Thursday, August 01, 2013

CIRCO VASQUEZ HNOS. #46

9 comments:

Chic Silber said...


Surely someone must know why this

flat bar device is known as a

"Trapeze Washington"

Chic Silber said...


Sasha Balkanski from Bulgaria did

a very exciting balance trapeze act

with a an elaborate motorized rig

that both elevated & revolved

I think his son "Sahko" might be

in Williston with Patty

Chic Silber said...


That would be "Sashko" (not Sahko)

Both he & his father are actually

named Alexander

Anonymous said...

Wikipedia says it was invented by an American fellow in the mid 1800's.

Can't believe open id finally let me back in here.

Psul

Anonymous said...

Chic: Damn I am getting old...
the fellow's name was WASHINGTON.

Paul, wait, I'd better check in the mirror...Yep, it looks like me, as I recall me looking.

Yours in better remembering,

Paul

Dick Flint said...

First, Chic, what do you mean by flat bar? The origin and use of the term Washington trapeze is a wonderful question! I was long under the impression that Washington trapeze was far more a European term but with the growth of circus and trapeze schools, I’ve now encountered it a bit more in the US. I’ve heard it defined by a French-trained American student as a bar with additional weights on each end to provide greater stability. Do we have any experienced aerialists of the old school who can contribute?

Hippisley-Coxe in his delightful “A Seat at the Circus” (1951) makes no real mention of the single trapeze; Strehly's “L'Acrobatie et les Acrobates” (1903) barely mentions the fixed trapeze; Zucca's “Acrobatica e Atletica” (1902) doesn’t really get off the ground, so to speak. I wonder how early the term might appear in any program listing, if at all?

As to a performer named Washington, for me he is difficult to find and to attach to this apparatus. Saltarino’s wonderful “Artisten-Lexicon” (1895) tantalizes my historical curiosity with one entry on Brooklyn-born Henry Roland Washington (1838-1882). Billed as “The American Prince” he went to Europe in 1870. At some point he got hooked up with the creative Hanlon aerialists working in theatre and this may be when he created a new trapeze bar. He was back in America by the year of his death working as manager for Faranta’s circus—but 1882 is when Faranta established his New Orleans-based variety-theatre and circus. Is Henry Roland Washington really the creator of a specialized trapeze bar that really needs better definition and historical documentation as to its earliest use and in what context?
Dick Flint
Baltimore

Chic Silber said...


Although not all of them but most

I've seen & the several I built had

a flat top surface as well as slots

or other means of attaching discs

or donuts for head balance

They do not need any special end

weights but do have vertical rods

(often covered) to attach the ropes

These are to minimize rotation & do

add weight as you mentioned

Often they have no decorative ends

that can add weight to round bars

for finger & toe work

I 1st heard the term "Washington"

from European artists by the way

Chic Silber said...


Paul perhaps Buckles can make an

appointment for you with Dr Zala

(Wonder if we can get a group rate)

Chic Silber said...


In several European accents they

drop the final E so it's "Trapez"