Circus in Yonderre: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 13:38, 29 May 2024

Circus in Yonderre refers to the themes and traditions of Yonderian circus artistry. While circus-like artistry has existed since the Caphiric antiquity, the modern tradition and schools of circus, as understood in a Sarpo-Levantine context, originated in Yonderre in the mid-to-late-eighteenth century. The term circus also describes the field of performance, training and community which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history.

The earliest modern circus was Phillip Estmann's Troupe Chevalistes, a travelling band of cavalrymen-turned-equestrian artistes, formed in 1769, which began performing exhibitions of trick horse riding in an open field. Similar troupes began appearing during the 1770s, performing chiefly equestrian arts for paying audiences in Yonderre. In 1772, Estmann hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and a clown to fill in the pauses between the equestrian demonstrations and thus chanced on the format which was later named a "circus". Estmann's Troupe Chevalistes first performed abroad in 1773, touring parts of modern Anglei and Urcea in the Holy Levantine Empire. Around the end of the eighteenth century, Yonderian circuses started adding strongmen, boxing and wrestling matches to their repertoires, and some even began adding trained wild animals like big cats in the early 1800s, refining the nascent circus-tradition into its modern form.

As styles of performance have developed since the time of Estmann, so too have the types of venue where these circuses have performed. The earliest modern circuses were performed in open-air structures with limited covered seating and on occasion in large theatres. From the late eighteenth to late nineteenth centuries, custom-made circus buildings (often wooden) were built with various types of seating, a centre ring, and sometimes a stage. The traditional large tents commonly known as "big tops" were introduced in the mid-nineteenth century as touring circuses superseded static venues. These tents eventually became the most common venue. Contemporary circus is performed in a variety of venues including tents, theatres, casinos, cruise ships and open-air spaces.

A shift in form has been credited with a revival of the circus tradition since the late 1970s, when a number of groups began to experiment with new circus formats and aesthetics, typically avoiding the use of animals to focus exclusively on human artistry. Circus companies and artistes within this movement, often termed "New Circus" or cirque nouveau, have tended to favour a theatrical approach, combining character-driven circus acts with original music in a broad variety of styles to convey complex themes or stories.

Circus in Yonderre remains culutrally significant into the present age. Yonderian circus artistes are presently as historically held in high regard for their individual skill as artistes, whether equestrian or otherwise performative. Yonderre is home to several private circus schools. The Grand Ducal Army Chevalistes Company remains an exhibition unit of the Grand Ducal Army of the Yonderian Defence Force that has performed displays of the equestrian arts since 1777.

History

Origin

In Ancient Caphiria, the circus was a roofless arena for the exhibition of horse and chariot races, equestrian shows, staged battles, gladiatorial combat, and displays of (and fights with) trained animals which served as entertainment for the public. It was not long before volunteers would begin risking their lives and their legal and social standing by appearing in the arena to fight for glory, fame, notoriety, and eventually, freedom. These volunteers, known as gladiators, were celebrated in art, and their value as entertainers increased. Eventually, gladiators became an essential feature of politics and social life in the Caphiric world.

Gladiatorial combat soon spread to Great Levantia; while less popular and also less derived than its Caphiric counterpart, Levantine circus nevertheless persisted until the fall of Great Levantia. For some time after the fall of Great Levantia, large circus buildings fell out of use as centres of mass entertainment. Instead, itinerant performers, animal trainers, and showmen travelled between towns throughout Levantia, performing at local fairs such as in Cana or Urceopolis during the Middle Ages. Mêlées, introduced to Yonderre by the crusaders following the Conquest of Joanusterra, approximated a modern version of the antique gladiatorial combats, but were seldom (intentionally) to the death and fell out of fashion by the late seventeenth century.

