The New York
Public Library for the Performing Arts > Vaudeville
Nation
Circus Techniques
Charmion
Acrobats and balancing acts, and acts involving trained
horses, dogs, and other animals worked in vaudeville with
their rigging and stands adapted to the proscenium theater,
rather than the circus ring. Most were family troupes
that split the year between vaudeville and one of the traveling
circuses. Jugglers were also very popular in vaudeville,
especially the Agoust Family, known for their juggling
skits based on social situations. One featured the company
setting the table and eating dinner, all while juggling.
The model for strong men was Eugen Sandow, at least partially
because Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. was his press agent at the
Columbia Exposition of 1893 and on tour. Charmion combined
muscle displays with a trapeze act. Secrets of strong
men acts were collected by Lyceum magician George De Mott.
Magicians found it easy to adapt their acts to vaudeville,
realizing that audience mis-direction was even simpler
in a proscenium setting. Houdini staged his escape acts
at the Hippodrome Theater, but most magicians traveled
with portable equipment.
Annette Kellermann was perhaps the most famous vaudevillian
who spanned categories. A ballet-trained exhibition diver,
she became a star at the Hippdrome Theater and on the summer
resport circuit. She maintained her popularity as a dancer
and actress in vaudeville and in a series of feature films
for William Fox. Kellermann, billed as ideal woman, used
her fame to promote women's health and her own line of
shockingly unadorned bathing suits.
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