on irony, buffoonery and the grotesque. The exaggerated manner of playing goes back to the traditions of farce performances at fairs. The clown should not only laugh, but also mock, 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 they are Red (cunning and rogue) and White (important prim gentleman) clowns. Conflicts constantly occur between them, which are funny scenes that fill the pauses in the performance. In the circus world, it is believed that clowns are the artistic elite. Often they include in their performances elements of juggling, acrobatics, animal training, pantomime. Among them are the real, the greatest actors. The most famous clowns are M. N. Rumyantsev (Pencil), V. Polunin, Yu. Nikulin and M. Shuidin, who worked in pairs, L. Engibarov, O. Popov. Any circus show can be saved by a clown who appears in the arena whenever there is a pause in the program.
The history of the Russian circus is rich in interesting events, its origins go back to the distant past. In many literary sources, one can find references to circus performers, grandfather barkers, wandering acrobats, guide bears and other pioneers of circus art.
Circus art originates in Kievan Rus. Even buffoons at festivities and fairs performed comic scenes, showed trained bears and dogs, used acrobatics and juggling techniques. In 1619 Grigory Ivanov from Ryazan came to the court of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich with a tamed lion. In the XVIII century. foreign guest performers appeared in Moscow and St. Petersburg, some of which even reached Siberia.
The appearance of Russian wandering artists - buffoons is associated with pagan rites. Buffoons are professional representatives of the spectacular culture, they wandered around the villages and cities in "troops", led bears, played funny scenes. These "laughers" and "hooters" were the bearers of popular fun and "gloom" - satire. On the famous frescoes of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, dating back to 1037, there are images of fist fighters, musicians, equilibrists with a pole, horse competitions. In our modern understanding, these people combined the professions of an actor, singer, musician, dancer, acrobat, juggler, magician, animal trainer. They performed in traditional crowded places - in squares, markets, fairs, as well as home celebrations. In the XV - early XVI centuries. there was a flourishing of buffoonery.
In the 18th century, when Peter I began the gigantic work on the Europeanization of Russia, in St. Petersburg, and then in Moscow, the process of establishing urban secular life began. This was reflected in culture, and, perhaps, to the greatest extent - in the rapid development of circus art forms.
Peter I organizes a cabinet of curiosities, in which the first exhibits are alcoholized "freaks" - and this strengthens the interest in people either with physical deformities or with features of appearance that greatly distinguish them from most of those around them. In high-ranking circles of Russia, there is a fashion for "Arapchat" and "Carls". A variety of "freaks" ("hairy woman", "man-dog", etc.) are exhibited for viewing in the farce pavilions.
Fair booths at folk festivals, where acrobats, gymnasts, jugglers perform, are becoming more widespread. Balagan is a folk theatrical spectacle of a comic nature, most often at fairs and festivities. The phenomenon itself is much older than its name. In the old days, booths (from the Persian word "balakhane" - upper room, balcony) were light temporary buildings, which usually served for trade at bazaars and fairs. In the 19th century a booth began to be called a temporary building intended for theatrical or circus performances, for performances by wandering fair actors. Hence the spectacle itself was called "booth".
The genres and style of the farce spectacles were varied. They used funny scenes, jugglers, magicians, gymnasts, acrobats, dancers, strongmen performed. Among the farce artists there were real talents. The Durov brothers, the Nikitin brothers and many others began their creative journey at the festivities. Back in the 30s of the last century, in the markets of many Russian cities, one could see a boardwalk booth and hear the famous Russian Petrushka. It was the buffoons and the farce that gave rise to the art of variety art, circus, and puppet theater.
At the same time, “official” court forms of circus art were also developing: from the beginning of the 18th century. traditions of arranging theatrical equestrian carousels, cavalcades and other equestrian spectacles arise; and by the middle of the century we can talk about the formation of a real equestrian circus in the capital of Russia. At the beginning of the XIX century. circus performances are held in the arena of Count Zavadovsky; a special building for equestrian performances on Krestovsky Island is also being built. The development of diplomacy and international relations leads to the fact that more and more European circus actors, mostly Italians, come to Russia on tour.
In the first half of the XIX century. during the time of Tsar Nicholas I, circus art began to develop, the government of which strongly supported various areas of art. The authorities sought to influence the mood in society and, thus, make it think less about serious political problems. Such patronage of the Russian state aroused the interest and courage of foreign, European circus artists to tour in Russia. It was foreign troupes that ultimately organized the construction of permanent circuses in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In St. Petersburg and Moscow, the first stone stationary premises began to be built, which were not inferior in scale to the best European enterprises. The very first circus troupe, in the traditional sense of the term, arrived in Russia under the direction of Jacque Tourniare in 1825. He organized a tour in St. Petersburg and started building a circus building there. The wooden building was opened on December 11, 1827. The building was dismantled in 1877 after the construction of a stone structure. At that time, Caetano Ciniselli showed his activity. To this day, it is in this building that the operating circus in St. Petersburg is located.
In 1849, a state imperial circus was opened in St. Petersburg with a special department for training circus personnel.
In Moscow in 1847 on Lubyanka Square he built a wooden circus Soulier. Since 1853, a circus has been functioning, which belonged to the guards, retired colonel V.N. Novosiltsev. But they did not last long. In 1866, the wooden circus on Vozdvizhenka was built by Karl Ginne. Among the artists who performed with him, the rider and trainer Albert Salamonsky had a special success. In 1880, the Russian Courier newspaper reported that, having returned from a tour, Salamonsky began the construction of a stone circus building on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. The place was not chosen by chance. In Moscow, booths worked here. Soon the new circus received the first visitors.