Modern tradition

The faux façade of the travelling Menagerie Continental, 1884

The clown-acrobat Adolphe Lineuer performing his iconic tightrope walking act in Vilauristre, c. 1950

The origin of the modern circus tradition, global as in Yonderre, is widely considered that of Phillip Estmann's Troupe Chevalistes. Phillip Estmann had served with the 1e Kubagnesc Cuirasseuer Guards Regiment from 1760-69 when he retired as a sergeant. Failing to find employment, Estmann began performing equestrian trick riding for paying audiences. Estmann did not originate trick horse riding, nor was he first to introduce acts such as acrobats and clowns to the Yonderian public, but he was the first to create a space where all these acts were brought together to perform a show. Estmann performed in a circular arena rather than a straight line as his rivals did, and thus chanced on the format of performing in a circle, from which the term "circus" eventually was derived. While initially focused entirely on equestrian performances by Estmann and fellow former cuirassiers who had joined him, the Troupe Chevalistes' roster also counted acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and a clown from 1772.

Inspired by Estmann's troupe, other circuses began appearing in the 1770s, initially also centred around equestrian performances and often manned by veteran cavalrymen of the Grand Ducal Army. Estmann's Troupe Chevalistes was the first of these to perform this novel concept of circus abroad when they toured parts of the Holy Levantine Empire in 1773. In 1777, the Grand Ducal Army formed the Chevalistes Company, an exhibition unit intended to perform for audiences as a recruiting tool and to instill a sense of pride in the finer functions of the equestrian art forms. By the 1780s, circus performances in Yonderre were often held in purpose-built buildings in large cities, such as the Collinebourg 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.

In the early nineteenth century, itinerant circuses that could be fitted-up quickly were becoming popular in Yonderre in particular and Catholic Levantia in general. With the advent of a series of Deric circus traditions, not least that of the Rhotians that soon garnered a reputation as untrustworthy borderline-con artists, Yonderian circuses began emphasizing their Yonderian nature, doubling down on equestrian artistry and often performing to music associated with Yonderre such as Yonderre our land and the Chant of the Cavalryman. Faux-jousts, in which equestrian artistes wearing plate armour simulated jousting against one another, became very popular during the revived interest in Yonderian renaissance history of the mid-nineteenth century as part of Yonderian national romanticism. Deric circuses often attempted to emulate Yonderian circuses, not least because their Yonderian counterparts had greater public appeal and thus tickets sales, with some circuses claiming Yonderian heritage whether through artistes masquerading as Yonderians or by claiming training by Yonderians, if not directly claiming to be a Yonderian operation. Conversely, many of the more talented Deric artistes often found employment in Yonderian circuses, which in turn contributed to a weakened pool of artistes for the already-worse off Deric circuses, perpetuating the poor nature of their respective traditions.

Bergendii circus impresario Raphael Maxim brought the Yonderian circus tradition to the Burgoignesc colonial empire in the early 1840s, leaving a lasting impression in the soon-to-be-independent duchies that subsequently developed their own circus traditions from the mid-nineteenth century, derived from the Yonderian mold using local characteristics. Yonderian circuses also toured beyond Levantia in the mid-nineteenth century, travelling to Sarpedon and Great Kirav, inspiring similar traditions to emerge there.

The early twentieth century of Yonderian circus tradtion was marked by a renewed interest in individual artistes. While the trend towards the late-nineteenth century had been that of grand displays of several dozen riders or other performers in the ring simultaneously, the trend switched to the intricate displays of individual artistes or small groups who would even perform entirely solo on the stage, accompanied only by the circus orchestra. While these included individual equestrians performing on horseback, just as Phillip Estmann had done in the mid-to-late eighteenth century, acrobats, jugglers and tightrope walkers were now sharing the stage on equal terms with their mounted counterparts. Clowns, however, were still looked down on as simple entertainment between acts, a reputation only seldom broken except by truly talented acts like Adolphe Lineuer (1899-1984).

Yonderian circuses peaked in attendance in the first half of the twentieth century, even in spite of the Great Wars and Great Depression. With the popularization of television in the 1950s, however, circus attendance began dropping in the afflicted countries. From the 1960s onward, circuses attracted growing criticism from animal rights activists. 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, 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.

