Thanks for your patience during our recent outage at scalar.usc.edu. While Scalar content is loading normally now, saving is still slow, and Scalar's 'additional metadata' features have been disabled, which may interfere with features like timelines and maps that depend on metadata. This also means that saving a page or media item will remove its additional metadata. If this occurs, you can use the 'All versions' link at the bottom of the page to restore the earlier version. We are continuing to troubleshoot, and will provide further updates as needed. Note that this only affects Scalar projects at scalar.usc.edu, and not those hosted elsewhere.
Agency through Otherness: Portraits of Performers in Circus Route Books, 1875-1925 Main Menu Introduction Introduction to the book and information about ways to navigate the content. The American Experiment: Circus in Context Circus performers and American history timeline Routing the Circus: The Things They Carried Circus Routes Map, 1875-1925 Ethnological Congresses and the Spectacle by Rebecca Fitzsimmons Outsiders in Demand: Chinese and Japanese Immigrant Performers by Angela Yon and Mariah Wahl Shattering Gender Roles: Women in the Circus by Elizabeth Harman Side Show Sounds: Black Bandleaders Respond to Exoticism Annexed Circus Musicians by Elizabeth C. Hartman Native Performance and Identity in The Wild West Show by Mariah Wahl Showmen's Rests: The Final Curtain Circus Cemetery Plots by Elizabeth C. Hartman List of Performers Performers covered in this exhibit Bibliography & Further Readings Bibliography and readings for each chapter Acknowledgements Creative Commons License

Zazel

38294


 
In the United States as in England, there was special power in the sight of a vulnerable young woman thus launched. 25


Born in London, Rosa Richter (known under her stage name of Zazel) was the star of a unique act, being the first human cannonball. Starting at the very young age of fourteen, Zazel first performed her act in Europe, working under the man who made the contraption that would shoot her through the sky. She made her way to the United States in 1880 to perform with Barnum and Bailey. After her performances, she was plastered in newspapers with illustrations of her flying, the audiences amazed by the feats this small yet fearless woman accomplished. 

Zazel eventually married the circus manager George Starr, entering into the American Circus family, but she had made a name for herself in her own right. Her act was so popular that many copycats appeared in both act and name, attempting to take some of the fame that was associated with her.
 

This page has paths:

  1. Daring Women Angela Yon

This page has tags:

  1. Women Circus Performers Angela Yon
  2. Acrobats Angela Yon

This page references: