CULTURAL HISTORY
- John Bill Rickets—brought first circus to the U.S. in 1793
- George Washington attended
- The American circus was revolutionized by the “P.T. Barnum’s Museum, Monagerie and Circus” which travelled with shows including animal performances and displays of “human oddities,” “freak shows,” or “side shows.”
- 3 important circus innovators
- Chiarini, Soullier, and Tourniarie
- Their travelling circus exposed Latin America, SE Asia, China, South Africa, and Russia to the circus
- Soullier=first circus owner to introduce Chinese acrobats to the European circus in 1866
- After Barnum died, his circus merged with James Bailey
- Hence “Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show on Earth” touring from 1897-1902
- 1919—Lenin, head of the USSR, expressed a wish for the circus to become “the people’s art-form” with the same status as the opera or ballet.
- The circus received the most attention in the late 19th century
- It was considered a major form of spectator entertainment in the U.S. and attracted huge attention whenever they arrived in the city.
- After WWII, popularity declined due to new forms of entertainment such as the television
- After the ‘60s, circuses attracted criticism from animal rights activists