Contemporary period

Today, there is typically some 40-50 circuses touring Yonderre in the touring season, beginning in Spring and ending in Autumn. Around a dozen private circus schools dot Yonderre with curriculi ranging from equestrian acts to fire breathing, juggling and trapeze acts. The Grand Ducal Army Chevalistes Company remains an exhibition unit of the Grand Ducal Army, often performing at recruitment drives and open house-style events of the Yonderian Defence Force. Some circuses, notably those of the New Circus-school of thought, eschew performing animals, whether over concerns of animal welfare or to highlight the performing artistes.

Performance

The circus performance is led by a ring master, often referred to as "impresario" or Sprechstallmeister in Gothic. The ring master acts as a kind of master of ceremonies, introducing acts and speaking to the audience. Since the earliest days of modern circus, the orchestra has also been an integral part of the circus performance. Providing both entertainment to the audience and musical cues to the artistes and their animals, the orchestra has traditionally included brass instruments, drums, glockenspiel, and sometimes the distinctive sound of the calliope. Performers have been traditionally referred to as artistes, although in recent years the term "artists" has also come into regular use. To some performers from multi-generational circus families, the term "artiste" is still preferred as it is considered to confer higher status than artist. Conversely, some performers from the circus school training route taken by many of the newer generations prefer the term artist as it is considered to be less pretentious than artiste.

Common acts include a variety of acrobatics, gymnastics (including tumbling and trampoline), aerial acts (such as trapeze, aerial silk, corde lisse), contortion, stilt-walking, and a variety of other routines. Juggling is one of the most common acts in a circus; the combination of juggling and gymnastics that includes acts like plate spinning and the rolling globe come under the category equilibristics, along with more classical balance disciplines such as tightwire, slackline and unicycle. Acts like these are some of the most common and the most traditional.

A variety of animals have historically been used in acts. While the types of animals used vary from circus to circus, big cats (namely lions, tigers, and leopards), foxes (not least the Kossaque fox), wolves, polecats, minks, weasels, camels, llamas, elephants, zebras, horses, donkeys, birds (like parrots and doves, but also Levantine kestrel), sea lions, bears, monkeys, and domestic animals such as cats and dogs are the most common. Animal rights groups have documented a number of cases of animal cruelty in the training of performing circus animals, causing increased control with performing animals from the Yonderian state.

Gögl

Gögl is a distinct subgenre of the Yonderian circus tradition. Derived from the tradition of wandering minstrels, the Gögler is any kind of performing entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool who is not considered an artiste, whether from lack of skill or any other reason. The Gögler seldom appears in circus performances, instead being relegated to performing in the street or at markets. Gögl as a concept is sometimes practiced in circus however, such as when the ring master performs an act outside the traditional scope of his role as master of ceremonies such as juggling, playing an instrument or performing acrobatics. The line between variety performances and Gögl is often difficult to discern, as Gögl-artistry has long been a central part of variety performances such as that of the Vaudeville tradition.

Being the outcasts of circus artistry, the Göglern often take pride in being down to earth as opposed to their perception of the aloof artistes. The Göglern celebrate an annual Göglerfest on the first Saturday in July in Toubourg where they elect a new Göglerkönig each year. The Göglern are sometimes viewed with distrust as pseudo-con men. An infamous Gögler was Professor Cabri (1880-1959), whose pun-based acts made him (in)famous throughout Yonderre. An often used performance by Cabri was advertizing a crocodile (in Gothic ein Krokodil), only to reveal a crock of dill (ein Krug Dill) once the paying guests had entered his tent. "Full satisfaction or your money is wasted" was a favourite slogan of Professor Cabri.

New Circus

New Circus or cirque nouveau is a performing arts movement that originated in the 1970s. New Circus combines traditional circus skills and theatrical techniques to convey a story or theme. Compared with the traditional circus, this genre of circus tends to focus more attention on the overall aesthetic impact, on character and story development, and on the use of lighting design, original music, and costume design to convey thematic or narrative content. Music used in the production is often composed exclusively for that production, and aesthetic influences are drawn as much from contemporary culture as from circus history. Animal acts rarely appear in New Circus, in contrast to traditional Yonderian circus, where animal acts, not least equestrian, have often been a significant part of the entertainment. New Circus has never been able to match the popularity of traditional Yonderian circus, instead becoming an outlet for artistes with a need to express themselves in ways otherwise inappropriate for traditional circus.

