Editing Circus (section)

===Modern format===
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====Astley and early British circus====
[[File:Astley's Amphitheatre Microcosm edited.jpg|thumb|[[Astley's Amphitheatre]] in London, c. 1808]]
[[File:Circus Ronaldo door Dirk Annemans.jpg|thumb|[[Circus Ronaldo]]]]
The origin of the modern circus has been attributed to [[Philip Astley]], who was born 1742 in Newcastle-under-Lyme, England. He became a cavalry officer who set up the first modern amphitheatre for the display of horse riding tricks in Lambeth, London, on 4 April 1768.<ref>Marius Kwint, "Astley, Philip (1742–1814)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/821, accessed 7 January 2014]</ref>{{sfn|Speaight|1980|p={{page needed|date=July 2022}}}}<ref name="oed">''The Oxford English Dictionary'' lists the 1791 book ''The History of the Royal Circus'' about Philip Astley's troupe as the first written use of the word to describe the modern circus.</ref> Astley did not originate trick horse riding, nor was he first to introduce acts such as acrobats and clowns to the English public, but he was the first to create a space where all these acts were brought together to perform a show.<ref name="BBC"/> Astley rode in a circle rather than a straight line as his rivals did, and thus chanced on the format of performing in a circle.<ref>Joe Nickell (2005). "Secrets of the sideshows". p.8. University Press of Kentucky, 2005</ref> Astley performed stunts in a 42&nbsp;ft diameter ring, which is the standard size used by circuses ever since.<ref name="BBC">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/2929565.stm "The circus comes to the Circus"]. BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2014.</ref> Astley referred to the performance arena as a circle and the building as an amphitheatre; these would later be known as a circus.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stoddart|first=Helen|title=Rings of Desire: Circus History and Representation|year=2000|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester|isbn=978-0-7190-5234-7|pages=13–15}}</ref> In 1770, Astley hired [[Acrobatics|acrobats]], [[Tightrope walking|tightrope walkers]], [[jugglers]], and a clown to fill in the pauses between acts.<ref name="BBC"/>

[[File:The training of wild animals (1903) (14764853204).jpg|thumb|upright|Elephant trainer (1903)]]

Astley was followed by [[Andrew Ducrow]], whose feats of horsemanship had much to do with establishing the traditions of the circus, which were perpetuated by Hengler's and [[Lord George Sanger|Sanger]]'s celebrated shows in a later generation. In England circuses were often held in purpose-built buildings in large cities, such as the [[London Hippodrome]], which was built as a combination of the circus, the menagerie, and the variety theatre, where wild animals such as lions and elephants from time to time appeared in the ring, and where convulsions of nature such as floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions were produced with an extraordinary wealth of realistic display.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=391}} [[Joseph Grimaldi]], the first mainstream [[clown]], had his first major role as Little Clown in the pantomime ''The Triumph of Mirth; or, Harlequin's Wedding'' in 1781.<ref>McConnell Stott|, Andrew (2009), ''The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi'', Canongate Books, p. 28.</ref> The [[Royal Circus]] was opened in London on 4 November 1782 by [[Charles Dibdin]] (who coined the term "circus"),<ref>[http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-first-circus/ "The First Circus"; Victoria and Albert Museum]</ref> aided by his partner Charles Hughes, an equestrian performer.<ref>[http://www.peopleplayuk.org.uk/guided_tours/circus_tour/the_first_circus/default.php ''Mr Philip Astley's Introduction to The First Circus in England''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081108114017/http://www.peopleplayuk.org.uk/guided_tours/circus_tour/the_first_circus/default.php |date=8 November 2008 }}. PeoplePlay UK. Retrieved 18 March 2007.</ref> In 1782, Astley established the [[Amphithéâtre Anglais]] in Paris, the first purpose-built circus in France, followed by 18 other permanent circuses in cities throughout Europe.<ref name="Encyclopedia">[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/39827/Philip-Astley Philip Astley (British circus manager)], ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.</ref><ref>Leathers, Victor L. (1959). ''British Entertainers in France'', University of Toronto Press, 1959, p. 29.</ref> Astley leased his Parisian circus to the Italian [[Antonio Franconi]] in 1793.<ref>Banham, Martin (1995). ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'', Cambridge University Press, 1995, p.216.</ref> In 1826, the first circus took place under a canvas big top.<ref>{{cite book|title=Guinness World Records 2014|last=Glenday|first=Craig|year=2013|publisher=Guinness World Records Limited |isbn=978-1-908843-15-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7}}</ref>

[[File:Trapeze Artists in Circus.jpg|thumb|left|[[Trapeze]] artists, in lithograph by Calvert Litho. Co., 1890]]