The creators of the first Russian circus were the brothers Akim, Dmitry and Pyotr Nikitin, who came from the family of the former serf Alexander Nikitin. The first Russian stationary circus was created by the Nikitin brothers, who trace their lineage from serfs. Akim, Peter and Dmitry Nikitin began their career as artists, giving performances on the street: they walked around the Saratov courtyards with a barrel organ and a parsley screen. Later, the brothers performed with a puppet theater, worked in booths. Having accumulated a sufficient amount of money and teamed up with the physicist K. O. Krause, who showed foggy pictures, the Nikitins in 1873 bought their own, as they said then, chapiton and installed it in Penza. In 1870-1880 wooden and stone circuses of the Nikitin brothers grew up in Saratov, Ivanov, Kyiv, Astrakhan, Baku, Kazan, Simbirsk and other cities. Since 1886, they have made several attempts to give performances in Moscow, but high costs and fierce competition prevented this. Only in 1911 did the Nikitins open a major stone circus on Bolshaya Sadovaya Street. So the foundations of circus business in Russia were laid.
The Nikitins, as well as other circuses in Russia of that period, formed entire generations of outstanding Russian artists, many of whom subsequently wrote memorable pages in the history of the Soviet circus, the creators of action-packed clowning using different types of animals and birds, Vladimir and Anatoly Durov, who founded the famous circus dynasty. They started as gymnasts, illusionists, satirists, trying themselves in different genres. Anatoly was a satirical clown, his political topical reprises became a legend. Vladimir became a clown trainer, created a scientifically based training method, later called Durov's. V. L. Durov founded a laboratory in Moscow for the study of animal behavior, on the basis of which the Durov Corner with the Theater of Animals was later created, which is now led by V. L. Durov’s granddaughter, People’s Artist of Russia N. Durova.
Their jokes, well-aimed witticisms were received enthusiastically by the audience. Performances involving these clowns were eagerly anticipated and everywhere were held with extraordinary success. The Durovskaya railway enjoyed great love of the audience. Here the whistle of a locomotive is heard behind the scenes, and real, only small-sized locomotive and wagons appear on the arena. Riding a steam locomotive - Vladimir Durov. The train is approaching the platform. The structure meets the French bulldog - the head of the station. The rat rings the bell, announcing the train's approach. Passengers look out of the car with curiosity: a guinea pig, dogs, chickens, badgers, an anteater, a crane, a peacock. Both young spectators and adults recognize them, and ringing voices of greeting rush towards the cheerful train from all sides. However, perhaps with more pleasure than the guys, the adults applaud the monkey-driver, the water rat-switchman, the telegraph operator. Here is the baggage car approaching the platform. The unloading of the car is accompanied by a scourging comment: rotten sleepers - to engineers, torn pants with empty pockets turned inside out - to the Minister of Finance, etc. Journalistic accuracy, boldness of expression are features of the work of outstanding clowns that have made up the tradition of Russian and Soviet clowning.
A wonderful clown and acrobat Vitaly Lazarenko worked for the Nikitins. His performances were a great success with the public. He combined satirical clownery with acrobatics.
Already in the early 90s, the growth of the Nikitin brothers' circus was so determined that they were invited to play in 1896 at the national holidays on the occasion of the sacred coronation of Nicholas 2. On the Khodynka field, the Nikitins circus occupied a huge hippodrome for horse races with two circus arenas and a high mast for acrobats and, according to official sources, for "45 separate numbers performed with the participation of 100 artists and 100 horses."
Popular in the Russian circus, along with the Durovs and Lazarenko, were the Alperov clowns, the Tahiti brothers, Bim-Bom. Russian artists in all genres successfully performed at the arenas of the country. Among them were well-known tightrope walker F. F. Molodtsov, horsemen of various profiles: the Gamsakhurdia family, P. S. Krutikov, V. T. Sobolevsky, N. L. Sychev, P. A. Fedoseevsky; athletes and wrestlers: I. M. Poddubny, I. M. Zaikin, N. A. Vakhturov, P. F. Krylov, I. V. Shemyakin, who emerged victorious from competitions with renowned world and European champions; acrobats Winkina; cyclists Podrezovs (according to the scene of Poldi); jugglers K. and M. Pashchenko, a juggler on a horse N. A. Nikitin and others.
A distinctive feature of this period was that the circuses belonged to private owners - entrepreneurs, many of whom had nothing to do with art. Artistic direction was carried out by directors and ringmasters. There were almost no directors in circuses, so the popularity and, as a result, the profitability of circuses almost entirely depended on the talent and creative finds of the artists, and many of them were really able to maintain a high artistic level of circus art.
Circus is the art of acrobatics, balancing act, gymnastics, pantomime, juggling, tricks, clowning, musical eccentricity, horse riding, animal training. The circus poses one of the most difficult mysteries of aesthetics: what kind of art is this? What is its specificity? And is it art? Or maybe just a spectacle? To answer these questions, it is important to find the specifics of the content of the circus, for which it is necessary to understand what the purpose of the circus performance is.
The first thing that catches your eye when trying to identify the specifics of the circus is its "purposelessness", the absence of any direct practical significance of the performed numbers. What is the point of teaching a lion to jump through a ring of fire? Who needs a dog that obediently barks as many times as required by the number drawn by the trainer on the board? After all, a lion will never become a firefighter, and a dog will never become a mathematician.