Notes

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 Inspired by Estmann's troupe, other circuses began appearing in the 1770s, initially also centred around equestrian performances and often manned by veteran cavalrymen of the [[Grand Ducal Army]]. Estmann's ''Troupe Chevalistes'' was the first of these to perform this novel concept of circus abroad when they toured parts of the [[Holy Levantine Empire]] in 1773. In 1777, the [[Grand Ducal Army]] formed the [[Grand Ducal Army Chevalistes Company|Chevalistes Company]], an exhibition unit intended to perform for audiences as a recruiting tool and to instill a sense of pride in the finer functions of the equestrian art forms. By the 1780s, circus performances in Yonderre were often held in purpose-built buildings in large cities, such as the [[Collinebourg 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.
-In the early nineteenth century, itinerant circuses that could be fitted-up quickly were becoming popular in Yonderre in particular and [[Catholic Levantia]] in general. With the advent of a series of Deric circus traditions, not least that of the Rhotians that soon garnered a reputation as untrustworthy borderline-con artistes, Yonderian circuses began emphasizing their Yonderian nature, doubling down on equestrian artistry and often performing to music associated with Yonderre such as ''[[Yonderre our land]]'' and the ''[[Chant of the Cavalryman]]''. Faux-[[Yonderian Mêlée|jousts]], in which equestrian artistes wearing plate armour simulated jousting against one another, became very popular during the revived interest in Yonderian renaissance history of the mid-nineteenth century as part of [[Yonderian national romanticism]]. Deric circuses often attempted to emulate Yonderian circuses, not least because their Yonderian counterparts had greater public appeal and thus tickets sales, with some circuses claiming Yonderian heritage whether through artistes masquerading as Yonderians or by claiming training by Yonderians, if not directly claiming to be a Yonderian operation. Conversely, many of the more talented Deric artistes often found employment in Yonderian circuses, which in turn contributed to a weakened pool of artistes for the already-worse off Deric circuses, perpetuating the poor nature of their respective traditions.
+In the early nineteenth century, itinerant circuses that could be fitted-up quickly were becoming popular in Yonderre in particular and [[Catholic Levantia]] in general. With the advent of a series of [[Derian identity|Deric]] circus traditions, not least that of the [[Rhotia|Rhotians]] that soon garnered a reputation as untrustworthy borderline-con artists, Yonderian circuses began emphasizing their Yonderian nature, doubling down on equestrian artistry and often performing to music associated with Yonderre such as ''[[Yonderre our land]]'' and the ''[[Chant of the Cavalryman]]''. Faux-[[Yonderian Mêlée|jousts]], in which equestrian artistes wearing plate armour simulated jousting against one another, became very popular during the revived interest in Yonderian renaissance history of the mid-nineteenth century as part of [[Yonderian national romanticism]]. [[Derian identity|Deric]] circuses often attempted to emulate Yonderian circuses, not least because their Yonderian counterparts had greater public appeal and thus tickets sales, with some circuses claiming Yonderian heritage whether through artistes masquerading as Yonderians or by claiming training by Yonderians, if not directly claiming to be a Yonderian operation. Conversely, many of the more talented [[Derian identity|Deric]] artistes often found employment in Yonderian circuses, which in turn contributed to a weakened pool of artistes for the already-worse off [[Derian identity|Deric]] circuses, perpetuating the poor nature of their respective traditions.
 [[Burgundie|Bergendii]] circus impresario Raphael Maxim brought the Yonderian circus tradition to the [[Burgoignesc colonial empire]] in the early 1840s, leaving a lasting impression in the soon-to-be-independent duchies that subsequently developed their own circus traditions from the mid-nineteenth century, derived from the Yonderian mold using local characteristics. Yonderian circuses also toured beyond Levantia in the mid-nineteenth century, travelling to [[Sarpedon]] and [[Great Kirav]], inspiring similar traditions to emerge there.
