Research History Links

See this incomplete timeline for just a glimpse of the richness and variety of the history and influence of circus arts.

Carol Gandey

Acrobats, trick-riders, jugglers and rope-dancers could be found in the ancient world, but what we now recognise as circus started only about 240 years ago.

Timeline

1768 - Philip Astley offers horsemanship displays in a ring, with variety acts in London, UK
1782 - similar show in Paris Ampitheatre
1793 - Hughes does show in St Petersburgh / Ricketts in New York & Philadelphia
1815 - Elephants and menageries added as sideshow attractions
1825 - first record of a Big Top in use
1831 - wild animals actually perform in the show
1840 - the street parade for publicity comes into style
1859 - M. Leotard invents trapeze in France / Blondin tightropes over Niagara Falls
1865 - the first use of 'English Wagons'
1871 - Barnum does a show in USA
1872 - 2-Ring Circus begins in USA
1881 - 3-Ring Circus begins in USA
1904/5 - Picasso becomes fascinated by circus performers, and visits Cirque Medrano regularly
1918 - Fernand Léger uses circus imagery in avant-garde paintings
1920s - Russian experimental theatre incorporates circus themes - Meyerhold & Mayakovsky
1927 - first Russian Circus School
1927 - Alexander Calder films animated miniature circus in Paris
1928 - Chaplin makes a film called "The Circus"
1939 - Marx Brothers make a film called "At The Circus"
1920-40 - Bertram Mills revives the old style of show in UK
1954 Buster Keaton appears live at the Cirque Medrano in France
1956 - Ringling Bros stop touring
1950s-60s - Chipperfields offer big animals / Billy Smart's / Robert Bros / the Blackpool Tower Circus
1970s - Cottle & Austin combine to produce shows
1973 - London Fringe theatre begins to explore circus skills at venues like the Oval House / Le Grand Magic Circus appear at The Roundhouse
1974 - Fratellini School opens / Circus World Championships / Philip Petit tightropes between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre / Peter Brook offers a circus-style version of "Midsummer's Night Dream" for the Royal Shakespeare Company
1977-79 - Reg Bolton runs Edinburgh Summer Circus Schools
1977 - Big Apple Circus formed in USA, by ex-street performers
1978 - 1st European Juggling Convention in Brighton, UK
1980 - Circus Oz perform in The Roundhouse
1983 - Gerry Cottle starts teaching
1984 - Canadian street performers Cirque du Soleil receive $1.5 million in funding
1985 - a 'circus university' opens in Châlons-sur-Marne, France / FoolTime opens in Bristol, UK
1980s - 'New Circus' thrives in UK / Snapdragon / Burlesque / Zippo's / Ra Ra Zoo / Kneehigh / Mummerandada / Footsbarn
Archaos developed from a small traditional circus in France (1984), into a non-animal show aimed at modern adults - with dangerous stunts with chainsaws, motorbikes, and incorporating street skills like BMX bikes, etc (late 80s)
1989 - The Circus Space opens in London, UK as a training centre for excellence
1995 - Circus of Horrors develop a politically incorrect 'freak show' style
1998 - NoFit State Circus graduate from touring in a little big top, and commission a unique UFO-style tent, to begin performing multimedia shows in the round
and on we go...