Circus skills are a group of disciplines that have been performed as entertainment in circus, sideshow,

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

, or variety, vaudeville, or

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

shows. Most circus skills are still being performed today. Many are also practiced by non-performers as a hobby. Circus schools and instructors use various systems of categorization to group circus skills by type. Systems that have attempted to formally organize circus skills into pragmatic teaching groupings include the Gurevich system"The Classification of Circus Techniques" by Hovey Burgess. ''The Drama Review'': TDR, Vol. 18, No. 1, Popular Entertainments (Mar., 1974), pp. 65-70. doi:10.2307/1144863. (the basis of the Russian Circus School's curriculum) and the Hovey Burgess system.

Circus skills

* Acrobalance *

Acrobatics Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...

* Acro dance * Adagio * Aerial hoop *

Aerial silk Aerial silks (also known as aerial contortion, aerial ribbons, aerial tissues, fabric, ribbon, or ''tissu'') is a type of performance in which one or more artists perform aerial acrobatics while hanging from a specialist fabric. The fabric may b ...

* Aerial straps * Artistic cycling * Balancing * Banquine * Baton twirling * Buffoonery * Bullwhip *

Bungee trapeze Bungee may refer to: * Bungee cord, also called shock cord, an engineered stretchable cord ** Bungee chair, a type of office or lounge chair made with bungee cords * Bungee jumping, an adventure sport * Bungee language or Bungi creole, a language ...

* Cannonball catching * Carnival barking *

Chair balancing The use of chairs as props in acrobatics falls into three broad categories: balancing, vaulting and contortion. Balancing In chair balancing, one or more acrobats balance on one or more chairs. The chair(s) may be balanced on other objects and/o ...

* Chinese pole * Cigar box juggling * Cloud swing * Clowning * Club swinging * Contact juggling * Contortion * Corde lisse *

Cradle Cradle may refer to: * Cradle (bed) * Bassinet, a small bed, often on rockers, in which babies and small children sleep Mechanical devices * Cradle (circus act), or aerial cradle or casting cradle used in an aerial circus act * Cradling (paintin ...

* Cyr wheel *

Danish pole A Danish pole is a circus prop, consisting of a wooden pole about 4 metres long and with a 5 cm diameter. It is fastened to a turnable base on the bottom and to a rope on top. The rope can be slackened, causing the pole to hang at an angle and pe ...

* Devil sticks * Diabolo or Chinese yo-yo *

Double trapeze Static trapeze, also known as fixed trapeze, is a type of circus art performed on the trapeze. In contrast to the other forms of trapeze, on static trapeze the bars and ropes mainly stay in place. Most often, the static trapeze is about wide and ...

* Fire performance * Flag spinning * Flying trapeze * Foot juggling * Freestanding ladder * German wheel * Globe of death * Hair hang * Hand to hand *

Hand balancing __NOTOC__ A handstand is the act of supporting the body in a stable, inverted vertical position by balancing on the hands. In a basic handstand, the body is held straight with arms and legs fully extended, with hands spaced approximately shoulder- ...

* Hand walking * Hat manipulation *

Hoop diving Hoop or Hoops may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Hoops'' (TV series), an American animated series Music * Hoops (band), an American indie pop band * ''Hoops'' (album), a 2015 album by The Rubens ** "Hoops" (Th ...

Hooping Hooping (also called hula hooping or hoop dance) is the manipulation of and artistic movement or dancing with a hoop (or hoops). Hoops can be made of metal, wood, or plastic. Hooping combines technical moves and tricks with freestyle or technical ...

* "Human" cannonball * Human pyramid * Juggling * Jump rope * Knife throwing * Lasso * "

Lion taming Lion taming is the taming and training of lions, either for protection or for use in entertainment, such as the circus. The term often applies to the taming and display of lions and other big cats such as tigers, leopards, jaguars, black panthe ...

" *

Mexican cloud swing Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

* Mime * Multiple trapeze *

Object manipulation Object manipulation is a form of dexterity play or performance in which one or more people physically interact with one or more objects. Many object manipulation skills are recognised circus skills. Other object manipulation skills are linked to ...

