Jules Léotard (; 1 August 183816 August 1870) was a French acrobatic performer and

aerialist 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 ...

who developed the art of

trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...

. He also created and popularized the one-piece gym wear that now bears his name and inspired the 1867 song " The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze", sung by George Leybourne.

Biography

Léotard was born in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

, France, the son of a gymnastics instructor who ran a swimming pool in Toulouse. Léotard would practice his routines over the pool. He went on to study law. After he passed his law exams, he seemed destined to join the legal profession. But at 18 he began to experiment with trapeze bars, ropes and rings suspended over a swimming pool. Léotard later joined the

Cirque Napoléon The Cirque d'Hiver ("Winter Circus"), located at 110 rue Amelot (at the juncture of the rue des Filles Calvaires and rue Amelot, Paris 11ème), has been a prominent venue for circuses, exhibitions of dressage, musical concerts, and other events, ...

. On 12 November 1859, the first flying

routine was performed by Jules Léotard on three trapeze bars at the Cirque Napoleon. The costume he invented was a one-piece knitted garment streamlined to suit the safety and agility concerns of trapeze performance. It also showed off his physique, impressed spectators, and took on his name. In 1861 he performed in London at the

Alhambra music hall The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two yea ...

. His approach did not stress the risk he took, but emphasized the "ease and grace" of his trapeze work, inspiring not fear but wonder. Léotard has inspired the 1867 song ''The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze'', made popular by George Leybourne. He was also one of the cycling pioneers in France right before his death at age 32. According to notes from the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, Jules Léotard died in 1870 from an infectious disease (possibly

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leotard, Jules Acrobats Entertainers from Toulouse 1838 births 1870 deaths Music hall performers Infectious disease deaths in France Deaths from smallpox