The flying trapeze act was invented by Jules
Léotard, a French gymnast at the Cirque Napoléon
in Paris in 1859 but acrobats and tumblers had performed tricks
on a slack rope at 18th century fairs.
Léotard’s act was called La Course aux Trapèze
and consisted of two separate trapezes which he would set swinging,
then jump from one trapeze to the other. Léotard developed
the act to include turning a somersault when jumping between
the two trapezes. He later increased the number of trapezes
to five, turning single somersaults from trapeze to trapeze.
In later aerial acts a catcher was introduced on one trapeze
to catch the flyer from the other. In 1897 a double somersault
through the air was achieved and a triple in 1897. This was
not surpassed until 1975 when American Don Martinez achieved
three and a half somersaults. (Although in 1915 Ernie Clark
performed a quadruple somersault in rehearsal, unfortunately
he never managed to repeat it for an audience.) Other great
trapeze artists included Lena and the Flying Jordans and
Con Colleano.
In the 19th century many aerial artists developed their own
unique performances based round a trapeze. The Flying Zedoras
were a British act that was also successful in America. In their
act Pansy Chinery
was shot from a crossbow through a large paper target and was
caught by her sister hanging from a trapeze.
El Niño Farini was only 10 years old when he developed
his trapeze act which involved hanging from a trapeze by his
neck whilst playing a drum.
The Flying Zedoras and El Niño Farini, like many 19th
century aerial acts, did not perform exclusively in circus.
One of the most famous trapeze artists was female impersonator
Barbette. Barbette became known in Paris as ‘Barbette the
Enigma’.
He was totally convincing as a woman despite performing practically
naked. Barbette first appeared in London at Bertram Mills’
Circus
in 1926. He later toured variety theatres across Britain.
Introduction