* Perch (equilibristic) *

Physical comedy Physical comedy is a form of comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any ...

* Plate spinning * Pogo sticking * Poi spinning *

Puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a perform ...

Rebound straps Rebound can refer to: Film and television * ''Rebound'' (1931 film), a 1931 movie starring Ina Claire and Robert Ames * ''Rebound'' (American TV series), a TV series produced by Bing Crosby * ''Rebound'' (1959 film), a 1959 movie starring Lynd ...

* Ringmaster * Risley *

Rola bola A balance board is a device used as a circus skill, for recreation, balance training, athletic training, brain development, therapy, musical training and other kinds of personal development. It is a lever similar to a see-saw that the use ...

, balance board *

Rolling globe The rolling globe or walking globe is a circus skill in which a performer balances atop a large sphere. Various gymnastic or juggling stunts may be performed while the performer moves and controls the position of the ball with their feet and/or ...

Roman ladders Roman ladders are an equilibristic circus skill where four or more people perform acrobatics on specially made ladder A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladder ...

* Russian bar * Russian swing * Slacklining * Slackwire balancing * Spanish web * Springboard * Stage combat *

Static trapeze Static trapeze, also known as fixed trapeze, is a type of circus art performed on the trapeze. In contrast to the other forms of trapeze, on static trapeze the bars and ropes mainly stay in place. Most often, the static trapeze is about wide and ...

Stilt walking Stilts are poles, posts or pillars that allow a person or structure to stand at a height above the ground. In flood plains, and on beaches or unstable ground, buildings are often constructed on stilts to protect them from damage by water, wa ...

* Teeterboard * Tightrope walking * Trampolining * Trapeze * Trick riding *

Trick roping Floreo de Reata or Trick roping is a Mexican entertainment or competitive art involving the spinning of a lasso, also known as a lariat or a rope. Besides Mexico and Mexican Charreria, it is also associated with Wild West shows or Western arts ...

Tumbling Tumble or tumbling may refer to: Arts and media * ''Tumble'' (album), a 1989 album by Biota * ''Tumble'' (TV series), a British TV series * ''Tumble'' (video game), a 2010 Sony Interactive Entertainment video game * "Tumble", a song by Meghan ...

* Twirling *

Unicycle A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a bicycle frame, frame with a bicycle saddle, saddle, and has a human-powered vehicle, pedal-driven direct-drive mechanism, direct-drive. A two spee ...

* Ventriloquism * Voltige *

Wall of death The wall of death, motordrome, velodrome or well of death is a carnival sideshow featuring a silo- or barrel-shaped wooden cylinder, typically ranging from in diameter and made of wooden planks, inside which motorcyclists, or the drivers of mi ...

* Wheel of Death * Whistling

Sideshow attractions

Bed of nails A bed of nails is an oblong piece of wood, the size of a bed, with nails pointing upwards out of it. It appears to the spectator that anyone lying on this "bed" would be injured by the nails, but this is not so. Assuming the nails are numerous ...

Bee bearding Bee bearding is the practice of wearing several thousand honey bees on the face, usually as a sideshow-type demonstration at agricultural shows. Hive bees are attracted into position by a queen in a small cage worn under the chin. History Though ...

* Blade box * Body modification *

Body piercing Body piercing, which is a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn, or where an implant could be inserted. The word ''piercing'' can refer to ...

* Chapeaugraphy * Contortion * Electric act * Entomophagy (insect eating) * Escapology * Fire breathing *

Fire eating Fire eating is the act of putting a flaming object into the mouth and extinguishing it. A fire eater can be an entertainer, a street performer, part of a sideshow or a circus act but has also been part of spiritual tradition in India. Ph ...

* Girl to Gorilla, a Pepper's Ghost illusion * Glass eating *

Glass walking Glass is a non- crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) o ...

* Gurner * Hook suspension * Human blockhead * Human dartboard * Impalement arts * Iron tongue * Magic acts * Regurgitator * Shallow diving * Snake charmer * Strongman * Sword ladder * Sword swallowing

Circus skills

Sideshow attractions

References

Further reading