The path to understanding the nature of the circus was found in principle by aesthetics in the development of the theory of applied art. After all, even before the circus, an equally “useless” activity was born and exists to this day, like teaching a dog to do somersaults. This is jewelry making. And really, what practical value do beads or a bracelet have? It would seem that the work of a jeweler is useless. He granite diamond, makes it sparkle. But the diamond does not just sparkle, it expresses the strength and power of man over nature. If even the hardest mineral in the world - diamond - a person is able to cut, then he freely owns the entire kingdom of minerals, and there is no such stone that would not be subdued by man. The "useless" occupation of a jeweler has a deep meaning and reason: the values created by him are perceived as beautiful.
The art of the circus is, in a certain sense, the art of the jeweler. A circus artist is a jeweler not only because he is required to have the same skill, the same precision and filigree in his work, but also because, in its very meaning and significance, his work is similar to the work of a person grinding a diamond. The trainer subjugates the king of animals to his will and thereby reveals the unlimited power of man over the entire animal kingdom. In the work of a trainer, free and complete possession of the world of wildlife appears in a visual and convincing form. If a person is able to force the king of animals, having overcome age-old instincts, to jump over fire, then any animal will obey and serve a person. If you can teach a dog to do somersaults, then all the more you can make it guard a house or a herd, help hunt. The same principle lies in the work of an acrobat, who, with his dizzying flight, reveals a person's free possession of space, his body, a sense of balance. The eccentric is the leading aesthetic property of the circus and the main aesthetic category of this art form. If the beautiful is a positively significant phenomenon that a person is fluent in, the sublime is a positive phenomenon that a person is not yet fluent in, then the eccentric is the sphere of virtuoso-free possession of a subject that is difficult to master. Eccentricity in the circus is not just a form, but a special artistic content that reveals all the power of a person over animals, and over space, and over his own body, and over his feelings. Eccentricity is the expansion of the sphere of human freedom and evidence of his unlimited power over the whole world. Marco Polo, a Venetian traveler of the 13th century, told how the ruler of China, Kublai, expelled magicians and acrobats from his country. There were so many of them, and they were so good with their weapons, that, having crossed many mountains and deserts, they conquered distant lands. Such a prevalence of circus art can only be explained by its vital necessity.
The main aesthetic categories of the circus are eccentricity, super measure, super task, number, reprise, trick.
The circus is not a record holder, but the image of a person demonstrating his highest capabilities, solving super-tasks, creating in accordance with the super-task, according to the laws of eccentricity.
Word "circus" comes from latin circle. In translation, it means a circle, a circle. Circus art is the most favorite kind of not only children, but also adults. This art consists mainly of tricks. Each trick is years of training, it is difficult to perform. But the successful performance of it causes a storm of emotions in the viewer. Each trick is well executed musically, and combined with the choreography, this is already a number. Many numbers make up the program, but sometimes these numbers are united by one canvas, which makes up a whole performance.
History of the circus
Roman circus. The ancient Romans called the word "circus" an open structure in the form of an elongated oval, corresponding to the modern hippodrome. The largest of these buildings was the Grand Circus in the capital. The Roman circus had very little in common with a modern circus performance: it was the venue for a number of folk "spectacles", primarily horse racing and chariot races, and later some others, usually, however, held not in circuses, but in amphitheaters: martial arts of gladiators , persecution of animals, etc. Competitions in the circus took place on famous holidays and were called ludi circenses. The circus played a great social role in Rome, which was also preserved in the first centuries of Byzantium.
Middle Ages. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the circus gradually lost its importance as the main place for the entertainment of the people. The grandson of Clovis I, Chilperic I, king of the Franks, built circuses in Paris and Soissons, where various performances were given to the people, but the latter were not particularly successful, and therefore the circuses were soon abandoned and broken. Mysteries and theatrical performances, which received significant development in the Middle Ages, finally undermined the significance of the circus as a public entertainment.
new time. The circus of the modern type appeared for the first time only at the end of the 18th century in France. Its creators were two English riders, father and son Astley. In 1774, they built a round hall in Paris, in the suburbs of the Temple, which they called the circus, and began to give performances here, consisting of various exercises on horseback and acrobatic studies. Astley's successors, the Franconi Italians, soon built a new circus for 2,700 people. They also introduced pantomime into the performance program, as well as the fight of wild animals among themselves and with dogs. From Paris, circus performances soon spread throughout Europe. Performances with trained animals began to be given in the circus from the end of the 19th century. By the end of the century, permanent circuses existed in almost all the capitals and major cities of Western Europe and Russia. The circuses of Paris were considered the best. In addition, a very significant number of mobile circuses constantly wandered around Western Europe and Russia. In 19th century Italy there were no permanent circuses, but most of the most significant theaters were arranged so that the stalls could be turned into a circus arena. Circuses are most widespread in Spain, where bullfighting has been preserved since antiquity.
During the Great Patriotic War. During the Great Patriotic War, the art of the Soviet circus suffered significant damage. Many circus buildings were destroyed by enemy bombing, fires, along with props and equipment. Trained animals died. The artists went to the front, the numbers fell apart and 
attractions. The main directorate of circuses, together with the All-Union Committee for the Arts, was evacuated to Tomsk. In the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War, Stalin made sure that the Soviet circus was supported and the animals in it did not starve. From the first days of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), circus performers performed at mobilization points, at railway stations before sending front-line echelons, and in hospitals. In 1941, on the anniversary of the October Revolution, the Moscow Circus sent a large group of artists to the front in the areas of Mozhaisk and Volokolamsk. The pencil, in front of the public, put a half-human, half-dog mask on his face, put a cast-iron cauldron on his head, armed himself with an ax, a knife, a club. He looked out for something in the distance, sat down in the "tank" with a cry of "Nah Moskau!" and rolled forward. The "tank" was a large barrel mounted on a platform, the wheels of which were decorated to match the tank's tracks. A box of logs depicted a turret on a tank. The skull and bones were painted on the front of the bottom of the barrel. Explosion! A Hitlerite in rags on one leg stands in amazement in the arena. Then, tying a scarf around his head, grabbing the “turned up” crutch, he runs backstage on one leg ...
