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The ordinary acrobat: a journey into the wondrous world of the circus, past and present

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Publication Date:
2013
Language:
English

Description

The extraordinary story of a young man’s plunge into the unique and wonderful world of the circus—taking readers deep into circus history and its renaissance as a contemporary art form, and behind the (tented) walls of France’s most prestigious circus school.
When Duncan Wall visited his first nouveau cirque as a college student in Paris, everything about it—the monochromatic costumes, the acrobat singing Simon and Garfunkel, the juggler reciting Proust—was captivating. Soon he was waiting outside stage doors, eagerly chatting with the stars, and attending circuses two or three nights a week. So great was his enthusiasm that a year later he applied on a whim to the training program at the École Nationale des Arts du Cirque—and was, to his surprise, accepted.
Sometimes scary and often funny, The Ordinary Acrobat follows the (occasionally literal) collision of one American novice and a host of gifted international students in a rigorous regimen of tumbling, trapeze, juggling, and clowning. Along the way, Wall introduces readers to all the ambition, beauty, and thrills of the circus’s long history: from hardscrabble beginnings to Gilded Age treasures, and from twentieth-century artistic and economic struggles to its brilliant reemergence in the form of contemporary circus (most prominently through Cirque du Soleil). Readers meet figures past—the father of the circus, Philip Astley; the larger-than-life P. T. Barnum—and present, as Wall seeks lessons from innovative masters including juggler Jérôme Thomas and clown André Riot-Sarcey. As Wall learns, not everyone is destined to run away with the circus—but the institution fascinates just the same.
            Brimming with surprises, outsized personalities, and plenty of charm, The Ordinary Acrobat delivers all the excitement and pleasure of the circus ring itself.

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ISBN:
9780307271723
9780307962294

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Grouping Information

Grouped Work ID6d4b5500-559a-b2b2-6ecc-23281babc284
Grouping Titleordinary acrobat a journey into the wondrous world of the circus past and present
Grouping Authorduncan wall
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-12-10 02:10:39AM
Last Indexed2024-12-10 02:25:42AM

Solr Fields

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0
author
Wall, Duncan
author_display
Wall, Duncan
available_at_catalog
Carmichael
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detailed_location_catalog
Carmichael
Central
display_description

The extraordinary story of a young man’s plunge into the unique and wonderful world of the circus—taking readers deep into circus history and its renaissance as a contemporary art form, and behind the (tented) walls of France’s most prestigious circus school.
When Duncan Wall visited his first nouveau cirque as a college student in Paris, everything about it—the monochromatic costumes, the acrobat singing Simon and Garfunkel, the juggler reciting Proust—was captivating. Soon he was waiting outside stage doors, eagerly chatting with the stars, and attending circuses two or three nights a week. So great was his enthusiasm that a year later he applied on a whim to the training program at the École Nationale des Arts du Cirque—and was, to his surprise, accepted.
Sometimes scary and often funny, The Ordinary Acrobat follows the (occasionally literal) collision of one American novice and a host of gifted international students in a rigorous regimen of tumbling, trapeze, juggling, and clowning. Along the way, Wall introduces readers to all the ambition, beauty, and thrills of the circus’s long history: from hardscrabble beginnings to Gilded Age treasures, and from twentieth-century artistic and economic struggles to its brilliant reemergence in the form of contemporary circus (most prominently through Cirque du Soleil). Readers meet figures past—the father of the circus, Philip Astley; the larger-than-life P. T. Barnum—and present, as Wall seeks lessons from innovative masters including juggler Jérôme Thomas and clown André Riot-Sarcey. As Wall learns, not everyone is destined to run away with the circus—but the institution fascinates just the same.
            Brimming with surprises, outsized personalities, and plenty of charm, The Ordinary Acrobat delivers all the excitement and pleasure of the circus ring itself.

format_catalog
Book
eBook
format_category_catalog
Books
eBook
id
6d4b5500-559a-b2b2-6ecc-23281babc284
isbn
9780307271723
9780307962294
itype_catalog
Adult Book Non-Fiction
last_indexed
2024-12-10T10:25:42.400Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_catalog
791.34 W187zw 2013
owning_library_catalog
Sacramento Public Library
owning_location_catalog
Carmichael
Central
primary_isbn
9780307271723
publishDate
2013
publisher
Alfred A. Knopf
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Acrobats -- Biography
Circus -- History
Circus performers -- Biography
Wall, Duncan
title_display
The ordinary acrobat : a journey into the wondrous world of the circus, past and present
title_full
The Ordinary Acrobat A Journey into the Wondrous World of the Circus, Past and Present
The ordinary acrobat : a journey into the wondrous world of the circus, past and present / Duncan Wall
title_short
The ordinary acrobat
title_sub
a journey into the wondrous world of the circus, past and present
topic_facet
Acrobats
Biography & Autobiography
Circus
Circus performers
History
Nonfiction
Performing Arts
Sociology
Wall, Duncan

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