It is this "where" aspect of New Circus that Bolton focuses on in his book. Circus has been a tremendous success as a community development activity in many towns. Peru, Indiana; Albury-Wodonga, Australia; and the Pilton neighborhood of Edinburgh, Scotland, are three com­munities which have created a children's circus of high quality and standards. These began as ordinary communities and now, because of their circuses, are certainly. extraordinary communities.

 

But "New Circus" doesn't stop there. Bolton's book has chapters on "Circus for Fun and Recreation," "Circus as Money Saver and Fundraiser, " "Street Circus," "Circus as Sport" (focusing on the IJA championships, as well as unicycling, stilt soccer and tightrope); and "Circus as a Club Activity for Young People, " including a description of Circus Osler in South Africa, created as a solution to the problem of disaffected urban youth.

 

The success of this wonderfully informative book is in its examples. Instead of trying to define what New Circus is, it spends page after delightful page telling the stories of particular circuses. Bolton also makes recommendations for new circus schools.

 

But its most important message is that circus is a participant activity; it's not just for old circus families who are protecting the secrets of their acts. Circus, in its "new" form, is for all of us - to foster civic pride, to motivate children, to raise self-esteem, to raise money, and more. 

 

And "New Circus" shows us how it's been done.

- Todd McLeish

 

"Die Kunst der Jonglerie" (The Art of Juggling). By Karl-Heinz Ziethen. East Berlin: Henschelverlag, 1988. 175 pp. Cloth: 25 deutsche marks.

 

The Art of Juggling is a brief history of juggling and related skills focusing primarily on Europe and the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries.

 

Divided into 12 chapters focusing on various aspects of the art, Ziethen's book undertakes an examination of a wide variety of topics, personalities and accomplishments associated with the world of juggling. Depending on the reader's expectations, the wide-ranging scope of "The Art of Juggling" can be viewed as either an asset or liability. Because Ziethen limits himself not only to juggling, but chooses to cover other related areas of showmanship and presentation, depth of coverage in this volume is often sacrificed to breadth.

 

Aided by a comprehensive name index, the casual reader can easily use this book as a quick reference for information on specific jugglers. The shining centerpiece of the work is the 122 black and white photographs, the vast majority of which stem from Ziethen's personal archives. The photographs and advertisements reproduced here document both famous and lesser-known performers, and they vividly illustrate the complexity and beauty of many of the maneuvers discussed in the text. Ziethen thus provides an excellent introduction to the development of major as well as minor artists and routines in the world of juggling.