-The early twentieth century of Yonderian circus tradtion was marked by a renewed interest in individual artistes. While the trend towards the late-nineteenth century had been that of grand displays of several dozen riders or other performers in the ring simultaneously, the trend switched to the intricate displays of individual artistes or small groups who would even perform entirely solo on the stage, accompanied only by the circus orchestra. While these included individual equestrians performing on horseback, just as Phillip Estmann had done in the mid-to-late eighteenth century, acrobats, jugglers and tightrope walkers were now sharing the stage on equal terms with their riding counterparts. Clowns, however, were still looked down on as simple entertainment between acts, a reputation only seldom broken except by truly talented acts like [[Adolphe Lineuer]] (1899-1984).
+The early twentieth century of Yonderian circus tradtion was marked by a renewed interest in individual artistes. While the trend towards the late-nineteenth century had been that of grand displays of several dozen riders or other performers in the ring simultaneously, the trend switched to the intricate displays of individual artistes or small groups who would even perform entirely solo on the stage, accompanied only by the circus orchestra. While these included individual equestrians performing on horseback, just as Phillip Estmann had done in the mid-to-late eighteenth century, acrobats, jugglers and tightrope walkers were now sharing the stage on equal terms with their mounted counterparts. Clowns, however, were still looked down on as simple entertainment between acts, a reputation only seldom broken except by truly talented acts like [[Adolphe Lineuer]] (1899-1984).
 Yonderian circuses peaked in attendance in the first half of the twentieth century, even in spite of the [[Great War|Great Wars]] and [[Great Depression]]. With the popularization of television in the 1950s, however, circus attendance began dropping in the afflicted countries. From the 1960s onward, circuses attracted growing criticism from animal rights activists. 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, 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.
@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 ==''Gögl''==
 [[File:Marked_Sorø-Torv_1915.jpg|thumb|The ''Gögler'' Professor Cabri performing at a market in [[Dansberg]], 1915]]
-''Gögl'' is a distinct subgenre of the Yonderian circus tradition. Derived from the tradition of wandering minstrels, the ''Gögler'' is any kind of performing entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool who is not considered an artiste, whether from lack of skill or any other reason. The ''Gögler'' seldom appears in circus performances, instead being relegated to performing in the street or at markets. ''Gögl'' as a concept is sometimes praticed in circus however, such as when the ring master performs an act outside the traditional scope of his role as master of ceremonies such as juggling, playing an instrument or performing acrobatics. The line between variety performances and ''Gögl'' is often difficult to discern, as ''Gögl''-artistry has long been a central part of variety performances such as that of the {{wp|Vaudeville}} tradition.
+''Gögl'' is a distinct subgenre of the Yonderian circus tradition. Derived from the tradition of wandering minstrels, the ''Gögler'' is any kind of performing entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool who is not considered an artiste, whether from lack of skill or any other reason. The ''Gögler'' seldom appears in circus performances, instead being relegated to performing in the street or at markets. ''Gögl'' as a concept is sometimes practiced in circus however, such as when the ring master performs an act outside the traditional scope of his role as master of ceremonies such as juggling, playing an instrument or performing acrobatics. The line between variety performances and ''Gögl'' is often difficult to discern, as ''Gögl''-artistry has long been a central part of variety performances such as that of the {{wp|Vaudeville}} tradition.
 Being the outcasts of circus artistry, the ''Göglern'' often take pride in being down to earth as opposed to their perception of the aloof artistes. The ''Göglern'' celebrate an annual ''Göglerfest'' on the first Saturday in July in [[Toubourg]] where they elect a new ''Göglerkönig'' each year. The ''Göglern'' are sometimes viewed with distrust as pseudo-con men. An infamous ''Gögler'' was Professor Cabri (1880-1959), whose pun-based acts made him (in)famous throughout Yonderre. An often used performance by Cabri was advertizing a crocodile (in [[East Gothic language|Gothic]] ''ein Krokodil''), only to reveal a crock of dill (''ein Krug Dill'') once the paying guests had entered his tent. "Full satisfaction or your money is wasted" was a favourite slogan of Professor Cabri.