AMANDA HALL AND STEPHANIE NASH

• Acrobat comes from the Greek word Akros (high) and bat (walking).•Examples include: High-wire, tight-rope walking, and trapeze work.•Requires balance, agility, and coordination.•A performance art practiced as a sport.•Started in the West around 2000 BC. Depicted in the Minoan Art with people balancing on Bulls in what may have been a religious act.

Breathing Fire

Bcreating a large flame by spraying, with one's breath, a flammable liquid upon an open flame. The flame is usually held an arm's length away and the spray should be both powerful and misty. This art is said to have originated in India.

CLOWNS: C•Clowns are comic performers, stereotypically characterized by their colored wigs, makeup, costumes, and large footwear.•Clowns acknowledge their audience. The clown's humor today is often visual and includes many elements of physical comedy or slapstick humor.•Clowning is a form of entertainment that has appeared in some manner in virtually every culture. In most cultures the clown is a ritual character associated with a circus festival or rites of passage.

Performances were typically held in open-

air arenas, such as race tracks or

municipal parks, and in localities that were

small and remote.

•Dog and pony show was a term used in the US in the late-19th and

early-20th centuries to refer to

small traveling circuses that toured

through small towns and rural

areas. •The name derives

from the typical use of performing dogs and ponies as the

main attractions of the events.

D

Jumbo, a circus elephant, has entered the English language

as a synonym for "large".

ELEPHANTS

• Elephants are mammals, and the

largest land animals alive today.

•Elephants are symbols of wisdom in Asian cultures, and are famed for their

memory and high intelligence.

•Some of these disciplines are

related to juggling or baton twirling

and there is also a connection with fire

dancing and rhythmic

gymnastics. Fire dancing is often

performed to music. Fire dancing has been a traditional part of cultures from around the

world, fire performance

includes visual and stylistic elements

from many traditions.

FIRE BREATHINGAND DANCING

G-GLOBE ROLLING

•The Rolling Globe is a circus skill where the performer balances atop a large sphere, often taller than the performer. •Various gymnastic or juggling stunts are performed, while the performer moves and controls the position of the ball with the feet and/or hands.

HUMAN CANNONBALL-H •The human cannonball is a performance in which a person (the "cannonball") is ejected from a specially designed cannon. •The force is provided not by gunpowder, but by either a spring or jet of compressed air. •In a circus performance, gunpowder may be used to provide visual and auditory effects, but this is unrelated to the force of the launch.

What Would YOU Be??

J-Juggling•Juggling is a form of object manipulation.

• The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, where the juggler throws objects through the

air. Jugglers often refer to the objects they juggle as props, the

most popular being balls, beanbags, rings, clubs, or bouncing balls.

Some performers use "dangerous" objects such as chainsaws knives and fire torches, although when

done by a trained performer using the proper equipment this usually is far less dangerous than it appears.

KNIFE THROWING

KKnife throwing as entertainment is part of a group of performance arts sometimes known as the impalement arts.

Knife throwing is an art, sport, or variously an entertainment technique, involving an artist skilled in the art of throwing knives, the weapons thrown, and a target.

LION TAMING

LLion taming is the practice of

taming lions, either for protection, whereby the practice was probably

created, or, more commonly, entertainment, particularly in the circus. The term is also often used for the taming and display of other big cats such as tigers, leopards and cougars. Lion taming is used

as a stereotypical dangerous occupation due to the obvious risks of toying with powerful instinctive

carnivores.Lion taming is performed in zoos

across the world.

MAGIC SHOWS•Magic is a performing art that entertains an audience by creating illusions of impossible or supernatural natures. •Artists uses illusion an tricks•An artist who performs magic is called a magician. Magicians are also referred to by names reflecting the type of magical effects they typically perform, such as prestidigitators, conjurors, illusionists, mentalists, ventriloquists, and escape artists, etc.