The carpet clown Boris Petrovich Vyatkin sent telegrams to Moscow one after another with a request to send him, along with other artists, to the front to perform in front of the soldiers. In August 1942, they were called to Moscow to be sent to the front-line circus brigade. In the same month, Boris and his pet dog Kroshka, along with other artists, went on their first front-line trip. In June 1942, the Pencil brigade left for the active units, and in August, the Vyatkin brigade, which served the fronts for 3 years. For all the time they worked at the front, their brigade gave more than one and a half thousand concerts. They performed in front of pilots, tankers, scouts, at the front line, in hospitals, on trucks equipped "under the stage", in clearings and in the woods. More than once they came under shelling and bombing, in any weather they gave three or four concerts. In 1945, after the end of the war, they continued to perform in military units, they returned to Moscow only in August 1945. In the same year, front-line circuses were created at the Moscow, Saratov and other circuses. 
A special circus group was formed under the leadership of E. Gershuni at the Leningrad House of the Red Army. He gave performances on the Leningrad front, as well as in the city itself. The program opened with a journalistic prologue "Fascist Menagerie". The sharply satirical entertainer was carried out by K. Guzynin and the clown Pavel Alekseevich. The performance took place against the backdrop of a peculiar construction depicting a circus amphitheatre. On November 29, 1943, the Izhevsk circus opened its doors, despite the war, and the first spectators of the new circus for 1800 seats were wounded soldiers. In November 1944, the 64th season of the Leningrad Circus opened. The Great Patriotic War interrupted the creative activity of the circus for 4 years.
Walter Zapashny and Mstislav Zapashny took their first steps on the arena of the Saratov Circus. It so happened that Walter and Mstislav remained in the besieged Leningrad. Their house burned down from the bombings and they lived with their grandmother in the dressing room of the circus. The younger Zapashnys were taken out along the "Road of Life". They went to their mother, Lydia Karlovna, in Saratov. Here, back in the war years, they began to rehearse their acrobatic stunt number, and then perform. This is how the Zapashny Brothers group appeared on circus posters, which was glorified by Mikhail's sons: Walter, Mstislav, Igor. The brothers tried themselves in a variety of genres: clowning, aerial gymnastics, horse riding, motorcycle racing, training horses and exotic animals, taming predators.
On Victory Day - May 9, 1945, artists of the Soviet circus performed in front of the liberators on the stairs of the defeated Reichstag. 
The Beginning of the New Time Circus
The circus, like the theater, was born on the square. The artists gave their performances right on the ground, and the audience formed a circle. The modern round arena is the birth of a production site for old comedians. Chroniclers claim that in Europe already in the XIV-XV centuries there were many of them. They came out of the people. Some cobbler or a peasant's son first in his town impressed his comrades with the skill of an acrobat or a juggler. Then his fame spread to the whole district. The new craft required the return of all forces. And the young man put his simple belongings in a bag and went on a journey, increasing the number of traveling artists. 
Wandering artists everywhere were persecuted by the government and the church. Coming from the people's environment, these artists in their performances did not spare those in power and often cruelly mocked them. But that was not the only thing. Unlike religion, folk artisans asserted the joy of earthly existence. They glorified a strong, courageous, dexterous man. This caused persecution from the ruling classes and the church, measures were taken to ban performances and even physically destroy the artists. But since art was supported by the people, this never succeeded.
There were wandering artists in Russia as well. Maxim Gorky wrote about them: “Until the beginning of the 17th century, we also had our own“ actors ”, our own meistersingers -“ passerby kaliks ”, they carried“ acting ”and songs about the events of the“ great turmoil” throughout the country , about Ivashka Bolotnikov, about the battles, victories and death of Stepan Razin. Monuments of material culture, chronicles, old books testify that buffoons have been known since very remote times. In Kiev, in the St. Sophia Cathedral, built in 1037, the staircase frescoes depict a whole performance in which predatory animals, tightrope walkers, musicians, dancers, and wrestlers participate.
The heyday of buffoonery dates back to the 16th-17th centuries. It was a period of active formation of the Russian nation. V. I. Lenin wrote; “The new period of Russian history (from about the 17th century) is characterized by a really actual merger of all ... regions, lands and principalities into one whole ... It was caused by an intensifying exchange between regions, a gradually growing commodity circulation nie, concentrating small local markets into one all-Russian market. Since the leaders and masters of this process were merchants, the creation of these national ties was nothing more than the creation of bourgeois ties. 
The economic and political rise of Russia in the 16th and 17th centuries contributed to the growth of national culture, including buffoonery. In the repertoire of the buffoons, there are more and more attacks against the ruling classes and the church, manifestations of sympathy for the heroes of popular uprisings. And then the persecution against them intensifies. In 1551, the Council of the Higher Russian Orthodox Clergy, in the book Stoglav, published by it, * asserted that the divine writings and sacred rules deny all playing - and grain, and chess, and tavlei, and harp, and bows, and all mockery and disgrace , and dancing. “The Lord speaks: “Woe to you who laugh now, as if you will weep and mourn.”