====Ricketts and the first American circus====
The Englishman [[John Bill Ricketts]] brought the first modern circus to the United States. He began his theatrical career with Hughes Royal Circus in London in the 1780s, and travelled from England in 1792 to establish his first circus in [[Philadelphia]]. The first circus building in the US opened on 3 April 1793 in Philadelphia, where Ricketts gave America's first complete circus performance.<ref name=BGH>{{cite web| url= http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=815 |title= Historical Markers |publisher=Explore PA History |access-date=20 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.circusinamerica.org/public/people/public_show/67|title=Person: Ricketts, John Bill|work=The Circus in America, 1793 – 1940|access-date=20 April 2012|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503230859/http://www.circusinamerica.org/public/people/public_show/67|archive-date=3 May 2012}}</ref> [[George Washington]] attended a performance there later that season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/DOH/markerresults.asp?secid=31&namesearch=Ricketts%27+Circus&Submit=Search+by+Marker+Title|title=PHMC: Historical Markers Program: Ricketts' Circus|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219024702/http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/DOH/markerresults.asp?secid=31&namesearch=Ricketts%27+Circus&Submit=Search+by+Marker+Title|archive-date=19 December 2007}}</ref>
[[File:Paolo Monti - Serie fotografica - BEIC 6342935.jpg|thumb|Circus tent, Italy (1951)]]

====Expansion of the American format====
[[File:The Barnum Bailey Greatest Show on Earth circus poster NYPL.jpg|thumb|P.T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey]]
In the Americas during the first two decades of the 19th century, the [[Circus of Pepin and Breschard]] toured from Montreal to Havana, building circus theatres in many of the cities it visited. [[Victor Pépin]], a native New Yorker,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.circusinamerica.org/public/timelines?date1=1801&date2=1824 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070325081303/http://www.circusinamerica.org/public/timelines?date1=1801&date2=1824  |archive-date=25 March 2007 |title=Circus in America TimeLine: 1801 – 1824 |publisher=The Circus in America, 1793 – 1940 |url-status=usurped |access-date=20 April 2012 }}</ref> was the first American to operate a major circus in the United States.<ref name="circusinamerica">{{cite web|url=http://www.circusinamerica.org/public/welcome|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060501081904/http://www.circusinamerica.org/public/welcome|archive-date=1 May 2006|title=Introduction|publisher=The Circus in America, 1793 – 1940|url-status=usurped|access-date=20 April 2012}}</ref> Later the establishments of Purdy, Welch & Co., and of van Amburgh gave a wider popularity to the circus in the United States.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=391}} In 1825, [[Joshuah Purdy Brown]] was the first circus owner to use a large canvas tent for the circus performance. Circus pioneer [[Dan Rice]] was the most famous pre-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] circus clown,<ref name=carlyon>David Carlyon. ''Dan Rice: The Most Famous Man You've Never Heard Of''</ref> popularising such expressions as "The One-Horse Show" and "[[Hey, Rube!]]". The American circus was revolutionised by [[P. T. Barnum]] and [[William Cameron Coup]], who launched the travelling [[Barnum and Bailey Circus|P. T. Barnum's Museum, Menagerie & Circus]], the first [[freak show]], in the 1870s. Coup also introduced the first multiple-ring circuses, and was also the first circus entrepreneur to use [[circus train]]s to transport the circus between towns. By the 1830s, [[sideshow]]s were also being established alongside travelling circuses.<ref name="nickell"/>{{rp|9}}
[[File:The grand lay-out, 1874.jpg|thumb|Circus parade around tents, in lithograph by Gibson & Co., 1874]]

====Touring ====
In 1838, the equestrian [[Thomas Taplin Cooke]] returned to England from the United States, bringing with him a circus tent.<ref name="Slout1998">{{cite book|author=William L. Slout|title=Olympians of the Sawdust Circle: A Biographical Dictionary of the Nineteenth Century American Circus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LLFwLNPtyMC&pg=PA60|access-date=9 June 2013|year=1998|publisher=Wildside Press LLC|isbn=978-0-8095-1310-9|pages=60–}}</ref> At this time, itinerant circuses that could be [[Fit-up|fitted-up]] quickly were becoming popular in Britain. [[William Batty (performer)|William Batty]]'s circus, for example, between 1838 and 1840, travelled from Newcastle to Edinburgh and then to Portsmouth and Southampton. [[Pablo Fanque]], who is noteworthy as Britain's only black circus proprietor and who operated one of the most celebrated travelling circuses in Victorian England, erected temporary structures for his limited engagements or retrofitted existing structures.<ref>{{cite web |first=J. |last=Griffin |url=http://www.circushistory.org/Frost/Frost5.htm |title=Frost, Thomas (1881), "Circus Life and Circus Celebrities." London: Chatto and Windus |publisher=Circushistory.org |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214000447/http://circushistory.org/Frost/Frost5.htm |archive-date=14 December 2010  }}</ref> One such structure in Leeds, which Fanque assumed from a departing circus, collapsed, resulting in minor injuries to many but the death of Fanque's wife.<ref>''Leeds Intelligencer'', 4 March 1854, p. 5, col. 3.</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Victoria and Albert Museum |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/v/victorian-circus/|title=Victorian Circus |publisher= V&A|date= 7 March 2011|access-date=19 June 2011}}</ref> Traveling circus companies also rented the land they set up their structures on sometimes causing damage to the local ecosystems.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bagley|first=Sherri|date=2019|title=Big Top Or Crops?|url=https://uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com/blog/2019/05/15/big-top-or-crops/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-18|website=The UncommonWealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818203153/https://uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com/blog/2019/05/15/big-top-or-crops/ |archive-date=18 August 2021 }}</ref> Three important circus innovators were the Italian [[Signor Giuseppe Chiarini|Giuseppe Chiarini]], and Frenchmen [[Louis Soullier]] and [[Jacques Tourniaire]], whose early travelling circuses introduced the circus to Latin America, Australia, Southeast Asia, China, South Africa, and Russia. Soullier was the first circus owner to introduce Chinese acrobatics to the European circus when he returned from his travels in 1866, and Tourniaire was the first to introduce the performing art to Ranga, where it became extremely popular.

