What is a circus? Circus art. Circus artists

Every child knows what a circus is - laughter, fun, clowns, smart animals, magicians and dexterous acrobats. But rarely one of the adults can explain what the features of the circus are as an art form. After all, we often represent it as an exciting show, a show. And in practice circus artists for the whole life master not only the skill, but also the art - the ability to convey emotion and aesthetic feelings in the audience.

The appearance of the circus

The name "circus" came from the Roman oval grounds, where various folk festivals, competitions were held, shows were shown. In those days, the Romans loved to watch people compete in strength, dexterity, various skills. So there was a special kind of spectacle, which today is called a circus. But as 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 dzhigitovki and acrobatic sketches. Later, the Italians pick up this idea and added to the program the performances with animals and mimes. What is a circus in Russia is recognized in the late 18th century. In 1764 an English rider visited Moscow with a tour, and this show marked the beginning of the opening of several stationary circuses. 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 developed. The modern circus is a complex synthesis of the entertainment, art, management and technology industry.

Circus as an art form

The researchers see the origins of the circus in ancient competitions in strength and dexterity. It was formed as a way of demonstrating special skills, which often had no practical application. Specialists characterizing the circus as an art, in the first place, pay attention to the lack of any effectiveness in the actions of artists. They do not compete, winning prizes, namely they allow you to see the possibilities of a person and experience aesthetic pleasure. The main expressive means of circus art is a trick, it is designed to evoke in the audience an emotion: laughter, surprise, fright, delight. All this makes the circus similar to other kinds of spectacular arts: theater, cinema. In the arena, a person shows the abilities of nature to metamorphosis, only the object of these transformations are not stone, clay or paint, but man himself. He creates according to the laws of eccentricity, demonstrating the highest possibilities of man. The main aesthetic categories of circus art are: reprise, trick, number, super task, eccentricity.

Circus device

For special art, you need a special space. The circus is not just a round building, but a complex construction with many possibilities. Circus arena - the heart of the site. Traditionally, it is round in shape, about 13 meters in diameter. From the stage the amphitheater rises the spectators' seats. In modern, stationary circuses there are often several arenas for different types of representations: equestrian, illusion, light, ice, water. But the arena is only the visible part of the circus. Behind the scenes is a lot of office space: make-up rooms, rehearsal rooms, places for keeping animals, costumes. Also, technical services play a big role in the construction of the theater: light, fixtures, decorations, curtains - all this serves to make the viewer see an unusual and complex idea.

Circus professions

Hearing the question "what is a circus", we remember people of different professions. Each of them requires special skills and 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, you can classify them according to the main expressive means and materials. So, there are people who work with animals - they are animal trainers, with a human body - jugglers, equilibrists, gymnasts, rope walkers. There are also special professions, located at the intersection of skill and technology - these are illusionists. The highest level in the circus professional hierarchy is occupied by clowns, which combine actor's play, pantomime, buffoonery. But circus performers can not work without theater attendants, who undertake the provision of various services and assistants.

Jugglers

As it is already clear from the name of the profession, the jugglers first appeared in France. This word means literally "funniest." Initially, people of this profession sang songs, danced on market squares and fairs. But as a kind of activity, juggling appeared in ancient Egypt. Dexterous manipulations with many objects fascinated viewers, 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 rooms jugglers surprise the audience by throwing a lot of different objects into the air, and also use the balancing, comic and acrobatic elements to complicate the trick. Juggling is paired and solo, artists not only throw and catch objects, they can rotate them simultaneously, rhythmically alternate, transferring to the partner. The rhythm of juggling makes viewers not taking their eyes off the flying objects, and the dexterity of the artist makes them feel excited.

Equilibrists

Another actor, without whom it is impossible to imagine a circus performance, is a balancer. This genre of circus art is built on the ability of a man to keep his balance on unstable surfaces. Traditionally, the equilibrists performed various movements on ropes, balls, and cylinders. Often the artist combines the ability to balance with acrobatic, comic actions, as well as juggling. Even in ancient China, the views of rope walkers were very popular. In many cultures of the world, folk games were often accompanied by performances by equilibrists. There are such variants of this genre, as appearances on the ball, on the wire, on the reels, on the stairs, on the trapeze (matte-ladder), on unicycle.

Illusionists

Magicians or illusionists are representatives of a profession that has made circus art famous. The genre was based on sleight of hand. Artists who knew how to perform magical manipulations with various objects, for example, 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 viewers. Among the jugglers there are real world celebrities, whose names are passed on from generation to generation. Such illusionists include Harry Houdini, Alessandro Cagliostro, the family of Kio, Uri Geller, David Copperfield.

Clownery

Ask any child what a circus is, and get an answer: these are clowns. Masters working in this role became a real symbol of the circus, without them performances are impossible. The beginning of the profession was laid in the Institute of buffoonery, because the jesters were at the court of all monarchs. Their task was not only amusement, but also ridicule the vices, while the jester, clown, could tell the truth to anyone. The art of the clown is often not built on humor, but on irony, buffoonery and grotesque. The exaggerated manner of the game goes back to the traditions of fairground performances at fairs. The clown should not only laugh, but also mock, but at the same time his speech should not be cruel or offensive. Often clowns perform in pairs, where roles are clearly distributed. In the Italian theater, these roles were assigned to Piero and Harlequin, in the Russian tradition it is the Redhead (cunning and rogue) and White (an important prudish gentleman) clowns. Between them there are constant conflicts, representing ridiculous scenes, with which the pauses in the performance are filled. In the circus world it is believed that clowns are the artistic elite. Often they include in their speeches elements of juggling, acrobatics, dressing, pantomime. Among them there are real, great actors. The most famous clowns are MN Rumyantsev (Pencil), V. Polunin, Yu. Nikulin and M. Shuidin, who worked in pairs, L. Engibarov, M. Marceau, O. Popov. Any circus show can save a clown that appears in the arena whenever a pause occurs in the program.

Trainers

It is impossible to imagine circus art without animals and animal trainers. Today, a wave of protest against this art began around the world, since it is believed that animal trainers are torturing animals. But this is not so. In fact, this art is in the ability to establish contact with the animal, this is psychology, fearlessness, risk. A true professional will never torture his wards. Therefore, the training and refers to the genres of circus art. Traditionally in the arena there are dogs, horses, large predators, elephants, birds, marine animals. The most famous trainers can be called the dynasty Durov, Zapashnykh, Bagdasarov, as well as M. Nazarov and I. Bugrimova.