Exploring Circus Culture
THE ASSIGNMENT
Random Circus Facts
Danger in the Circus-PBS Article
The Venue
Origin
Development
Cultural History
The Contemporary Circus
Acts
Animal Acts
CIRCUS DEVELOPMENT OVER TIME
Astley’s Ampitheatre, London 1808
Popularized and modernized the circus
Added tumblers, tight-rope walkers, jugglers, performing dogs, and a clown during transition periods
Astley never called his events a “circus,” he preferred to refer to is “Astley’s Ampitheatre of Equestrian Arts”
London Hippodrome—first circus to include “convulsions of nature”—realistic display of floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions