Circus Originals
It is the 250th
anniversary of Philip and Patty Astley founding the first circus on the banks
of the Thames. I’d read about them before in the book “Burning Bright” by
Tracey Chevalier where they featured as characters in a story about William
Blake. The section on the history was fascinating and it also talked about the
spread of circus in the US with the growth of the railways and the famous
Cirque Medrano in Paris which featured in Impressionist paintings.
It talked about how circus has often attracted independently minded people and rule breakers and how there have always been itinerant performers even before the first circus with jesters and there were even jugglers at the Colosseum. It also looked at how artists have represented the circus with nice examples by Laura Knight and Degas.
The modern section looked at alternative acts today with a good video of current acts and a selection of photos of Katja Schumann with her horse drawing in a sand circle.
It talked about how circus has often attracted independently minded people and rule breakers and how there have always been itinerant performers even before the first circus with jesters and there were even jugglers at the Colosseum. It also looked at how artists have represented the circus with nice examples by Laura Knight and Degas.
The modern section looked at alternative acts today with a good video of current acts and a selection of photos of Katja Schumann with her horse drawing in a sand circle.
Closed on 7
August 2018
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