World Circus Day (16/04)

Every year on the third Saturday of April, the entire world circus community and lovers of this amazing art celebrate the unusually cheerful holiday – World Circus Day. It was established not only with the goal of showing the circus in all its splendor and delighting fans of this art with new programs and performances, but is also intended to pay tribute to the contribution of circus art to culture. After all, not only children, but also adults love the circus, and in different parts of the planet.

The initiators of the establishment of this holiday were in 2009 the European Circus Assotiation and the World Circus Federation (Federation Mondiale Du Cirque), operating under the patronage of Princess Stefania of Monaco. Then the President of the European Circus Association, which currently includes more than 80 circuses, Urs Pils and Princess Stefania invited all circuses to support the initiative to annually celebrate World Circus Day, which was first celebrated in 2010 and has since become an annual event for many countries.

By the way, the World Circus Federation, whose headquarters are located in Monte Carlo, was founded in 2008 with the aim of promoting the development of circus art and culture throughout the world. It was she who initiated the holiday dedicated to the circus, – On April 19, 2008 (on the third Saturday of April), European Circus Day was held for the first time, and it was decided to continue this tradition with the establishment of a world holiday. And currently the issue is being considered with UNESCO regarding the inclusion of this holiday in the list of annually celebrated dates.

It must be said that there are national Circus Days in many countries. In Russia, ideas about establishing such a holiday have been heard for many years, but so far Russian circus performers have not had their own holiday. But an international Day appeared. Thus, more than 25 countries took part in the celebration of the first World Circus Day, in 2010, and in 2021, more than 300 events were held as part of the Day in 50 countries.

Although the circus is considered one of the oldest forms of art, since references to all kinds of performances by acrobats, jugglers, riders, clowns... dates back to the times of the Ancient World, but the circus appeared in its modern form only at the end of the 18th century. And its founder is considered to be the English rider Philip Astley, who experimentally established that it is most convenient for horses to run and perform tricks in a circle with a diameter of 13 meters at full gallop. Today, this diameter of the arena is observed in almost all circuses in the world.

Being a skillful rider, Astley showed various tricks on horses in the arena, and later other artists – acrobats, jugglers, tightrope walkers, clowns, trainers entered the arena... Since the mid-19th century, the number of circus genres has increased and the technical capabilities of performances and performances have expanded. For example, after the introduction of a safety net in aerial gymnastics rooms, it became possible to complicate tricks.

In Russia, the circus, in its modern sense, appeared much later than in Europe. The oldest circus hospital is considered to be the Gaetano Ciniselli Circus in St. Petersburg, opened in 1877, which is still operating today. But the creators of the Russian National Circus are considered to be the Nikitin brothers, who, having given the first performance of the «Russian Circus of the Nikitin Brothers» in Penza, subsequently opened a whole network of good circuses in a number of Russian cities.

Modern circus – is clownery, acrobatics, balancing act, musical eccentricity, illusionism, pantomime, interlude and much more. There are thousands of circuses operating around the world, and a number of them are world famous. For example, one of the most ancient circus troupes in the world – Chinese Acrobatic Circus «Paradise Show from the Middle Kingdom», or the Canadian «Circus of the Sun» (Cirque du Soleil), the main advantage of which is that it is not just a separate circus organization, but is a huge circus corporation with offices in several countries of the world. And in the French «Circus Fratellini» the main characters are – clowns, and the famous American «Circus of the Ringling brothers and Barnum and Bailey» is considered one of the first in the process of modernizing the circus business.

The Russian circus is no less famous. The Great Moscow State Circus – is one of the largest stationary circuses in the world. During his activity, he presented more than 100 different programs, where the best artists of the Russian and foreign circus took part. And at the arena of the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, one of the oldest circuses in the country, world-famous artists performed –: Anatoly and Vladimir Durov, Vitaly Lazarenko, Williams Truzzi with their horses, acrobats Oceanos, tightrope walkers Sisters Koch, magician Keogh, clowns Pencil, Oleg Popov, Yuri Nikulin, Leonid Engibarov, Mikhail Shuidin. The «Bear Circus» of Valentin Filatov was created here…

It should also be noted that there are a lot of dynasties in this profession that continue the best circus traditions. Such famous dynasties as: Durovs, Zapashny, Kio, Filatovs, Kantemirovs, Tuganovs, Bagdasarovs, Volzhanskys, Doveyko are included in the Golden Fund of the Russian Circus. And the list of arena masters can be continued for a long time. Many books and films have been written about the circus, many films have been made, International Circus Festivals are dedicated to it, the oldest and most prestigious of which is the – Festival in Monte Carlo, where their circus «Oscars» are played.

In honor of today's holiday, many circuses organize Open Days, various street events, special programs, exhibitions, carnivals, charity events and other events. World Circus Day – is a special event for all masters and fans of circus art, such a kind, a little naive, but sincere and wonderful miracle, whose name is CIRCUS.

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