Bulletin

Issue: October 2004

Research in Action

Blurring gender on A flying trapeze

It must be one of the great ironies in the history of the entertainment industry.

A man is famous and admired for his bravery, initiative and daring in his lifetime. But nearly a century and a half since the height of his fame, he is remembered for only one thing: his pants.

Such is the fate of the father of trapeze, Frenchman Jules Leotard, whose body-hugging colourful outfit is still the uniform of choice of dancers, circus performers and others involved in agile public activities.

As the first 'flyer' in the history of trapeze, the handsome Frenchman figures prominently in the ARC-funded Discovery project by La Trobe University Professor of Theatre and Drama, Peta Tait. Professor Tait is a world authority on gender 'blurring' in performance which led her to detailed studies of male and female figures in 19th and 20th century circus and theatre.

Her research examines the development of trapeze acts. It fits in well with the subject of gender blurring because trapeze artists must possess the feminine characteristics of lithe grace and smooth movement with the masculine characteristics of strength, power and bravery.

The very muscular, very sexy young Jules Leotard was a perfect example of this. From the time he performed the first flying trapeze act in a Paris theatre 1859, demure, blushing 19th century ladies, steeped in the modesty of their age, nonetheless fought for front row seats to watch his scantily-clad body fly through the air.

It was not long before he had many imitators who, unlike Leotard, may not have had a devoted mother to design and make the skin-tight pants which contributed so much to his early popularity.

Young Jules leapt between two trapezes hanging five metres above the stage and later astounded audiences by a new trick - turning a somersault in mid-air. Over the years the height of the trapeze above stage has increased and additional somersaults have been added until the act has reached the high flying version we known today.

Leotard's act soon spread from theatre to the fixed location European circuses where he and his contemporary, high wire performer, Blondin were the idols. Leotard performed until 1868 by which time women trapeze artists - wearing Leotard's by now classical outfit - had entered the field.

Leotard's act and his outfit quickly spread from Europe. By 1863 Australia's first trapeze artist, Charles Perry, was wowing audiences. Among the most famous trapeze artists were members of the Codonas family from Mexico who dominated the trapeze world for most of the 20th century.

Flyer Alfredo Codonas and his catcher brother Lalo, performed with the Australian Wirth's Circus for three years from 1913 and then joined the famous Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey circus in the USA.

It was in Australia that Alfredo pioneered the triple somersault. He was also the stunt man for Johnny Weissmuller in two Tarzan films in the mid 1930s. In Australia, Alfredo had met Australian 'flyer' Vera Bruce and later married her. Famously, he murdered her and then killed himself in California in 1937.

Codonas talked about how muscle power and psychology mingled and how this early form of sports psychology could lead to improved performance - for example the development of the triple somersault. He believed you had to train the mind to work with the body to enable it to perform more difficult tricks.

Professor Tait says that Australia's Circus Oz, with the French Canadian circus Circue de Soleil and the French Cirque Archchaos, have developed new forms of aerial work. A La Trobe University PhD student, Ms Jane Mullett, is researching the beginnings of the new kind of animal-free circuses like Circus Oz.

Professor Tait expects her book Circus Bodies: Cultural Identity in Aerial Performance to be published in mid 2005. •

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