In 1648, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, “pitying the Orthodox Christians,” ordered them to mock and buffoonery “with all sorts of demonic games to stop,” and “which people from that whole blasphemous deed will not lag behind and will continue to learn such blasphemous deeds to keep , according to the sovereign decree, those people should be punished. Where such outrage will be declared or who will say such outrage against whom, those people should be beaten in batogs. Despite the attacks of the ruling classes and the church, buffoonery continued to develop, because the art of buffoons was closely connected with folk tradition, it expressed the thoughts and aspirations of the people. The buffoons had a great influence on the development of the Russian theater and the Russian circus.
Since the 16th-17th centuries, riding schools have become widespread in Europe. Riding schools often held competitions and demonstration races. Outstanding masters of their craft appear among the bereytors. Some of these bar-keepers carry over their performances to festivities; the success they have there leads to the fact that the takers 
they begin to move from city to city, giving performances. In 1588, a certain Kunstberator toured in Prague. He stood with his feet on the back of a galloping horse, jumped off the horse and jumped on it again. In 1647, the rider Christian Müller in the city of Nuremberg demonstrated complex evolutions on a horse. In 1724 in Russia, a certain artist showed a dancing horse. Information about such a “miracle” reached Peter I, and he gave the order: not to fix obstacles for the caretakers, but to allocate an apartment to the trainer and give fodder for the horse.
In 1764, the equestrian Jacob Bates built an amphitheater for equestrian performances near the Red Pond in Moscow. He apparently performed alone, and the performance lasted from thirty to forty minutes. Bates appeared before the public in a red single-breasted jacket with a turn-down collar and embroidered cuffs. His trousers were tucked into soft boots, and a hunting cap was on his head. Bates held a long whip in his hands. Such a sporty look suited the essence of his number. Bates galloped, standing on the croups of two horses, and in the middle a third horse ran. He also showed vaulting exercises: holding the handles of the band with his hands, Bates hung along the horse, then he put his leg through the loop and hung in that position. Finally, Bates jumped over a running horse, resting his hands on her back. This emphatically sporty number was associated with riding schools, exercises of cavalrymen. Theatricalization, which was developed in the further practice of the circus, was present here only in its infancy.
In 1776, horse rider and trainer Volton performed in Moscow. In 1884, Nikolai Mori, a native of the city of Breslavl, arrived in Russia. His horse counted the hours with its hoof, tapped out how many years it had been in training. In addition, she jumped over a small hoop, fell, “begging for mercy”, on her knees, stood on her hind legs and walked towards the trainer.
In 1772, in London, Philip Astley, a former cavalry soldier, organized a riding school. This school was a great success, mainly due to the demonstration in it of various equine evolutions. In 1782, Astley built a special building for showing equestrian performances. This building had all the signs of a modern circus: an arena, places for spectators located in a circle and rising like an amphitheater, a domed roof. Historians usually consider Astley's enterprise to be the first stationary circus in Europe. In the same year, 1782, Astley built an amphitheater for a performance in Paris, calling it the "English Amphitheater of the Faubourg Temple". 
Theatricalization was especially intensified in the Franconi circus. Antonio Franconi, a bird trainer, began performances at the Astley Amphitheater on March 21, 1791. In his troupe, the places of prime ministers were occupied by the sons of Franconi - Lorenzo and Enrico - talented horse trainers and riders. In 1807, the Franconi built a new building in Paris for their performances. Here the main place is occupied by pantomimes, most often on battle scenes, which have a large number of mass scenes and enchanting effects. This was during the time of Napoleon I and the victorious wars waged by France. In the Franconi circus, the cult of the emperor was established, his campaigns were glorified. Thanks to this, the circus had the support of the ruling circles. The remarkable comedian Jacques Baptiste Auriol (de-but March 5, 1835) advanced in the circus Franconi. Oriol was a wonderful acrobat, juggler, equilibrist, and he knew how to color his performances with sparkles of humor. Of his tricks, we will name: a front somersault through twelve soldiers who crossed their guns. He did the back somersault-mortale in such a way that he fell directly into the shoes, however, without backs. Auriol parodied the numbers and, in addition, often accompanied his performance with verbal jokes. Undoubtedly, Auriol used and developed the tradition of folk clowns. He established himself in the arena as the first so-called carpet 
clown. The Franconi enterprise was the first to be called a circus. And that's why. In 1806, the French government by a special decree forbade all kinds of spectacles to be called theaters, leaving this name only for opera, ballet, tragedy and high comedy theaters; The Amphitheater, or, as it was also called, the Franconi Equestrian Theater, also fell under this decree. Then Franconi gave their company the name of the Olympic Circus. Imitating them, provincial entrepreneurs also named their amphitheatres, and then the name spread throughout Europe.
How did the circus develop in Russia?
At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, traveling troupes often toured Russia. In St. Petersburg, they most often performed in the arena of Count Zavadovsky on the Moika or built temporary booths. The first special building for circus performances was built by Joseph Gabita in St. Petersburg on Krestovsky Island. The circus opened on June 4, 1822. In 1827, entrepreneur Jacques Tournier contributed 30 thousand rubles to the treasury and received permission to build a circus. The circus cost 100,699 rubles; the missing amount was given by the city government, and she also became the actual owner of the circus. In 1845, Alexander Gverra arrived in the capital; he built a circus on the square next to the Bolshoi Theatre. In 1846, another circus was built by Jules Lezhar and Paul Cuzan. The competition between circuses was fierce, but the public became interested in circuses, and they were very successful. I. S. Turgenev wrote: « Mentioning Lezhare and Guerre, one cannot but go into some details: the subject is too interesting at the present time for the St. Petersburg public. We, however, do not intend to look down on him and ponderously joke, make fun of the public, calling her hobby "horse circus fanatic" or some even more clumsy phrase. We see nothing wrong with the fact that the public likes circuses».
