Buckles Blog: No. 1- Rudi Alessandrini with Circo Miranda Orfei 1952

Sunday, December 24, 2006

No. 1- Rudi Alessandrini with Circo Miranda Orfei 1952

11 comments:

Anonymous said...: These first 3 photos again bring up a few issues that have been debated on the blog over the past few months. Here is an early hind leg walking tiger. Josip Marcan told me that as far as he knows, Robert Baudy was the first to present a bonafide hind leg walking tiger in America (about the same time this photo was taken) With all the great historical cat act photos that have appeared on the blog, no one has thus far submitted a photo that would prove otherwise. A trick this spectacular by anyone would most certainly have been well documented in photos.

Also we see a cable mesh arena, by the looks of it on the photo, the mesh seems to be more tightly woven that we are used to seeing.

Buckles great blog site has provided all of us a great deal of enjoyment. We have debated things like wheels on wagon roofs and the down-sizing of the American Circus.
We are an on-line family, and with that I would like to wish all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! Jimmy Cole; 24 December, 2006 08:36
Anonymous said...: Once again, if the hind leg walk was so difficult to train, how come everybody is doing it. Also I do not believe that Mr. Marcan could be that much of an authority on the subject, even tho he certainly is tops in the field as a trainer.; 24 December, 2006 10:02
Anonymous said...: Opps, my mistake on the date on that photo from Europe, there is at least 10 years difference between that and when I first saw Robert Baudy perform a hind leg walk in 1963.

As far as disputing any claim as to who was first in AMERICA to present or train this trick, please send documentation and/or photo in to this blog site. I would be very interested as a cat act historian. Another well known cat act historian, Tom Hendricks from Toledo, OH agrees that Baudy was the first in America. (It is also agreed that his wife Charlotte, had a great deal to do with training the tiger act).

I guess the hind leg walk in a cat act is like the triple in a flying act. The trick was very rare and highly heralded years ago, but now it is almost expected.; 24 December, 2006 12:05
Anonymous said...: What is the actual date of these photos 1952 or 1992 ?
because if they are both, this gentleman's wardrobe and arena and props have held up well over the last 40 years !; 24 December, 2006 12:42
Buckles said...: 1952, my mistake.; 24 December, 2006 12:50
Anonymous said...: This looks, from the position of both the trainer and the tiger, to be a pirouette rather than a hind leg walk. Either trick is extemley difficult to train, always has been, always will be.

My congradulations to Wade Burck for the excellent job he did with the hind leg walking tigers in the new act.; 24 December, 2006 15:54
Anonymous said...: A question probably for J Club : did Orfei have a mesh pull up arena in 1952 ?
And also very modern looking props; 24 December, 2006 16:06
Anonymous said...: I totally agree with Josip on the Pirouette. It is obvious the trainer is quite busy circling the tiger. Good observation Mr. Marcan. Insadentally to my esteemed wild animal historians, my late great friend of years gone by. Capt. Terrel Jacobs, had a very beautiful hind leg pirouetting lioness named SHEBA THE HIND LEG WALTZING LION back in the forties and fifties that always received an announcement and was part of Terrel's act for many years. I saw her do it many times and Terrel was never as busy getting her to do it as the photo we are seeing depicts. So much for fighting acts not doing tricks. I guess I blog too much.; 25 December, 2006 09:31
Raffaele De Ritis said...: The picture is taken between 1992 and 1995.
Rudy took over this act in 1990 from his father Angelo, that was also a good lion trainer.
The tigers came originally from the old Taras Boulba (Beautour) and this act was created and owned by Casartelli-Medrano family.
The trick, I remeber it very well sawing it many times, is a pirouette.
The circus is not Miranda Orfei...It was one of the units of Casartelli-Medrano, that used to buy the name Miranda Orfei for some tours in Greece.
The cable mesh arena and the ring curbs in the picture, are those owned by Casartelli family.
The tigers are today presented for Casartelly by the son of Beautour in several european circuses, with those same cage and props (Casartelli-Medrano is actually displaying Martin Lacey lions).
The cable mesh arena system was inventend (and patented) in 1958 in Milano, Italy, by Wioris Togni for the legendaty "gladiator" tiger act of his brother Darix.
In 1959 Mr.Wioris was technical advisor for a Russian State Circus tour in Italy. The Russians discovered there the cable mesh system, that spread around the world.
The original Togni cage and patent documents still exists in a private collection of the Togni family.

www.raffaelederitis.blogspot.com; 25 December, 2006 11:00
Anonymous said...: Sounds like the hind leg waltzing lion by Terrell Jacobs was an early variation of the hind leg walk. The trick has obviously evolved through the years. Credit to all those who have trained or presented it!; 25 December, 2006 11:31
Anonymous said...: Thank you Raffael for the clarification
any photos of that original mesh arena ?
All of the net arenas I have seen from Russia over the last 20 years or so have been nylon and looked like fishing nets
was the original,patented,mesh arena made of metal rope (cable) ?
the best mesh arenas I have seen in the U.S. have been made by Carlos Farfan from Las Vegas; 25 December, 2006 17:48

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