History of the Circus Timeline

The future circus performer and entrepreneur John Bill Ricketts began his theatrical career with Hughes Royal Circus in London during the 1780s.

Astley established the Amphithéâtre Anglais in Paris, the first purpose-built circus in France. It was followed by 18 other permanent circuses in cities across Europe.

Ricketts traveled from England to establish his first circus in Philadelphia, helping transfer the emerging European circus tradition to the United States.

Astley leased his Parisian circus to the Italian performer Antonio Franconi. Franconi became an important figure in the development of permanent circus institutions in France.

The first circus building in the United States opened in Philadelphia. Ricketts gave America's first complete circus performance there.

From the late nineteenth century through the first half of the twentieth century, traveling circuses were a major form of spectator entertainment in the United States. Their arrival in a city attracted considerable public attention.

Large touring tents known as big tops were introduced in the mid-nineteenth century. Touring circuses increasingly superseded static venues because tents could be transported and erected in new locations.

During the first two decades of the nineteenth century, the Circus of Pepin and Breschard toured from Montreal to Havana. The company built circus theaters in many of the cities it visited.

Joshuah Purdy Brown became the first circus owner identified with using a large canvas tent for circus performances, helping establish the touring big-top format.

The first circus took place under a canvas big top in 1826. Canvas tents later enabled circuses to move more easily between towns and replace many static venues.

Equestrian Thomas Taplin Cooke returned to England from the United States with a circus tent, contributing to the spread of the touring tent format in Britain.

William Batty's circus traveled from Newcastle to Edinburgh and then to Portsmouth and Southampton. Its itinerary exemplified the growing importance of mobile circus companies.

Soullier became the first circus owner to introduce Chinese acrobatics to the European circus after returning from travels in 1866. Tourniaire later introduced the art to Ranga, where it became extremely popular.

After the 1881 merger involving James Anthony Bailey and James L. Hutchinson, and following P. T. Barnum's death in 1891, the circus toured Europe as Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth from 1897 to 1902. Its large scale, circus trains, tents, zoological exhibition, and freak show influenced European circus owners.

Image source: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

The combination of multiple circus acts, large tents, circus trains, zoological exhibitions, and sideshow attractions developed by major American circuses was adopted by European circuses at the turn of the twentieth century.

Lenin, head of Soviet Russia, expressed a wish for the circus to become “the people's art-form,” with facilities and cultural status comparable to theater, opera, and ballet.

The State University of Circus and Variety Arts, commonly known as the Moscow Circus School, was established in 1927. Performers were trained using methods developed from the Soviet gymnastics program.

The title of clown refers to role functions and performance skills rather than simply the red nose and exaggerated face paint popularized through twentieth-century mass media.

Image source: Clown

The International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo has been held in Monaco since 1974. It was the first of many international awards and festivals recognizing circus performers.

The Pickle Family Circus was founded in San Francisco in 1975. It became an early pioneer of the new circus movement.

Circus Oz was formed in Australia in 1977 from the earlier groups SoapBox Circus, founded in 1976, and New Circus, founded in 1973.

Le Cirque Imaginaire was founded and directed by Victoria Chaplin, daughter of Charlie Chaplin. The troupe was later renamed Le Cirque Invisible.

Ra-Ra Zoo in London, Nofit State Circus from Wales, Cirque du Soleil in Quebec, and Cirque Plume in France were founded in 1984. Archaos followed in France in 1986, helping establish new circus as a major genre.

Circus Smirkus was founded in Vermont in 1987 by Rob Mermin. It became one of the notable troupes associated with the developing contemporary circus movement.

The West African Circus Baobab emerged in the late 1990s, contributing African performance traditions and perspectives to the international contemporary circus field.

Cirque Éloize was founded in Quebec in 1993 and became one of the prominent companies associated with contemporary circus.

The contemporary circus genre is largely considered to have begun with Le Cri du Caméléon, an ensemble performance by the graduating class of France's Centre National des Arts du Cirque. It was directed by Joseph Nadj.

Sweden's Cirkus Cirkör was founded in 1995, adding a major Scandinavian company to the international contemporary circus movement.

Teatro ZinZanni was founded in Seattle in 1998. The company combined circus performance with theater, comedy, music, and dinner-show traditions.

Some commentators use the term 21st Century Circus to encompass the many circus styles available in the present day. The concept reflects the genre's continuing evolution beyond the traditional format.

21st Century Circus continues to develop variations on circus tradition while absorbing new skills, techniques, stylistic influences from other art forms, and technological developments.

For aesthetic or economic reasons, contemporary circus productions may be staged in theaters rather than in large outdoor tents. This reflects the flexibility of modern circus presentation.

Montreal's Les 7 doigts de la main was founded in 2002 and became a significant contemporary circus company known for integrating acrobatics with theatrical storytelling.

By 2009, Cirque du Soleil's estimated annual revenue exceeded US$810 million. Its productions had been seen by nearly 90 million spectators in more than 200 cities across five continents.

Image source: Cirque du Soleil