In 1847, the state bought both circuses, and in 1849 a new stone imperial circus was opened. in Moscow after 
performances of a number of touring troupes in 1853, a stationary circus was built by Guards Colonel V.N. Novosiltsev. The circus was located on Petrovka, on the site of the present Mostorg No. 1. Horse riders and riders of various specialties occupied a central place in the circus programs. Turgenev wrote: « At the circus, Mrs. Caroline Lajo is especially attracted to Gwerr. The corresponding role in the Lezhar circus is occupied by Ms. Polina Kuzan. The general vote awards the championship to Ms. Caroline Layo. In fact, her dexterity in driving a horse, her constant confidence and calmness, and, finally, the gracefulness that captures her every movement are amazing. She herself is engaged in riding a horse-day».
Great success in circuses had trans-formational and ballet-acrobatic scenes on horseback. Comedians performed during pauses, of which Louis Viol, reminiscent of Oriol, and his student, the wonderful acrobat and equilibrist Pacifico Avenelli, had the greatest success.
Pantomimes were also staged in circuses, mostly with romantic content, with large equestrian scenes and staging effects. After the St. Petersburg circus became a state circus, a special circus department was created at the theater school to train Russian circus performers. From it came out: a talented rider of a higher school Ekaterina Fedorova, a grotesque rider Anna Natarova, a rider Timofey Stukolkin and Others. It is curious to note that the clown G.V. Stukolkin, who is now performing in circuses, is a distant relative of this once famous horse rider and dancer.
Openly monarchical, anti-artistic plays were staged in the state imperial circus, in which the anti-people regime of Nicholas I and the tsar himself were glorified: P. Merder's "The Fall of Acta" and Voronov's "Well Done Cossacks", but they were not successful. A contemporary wrote: "At first, excellent collections, and then emptiness and emptiness." Along with circuses, circus numbers were also constantly performed in booths and simply on the streets, mainly on the first days of folk festivals. Acrobats, jugglers, tightrope walkers and conjurers, and funny witty "grandfathers" performed here. The latter often performed malicious satirical jokes directed against those in power. Some of these "grandfathers", for example, the retired huntsman Bombov, were very popular and loved by the people
The word "circus" comes from the Latin word circus, which means "circle". Circuses are buildings with a round thirteen-meter arena, a dome where the equipment of aerialists and acrobats is suspended, and an amphitheater of spectator seats. In addition, there is another type of circus - mobile, collapsible - big top, with a tarpaulin tent and prefabricated structures. They assemble and disassemble the big top very quickly. In the United States of America, there are traveling three-ring circuses, where artists perform in three arenas at once.
The first circus in the world was founded in London in 1780 by the Englishman F. Astley. On the arena in the open air, every day, weather permitting, performances began at five o'clock in the evening. In addition to equestrian acrobatic numbers, rope dancers, acrobats, jumpers and jugglers appeared in the program for the first time. But then this spectacular enterprise was called an amphitheater. In 1807, the brothers L. and E. Franconi built a building in Paris, on the pediment of which the word “circus” appeared.
But there is a wider meaning of the word "circus". It defines an art form that has become as firmly established in our lives as theater, music and cinema. The basis of circus art is a specific exercise - a trick - a difficult to perform and emotionally impressive action, when, for example, musical eccentrics appear under the arm with bears, the juggler sends eleven rings up, and the gymnast makes a triple flip in the air. From the combination of tricks, emotionality, artistry, an artistic image is born. Each artist has his own image. This is a naive, childishly touching eccentric clown, and a fearless tamer, and unlucky funny musicians who instantly transform into charming people in the finale. “In the circus,” writes Yu. V. Nikulin, “you always need a revelation, an opening. If the circus does not meet the increased demands of the audience, they will no longer need it.”
The origins of the circus are in the labor, ritual, military activities of people. The first mention of the distant predecessors of today's arena masters we meet in ancient papyri, manuscripts and manuscripts. So, for example, in the Egyptian papyrus Westcar, it is told about the magician and trainer Dzhedi, who in the time of Pharaoh Cheops allegedly knew how to “put a severed head in its place and grow it back”, and “forced a lion to follow him without fetters”. Archival documents contain interesting information about the circus art of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, India, China, and Japan. From them we learn that in the last three countries the favorite genres were acrobatics, tightrope walking and juggling, distinguished by the originality of plasticity, a pronounced national color. Tricks were an indispensable part of the performances.
The Russian circus also has an interesting past. At festivities and fairs, it was often possible to see performances of wandering artists - strongmen, acrobats, tightrope walkers, animal trainers, sword swallowers, magicians. In 1619 Grigory Ivanov from Ryazan came to the court of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich with his tamed lion. In the XVIII century. foreign guest performers appeared in Moscow and St. Petersburg, who gave performances in secular living rooms, as well as in hastily built premises. In the 19th century the first stone stationary premises were built in St. Petersburg and Moscow. In 1880, on Tsvetnoy Boulevard in Moscow, the office of the merchant Danilov built a circus building for the famous rider and trainer Albert Salamonsky. (Russian artists, in order to achieve entreprise and recognition, were forced to change their names and surnames in a foreign way.)
The first Russian stationary circus was created by the Nikitin brothers, who trace their lineage from serfs. Akim, Pyotr and Dmitry Nikitin walked around the Saratov courtyards with a barrel organ and a parsley screen. In 1873, they bought their own, as they said then, chapiton, and on December 25 they installed it in Penza on the ice of the Sura River cleared of snow. In 1876 they opened a circus in Saratov. In 1870-1880. wooden and stone circuses of the Nikitin brothers grew up in Ivanov, Kyiv, Astrakhan, Baku, Kazan, Simbirsk and other cities. So the foundations of circus business in Russia were laid.
