Agency through Otherness: Portraits of Performers in Circus Route Books, 1875-1925Main MenuThe American Experiment: Circus in ContextCircus performers and American history timelineRouting the Circus: The Things They CarriedCircus Routes Map, 1875-1925Ethnological Congresses and the Spectacleby Rebecca FitzsimmonsOutsiders in Demand: Chinese and Japanese Immigrant Performersby Angela Yon and Mariah WahlShattering Gender Roles: Women in the Circusby Elizabeth HarmanSide Show Sounds: Black Bandleaders Respond to ExoticismAnnexed Circus Musicians by Elizabeth C. HartmanNative Performance and Identity in The Wild West Showby Mariah WahlShowmen's Rests: The Final CurtainCircus Cemetery Plots by Elizabeth C. HartmanList of PerformersPerformers covered in this exhibitBibliography & Further ReadingsBibliography and readings for each chapterAcknowledgementsAngela Yon72f2fd7a28c88ceeba2adcf2c04fee469904c6f1
Dolores Vallecita was another prolific cat trainer who started around the same time as Mabel Stark. Her specialty was with leopards rather that tigers. Dolores was born in Spain and trained in Europe, making a name for herself there before traveling to the United States to perform. Even though she arrived with acclaim already, she still struggled to find venues to perform in, proprietors believing her act to be “too sensational” for women and children to witness.23 This caused her to join the Sells-Floto Circus. She only performed with them for two years but made a lasting impression nonetheless.
Not only did Dolores advocate for herself within the ring, she was a champion of good for her animals as well. She was a big member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and only used positive reinforcement when training, similar to Mabel. She spent all of her efforts to take care of her cats, and one of her leopards took her life in 1925, news reports stating that it was a tragic accident and that the leopard lovingly embraced her.
