Circus (in all its forms) appeals to audiences of all ages, it is universal in all aspects. Circus can be hilarious, thrilling, dangerous, is always risk taking and quite transporting from every day life. (Chenine Bhathena Artistic Programmer, CircElation)
The father of the circus as we might recognise it was Sergeant Major Philip Astley of the Fifteenth Dragoons. He was the son of a cabinetmaker from Newcastle-under-Lyme in England with a passion for horsemanship. In 1768 he devised a trick-riding exhibition to fund his riding school and set up near to Westminster Bridge in London. Astley pioneered the use of a ‘circus’, a ring of 42ft diameter in which he performed his tricks. The ring dimensions are still used today as they aid the riding tricks through centrifugal force. He later added a grandstand and roof, jugglers, acrobats and clowns. (Astley’s creation, ‘Billy Buttons’ was an inept tailor whose antics while trying to mount and ride a horse soon became a traditional clown routine for circuses everywhere).