The famous satirical clowns, trainers Anatoly and Vladimir Durov performed at the Nikitins. A wonderful clown and acrobat Vitaly Lazarenko worked here. At the building of the Nikitinsky circus in Moscow, on Sadovo-Triumfalnaya, in 1914 he made his record jump over three Indian elephants. The Nikitins started with the multiple world champion in French wrestling, the unsurpassed strongman Ivan Poddubny and his student, also world champion Ivan Zaikin. On the arena, Zaikin held a platform on which up to 30 people climbed. Telegraph poles were broken on his shoulders. Masterly jugglers Ksenia and Mikhail Pashchenko demonstrated their skills. So, Mikhail, holding a burning kerosene lamp on his forehead, juggled four candlesticks. And Ksenia, holding a tray with a boiling samovar on a cane placed on her forehead, with one hand balanced a tray with glasses on the same cane, and with the other she rotated a basin on a stick.
The names of Russian artists sparkled brightly in various arenas - in the provincial circuses of P. S. Krutikov, E. A. Strepetov and others. Acrobat I. E. Sosin, invited in 1888 to Paris for the First International Acrobatic Competition, was the first in the world to do a double somersault in the stalls there. He was awarded a gold medal and a first degree diploma. Couplets of musical clowns Bim-Bom, who accompanied themselves on frying pans, brooms, bells and other eccentric instruments, were recorded on gramophone records. They were the first circus artists to participate in concerts along with opera and drama artists. I. K. Podrezov, known as Jan Poldi, balanced on a bicycle standing on two chairs, performed pirouettes over the steering wheel and performed various acrobatic stunts on a unicycle.
The October Revolution marked a major change in the nature and organization of the creative activity of the arena masters.
On August 26, 1919, V. I. Lenin signed the decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the unification of theatrical business"; Particular attention was paid to circuses. The decree noted "circuses as enterprises, on the one hand, profitable, on the other hand, democratic in terms of the public visiting them and especially in need of cleansing from unhealthy elements and in the artistic upsurge of their programs ...". Circuses were nationalized and transferred to the People's Commissariat of Education.
In his report at the Moscow House of the Circus, People's Commissar of Education A.V. Lunacharsky said: “Let's preserve the traditions of circus skills, come to the aid of circus workers, people of great devotion to their work, hard work on themselves. Let us cleanse their art of dirt, gradually remove all tasteless tricks from it and leave its great tasks to the circus: to demonstrate strength, dexterity, courage, to arouse laughter and admiration for a brilliant, bright and exaggerated spectacle.
Manege learned to speak in a new way. In 1921, in the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, the plastic suite "Samson the Victor" was staged by the sculptor S.T. Konenkov. The wrestlers on a rotating pedestal froze in expressive compositions, and in the finale, the unconquered Samson broke the chains that bound him. In 1930, the heroic-revolutionary pantomime of V. V. Mayakovsky “Moscow is on fire” was staged there. The Kiev circus created a pantomime "Rebel Karmelyuk".
Innovation has become an integral feature of Soviet circus art. The number of acrobats-voltigeurs with a pole abroad is often called the "Russian stick", as if once again emphasizing that the patent for its discovery belongs to our circus. In 1958, in Omsk, such a vault was first demonstrated by Boris and Valentin Isaev and Irina Shestua. Irina did a number of difficult tricks, completing their somersaults with the arrival on one leg. Now, from similar poles (and often a pole), double and even triple somersaults are performed. They were lifted up for air vaulting. From them began to perform jumping on stilts. And even trainers used them in their performances.
Vladislav Zolkin and Svetlana Mykytyuk brought antipodist bears to the arena, which rotate the Hutsul hatchet, cigar, barrel with their paws, throw balls with trainers and throw out various funny knees.
Anatoly Kalinin and his comrades released the issue "Acrobats on skateboarding" (skateboarding - planks on wheels). Artists take off into the air from a trampoline, rush through each other in jumps, perform puzzling coups and descend again to their nimble “platforms”. Acrobats ride skateboards standing on their heads, jump over and over the rings, and do a side arabesque in the air.
The aerial flight, which the Frenchman Léotard gave to the circus in the last century, has also undergone changes. Leotar flew from trapeze to trapeze with air jumps. Then the performers began to go towards each other from two bridges. A catcher appeared under the dome, which, picking up and redirecting the pilots, gave the number a new dynamic. In 1919, the Mexican A. Codona for the first time made a triple somersault in flight. The Soviet director-teacher Yu. G. Mandych, creating his flight "Galaxy", raised an air swing above the safety net - loping. And the gymnasts, led by Alexander Hertz, installed lopings on both sides, pulling up, so as not to cut the distance, a bridge with a catcher. From loping to loping - 20 m. In the final, the artists fly, as they say, without any landings - from one side of the circus to the other.
Many athletes become excellent circus performers. The famous tamer of predators, the pioneer of mixed training, Nikolai Gladilshchikov, was the absolute champion of the RSFSR in classical wrestling. Grigory Novak, who worked at the arena with the number "Athletic Poem", was the first of the Soviet athletes to win the title of world champion in weightlifting and during his performances on the big platform he improved over 100 world records. The magnificent dzhigit Irbek Kantemirov was the national champion in equestrian competitions five times. In recent years, hundreds of masters and candidates for master of sports have come to the arena.
Memorable rides were created at different arenas - colorful circus spectacles full of unexpected tricks and fiction. Attraction A. A. Volzhansky "Prometheus" was awarded the State Prize. The Volzhanskys were nicknamed star tightrope walkers. On thin cables, they rise to the very dome of the circus, to the height of a multi-storey building, doing their amazing tricks.