[[File:Lion tamer (LOC pga.03749).jpg|thumb|left|[[Lion tamer]], in lithograph by Gibson & Co., 1873]]

After an 1881 merger with [[James Anthony Bailey]] and James L.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-05-17 |title=A History Of Ringling Bros. Circus, Soon To Close Forever - CBS Baltimore |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/a-history-of-ringling-bros-circus-soon-to-close-forever/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Hutchinson's circus and Barnum's death in 1891, his circus travelled to Europe as the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show On Earth, where it toured from 1897 to 1902, impressing other circus owners with its large scale, its touring techniques (including the tent and circus train), and its combination of circus acts, a zoological exhibition, and a freak show.<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2022-08-16 |title=Let's Go to The Circus! - JD's Realty & Auction |url=https://www.jdsauctions.com/08/lets-go-to-the-circus/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=www.jdsauctions.com |language=en-US}}</ref>This format was adopted by European circuses at the turn of the 20th century.

The influence of the American circus brought about a considerable change in the character of the modern circus.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-11-09 |title=History of the Circus {{!}} International Circus Hall of Fame |url=https://circushalloffame.com/history-of-the-circus/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |language=en-US}}</ref> In arenas too large for speech to be easily audible, the traditional comic dialogue of the clown assumed a less prominent place than formerly, while the vastly increased wealth of stage properties relegated to the background the old-fashioned equestrian feats, which were replaced by more ambitious acrobatic performances, and by exhibitions of skill, strength, and daring, requiring the employment of immense numbers of performers, and often of complicated and expensive machinery.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=391}}

[[File:Arturo Michelena 00.JPG|thumb|Painting by Venezuelan [[Arturo Michelena]], c.&nbsp;1891, depicting a backstage area at the circus]]

From the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, travelling circuses were a major form of spectator entertainment in the US and attracted huge attention whenever they arrived in a city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What a treat that was - the days when the circus came to Bolton |url=https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/18085576.great-pictures-circus-came-bolton/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20191221092701/https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/18085576.great-pictures-circus-came-bolton/ |archive-date=2019-12-21 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=The Bolton News |date=7 December 2019 |language=en}}</ref> After World War II, the popularity of the circus declined as new forms of entertainment (such as television) arrived and the public's tastes changed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2022-08-16 |title=Let's Go to The Circus! - JD's Realty & Auction |url=https://www.jdsauctions.com/08/lets-go-to-the-circus/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=www.jdsauctions.com |language=en-US}}</ref> From the 1960s onward, circuses attracted growing criticism from [[animal rights]] activists.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What a treat that was - the days when the circus came to Bolton |url=https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/18085576.great-pictures-circus-came-bolton/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20191221092701/https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/18085576.great-pictures-circus-came-bolton/ |archive-date=2019-12-21 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=The Bolton News |date=7 December 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Many circuses went out of business or were forced to merge with other circus companies. Nonetheless, a good number of travelling circuses are still active in various parts of the world, ranging from small family enterprises to three-ring extravaganzas. Other companies found new ways to draw in the public with innovative new approaches to the circus form itself.

====Russia====
In 1919, [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], head of [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]], expressed a wish for the circus to become "the people's art-form", with facilities and status on par with theatre, opera and ballet. The USSR nationalised Russian circuses. In 1927, the [[State University of Circus and Variety Arts]], better known as the [[Moscow State Circus|Moscow Circus School]], was established; performers were trained using methods developed from the Soviet gymnastics programme. When the Moscow State Circus company began international tours in the 1950s, its levels of originality and artistic skill were widely applauded.

[[File:Freak show 1941.jpg|thumb|[[Freak show]] circus]]

====China====
Circuses from China, drawing on Chinese traditions of [[acrobatics]], like the [[Chinese State Circus]] are also popular touring acts.