The circus is a constantly moving event. The people live as nomads with no permanent residences, always on the road. Since they are always traveling, the circus workers are a very close community dependent on one another. This is how they live their lives all year.

NOMADIC

ORIGINIn ancient Rome, the circus was a show of chariot races, horse riding,

battles, and other acrobatic and animal involved performances. The 1st circus in Rome was the Circus

Maximus. There was a lot of Greek influence in the original circuses.

The circus would not exist without the outrageous talents of performers. These performers do impossible things that the common person would never dare to do. They entertain audiences over and over

with their perfected skills and brave skits.

PERFORMERS

The circus in the past was more centered around fancy horse riding. Standing up on a galloping horse is an example of a major feat and entertaining sight that performers have done for audiences. Equestrian riding

was a foundation for the modern circus today, widely popular before the War of 1812 when the circus developed a new

style.

E-Questrian

The performance itself is conducted by a ringmaster, traditionally dressed in colorful top hat and tails, who uses a whistle to signal the start of each new act. A live circus band follows the Ringmaster’s introduction

RINGMASTER

Children whose parents work in the circus are sometimes forced to travel along place to place with their families. These children cannot go to the same school all year, so many are educated by their parents or other circus workers. The parents teach their children corresponding to schools curriculum.

SCHOOLING

Many circuses are performed, “under the big top.” Huge tents are pitched that cover all three-rings of the circus floor and the

tents are transported from show to show. During set up on the day before or day of a show, these tents are quickly pitched. This

was commonly done before there were indoor arenas.

TENTS

The unicycle is a one wheeled bicycle commonly used in circus acts. Balance is

crucial when riding a unicycle and the circus is a sure place to see some great

balancing acts. Sometimes the unicycle is even ridden across a tightrope. What a

thrilling sight!

UNICYCLE

Circus members have a language of their own. Here

are some examples of circus lingo commonly used

and their meanings:

VOCABULARY

Backyard- The area behind the big top where props, animals, and performers are readied for the performance.

Doniker- Toilet.

Floss- Cotton candy.

Risley- An acrobatic act in which one person juggles another on his/her feet.

Straw House- A sold-out performance.

Towny- Anyone not traveling with a circus.

There are three types of wire acts: The high wire- walking on thicker wire 20 or more feet up in the air, usually

with a safety net at the bottom. A pole is used for balance.

The tightwire (tightrope)- walking on thinner wire tightly strung that is lower to the ground. Juggling is sometimes

done while performing on the tightwire.The slack wire (slack rope)- similar to tightwire but more loosely strung wire. Sometimes performers on the slack

wire do two things at once.

WIRE ACTS

X~ eXciting! eXhilarating! eXtraordinary!People come to the circus for thrills, chills, and laughs. Targeted for children of all ages, there is something for everyone to enjoy. The performers are truly talented and audiences watch in awe of their abilities.

Yearlong JobCircus workers are on the

road usually for 11 months out of the year.

They work everyday setting up, traveling, or performing. They often

work long hours and only get days off usually

during the few weeks around Christmas so they can prepare for the new

year.

There are a variety of animals that perform in the circus. These animals are

trained and tamed and usually exotic, not your

usual pet but rare animals found in zoos. The circus workers care for and train

these animals. Animals are an important element to the

circus.

Zoo Animals

WORKS CITED (2001). Wikipedia. Retrieved February 10, 2008, from

www.wikipedia.com. Murray, M (1956). Circus! From Rome to Ringling. Appleton-

Century-Crofts : New York. Day, Cathy. (2004). The Circus in Winter. Orlando: Harcourt

Books Inc. Microsoft Clipart Graphics 2000. Circusweb! Circus Present and Past. [Online]

Available http://www.circusweb.com, February 15, 2008 March, Tom. Acrobats, Animals, Clowns, Jugglers, and More!

[Online] Available http://www.dowslane.org/circus.html, February 15, 2008

Wikimedia Foundation. Circus- Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia. [Online] Available http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus, February 15, 2008