P. N. Mayatsky staged the Ball of Courage attraction. Inside a huge mesh ball suspended under the dome of the circus, motorcyclists rushed swiftly, making zigzags and "dead loops". Then the lower hemisphere descended, and in the upper hemisphere, as if left without a bottom, the motorcyclist continued to spin at a dizzying height.
Newspapers from many countries of the world wrote about the attraction of E. T. Kyo: “Kyo is a mystery of the 20th century” (Japan). “If you want to make sure that miracles exist, go on tour with Kyo” (Denmark). The World Club of Magicians in London put his name first on the red board of Honor. The International Lodge of Variety Theater and Circus Artists in Copenhagen awarded him their gold medal.
In 1959, in London, E. T. Keogh saw a catalog of all the magic tricks in the world. It collected together and explained 6,000 tricks. Only under one drawing, instead of an explanation, was the caption: “Nobody has ever done this trick and will never do it.” A gymnast climbed up a rope, as if suddenly rising from the ground and frozen in the air, like a pole. Three years later, E. T. Keogh staged this trick. Today, the Kio circus dynasty is continued by his sons - I. E. and E. E. Kio.
Interesting rides with trained animals were shown by tamers. Almost 100 species of animals and birds were brought to the arena by representatives of the famous Durov dynasty: Yu. V. and V. G. Durov worked with ponies and camels, zebras and elephants, dogs and monkeys, pelicans and pigeons, cheetahs and sea lions. I. N. Bugrimova, the first predator trainer in the USSR, proved to be a remarkable master of the arena. Her lions swung over the cage on a swing, climbed inclined ropes, spread out in a carpet and lined up in pyramids. The Bear Circus was created by V. I. Filatov. In the arena, the bears juggled, practiced balancing act, rode bicycles and motorcycles, boxed, and roller-skated.
There are many names in the Soviet circus that brought him worldwide fame. These are the light and graceful equilibrists of Sister Koch, who demonstrated miracles of balance in their attraction “Giant Semaphore” on a rotating metal ellipse under the dome of the circus. Bold and plastic jugglers Alexander and Violetta Kiss, who introduced elements of balancing act and acrobatics into juggling. And of course, wonderful clowns, loved by viewers from many countries of the world. The unique master of clowning M. N. Rumyantsev is known to everyone as Pencil. Thoughtful Leonid Yengibarov, presenting his mimic scenes about the joys and sorrows of man in the arena. Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuidin, who played genre scenes indescribably funny. Emotional and bright Oleg Popov, nicknamed the Solar Clown.
The Soviet circus has become truly multinational. Dagestan artists "Tsovkra" dance lezginka on a rope, do somersaults from shoulder to shoulder, fly up from a flip board, lining up three of them one on top of the other. The Ukrainian team is proud of the attraction "Lions and Tigers" by Vladimir and Lyudmila Shevchenko. The whole of Uzbekistan knows the rider, and now the trainer of dogs, Lola Khodzhaeva. Many people are familiar with the Turkmen jigits from Davlet Khodjabaev's attraction "Echo of Asia", the gymnasts from Azerbaijan Nazirovs, Tuvan jugglers and tightrope walkers Oskal-Ool, entire national teams of the Union and Autonomous Republics.
Directors, artists, composers, choreographers take part in the creation of colorful attractions. We can talk about the established style of Soviet circus directing. It began to be developed by the outstanding artist and director V. Truzzi, who in the first post-revolutionary years staged the pantomimes The Black Pirate and Makhnovshchina, where more than 100 people participated in mass scenes. This style was created by A. G. Arnold and G. S. Venetsianov, B. A. Shakhet and M. S. Mestechkin, and many other talented directors.
In the Soviet circus, whole performances were created with a through plot action in two parts: "Carnival in Cuba", "Pipe of Peace", "Bakhchisarai Legend". Performances: "Little Pierre", "The Bremen Town Musicians", "The Crystal Slipper" are intended for children. The groups "Circus on Ice", "Circus on Water", "Circus-Review" appeared.
Every year the family of circus artists is replenished. In 1927, the State School of Circus and Variety Art (GUTSEI) was opened in Moscow, which in 1987 was named after M. N. Rumyantsev. Here, the future masters of the arena master their profession and receive a secondary education. Among the graduates of the school are clowns G. T. Makovsky and G. A. Rotman, A. N. Nikolaev, Yu. E. Bilyauer and S. M. Ignatov and many others. Following the model of the GUTSEI, schools were opened in Kyiv and Tbilisi, as well as in Hungary, Bulgaria, the GDR and other socialist countries.
Film director A. I. Medvedkin wrote: “The circus is an art of the greatest precision. Unlike cinema, nothing is done here approximately. Every year, the International Circus Festival in Monte Carlo gives an assessment of this jewelry precision and craftsmanship. The best artists from all over the world come here. The best of the best is awarded the Grand Prix of the festival - "Golden Clown". You can only win it once. Of the Soviet artists, this honorary prize was taken with them by acrobats on a swing with bears, the Belyakovs, equilibrists on perches led by Leonid Kostyuk, clown Oleg Popov, Chechen-Ingush horsemen Nugzarovs and the acrobatic ensemble "Romance" under the direction of Vladimir Doveiko.
The language of the circus without an interpreter is understood in all countries. Especially when he is bright, imaginative, emotional. The high performing skills, the colorfulness and musicality of our circus performances, their optimistic mood make tours by Soviet artists desirable on all continents of the planet.
