Summary of Circus acts
Sub-categories within Circus acts.
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Circus acts
Circus acts most commonly travel with circuses around the world. They may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, trapeze acts, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, contortionists, trampoline, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists. |
 Animals acts
A variety of animals have historically been used in acts. While the types of animals used vary from circus to circus, big cats, elephants, horses, birds, sea lions and domestic animals are the most common.Source: http://en.wikipedia.org |
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Chinese pole
Chinese Poles are vertical steel poles on which circus performers climb, slide down and hold poses. The poles are generally between 3 and 9 metres in height and approximately 3 to 4 inches in diameter. A few Chinese poles tricks have been incorporated with erotic pole dancing techniques. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org |
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Aerials
There are different kinds of aerial props used by aerial acts or performers: trapeze, aerial silk, straps, aerial ring, rope, ...
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Jugglers
Juggling can refer to all forms of artful or skillful object manipulation. This includes most prop-based circus skills such as diabolo, devil sticks, poi, cigar box manipulation, fire-dancing, contact juggling, and hat manipulation. Jugglers often refer to the objects they juggle as props, the most popular being specially made balls, beanbags, rings, clubs, or bouncing balls. Some performers also use "dangerous" objects such as chainsaws, knives and fire torches. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org |
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Unicycles and bicycles
A unicycle is a one-wheeled human powered vehicle. Unicycles are similar to, but less complex than, bicycles. There are many different types of unicycles, which can include (but are not limited to): freestyle unicycles, trial unicycles, MUnis, giraffes, and long distance unicycles, which all have special components unique to that type of unicycle. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org |
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Antipodists
An antipodist could be defined as a foot juggler. H ecan do many things with his feet such as juggling with balls, carpets, cylinders, and even people! |
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Contortionists
According to Wikipedia, a contortionist is an acrobat who is capable of twisting his body into unusual positions. They are usually also able to perform hand-stands. |
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Clowns
According to Wikipedia, a clown is a performance artist often associated with a circus and typically characterised by bright, oversized clothing, a red nose, face paint, and a brightly colored wig and who performs slapstick. Nowadays, modern clowns do not often wear make-up. |
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German wheel
Wheel gymnastics (German: Rhönradturnen) is a kind of gymnastics which originates in Germany. Wheel gymnasts do exercises in a big wheel: the gymnastics wheel (gym wheel, German wheel, Rhönrad). Source: http://en.wikipedia.org |
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Rola-rola or rola-bola
The rola bola (also known as a "rolla bolla," a "rolo bolo," a "roly boly," a "balance board," a "rocker-roller board" and a "bongo board") in its simplest form is a plank on a cylinder on which a person balances. The plank rocks back and forth on the cylinder like a seesaw but its pivot point shifts back and forth as the cylinder rolls beneath the plank. With a bit of practice, balancing on a rola bola is not too difficult. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org |
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Trampoline
A trampoline is a gymnastic and recreational device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched over a steel frame using many coiled springs to provide a rebounding force which propels the jumper high into the air. In a trampoline, the fabric is not elastic itself, the elasticity is provided by the springs which connect it to the frame. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org |
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Equilibrists/Handstands
A handstand is the act of standing erect, but upside down, with one's hands on the ground and feet in the air. The basic handstand has legs extended vertically with no knee bend, hands roughly shoulder-width apart, and head facing forward, but there are numerous variations. Performing a handstand requires good upper body strength. Handstands are performed in many athletic activities, including breakdance, fitness competitions, circus acrobatics, cheerleading, and martial arts like Capoeira. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org |
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Tightrope Walking
According to wikipedia, tightrope walking (or funambulism) is the art of walking along a thin wire or rope usually at a great height. One or more artists perform in front of an audience (a common act in circuses) or as a publicity stunt (often attempting to set location-specific distance or height records). Tightrope walkers sometimes use balancing poles and may perform the feat without a safety net for effect.
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Russian bar and others
A Russian Bar or Russian Barre circus act which combines the gymnastic skills of the balance beam, the rebound tempo skills of trampoline and the swing handstands skills of the uneven bars and the parallel bars. The barre itself is a flexible vaulting pole around 4 meters long, typically made of fiberglass. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org |
