Il circo italiano a Monte Carlo
Il modello dell’eccellenza
A project supported by the Ministry of Culture
to talk about the great Italian artists

The Monte Carlo Festival is the most important circus event in the world. Italian artists have always had great success at this event and are still among the performers who achieve the greatest triumphs. In the year of the fiftieth anniversary of this festival and of the celebrations for the centenary of the birth of its founder, Prince Rainier III of Monaco, a project delves into the history of the Italian circus performers who won the Monegasque competition.
Created by Mosaico Errante, in partnership with Ente Nazionale Circhi and Open Circus, and supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture, Il circo italiano a Monte Carlo. Il modello dell’eccellenza will promote awareness of these successful profiles among the general public through two main tools. The first will be the publication of a special issue of the magazine Circo in which, through articles and interviews, the enormous parterre of Italian artists who won the Gold, Silver and Bronze Clowns (the most coveted prizes) will be illustrated. The second will be the creation of video interviews with some of the Italian protagonists of the Monte Carlo Festival: these first-person stories will be accompanied by videos of circus acts taken from shows of past years but also from recent performances and will contain photos, posters and precious archive material, composing a documentary full of anecdotes and central moments in the history of the circus.

“Italy is in third place in the Monte Carlo medal table” explains Professor Alessandro Serena, artistic director of Mosaico Errante “beaten only by giants such as Russia and China. And if the latter is competitive almost exclusively in large acrobatic groups, our country instead excels in all three macro-areas of circus techniques: body virtuosos, animal trainers and clowns”.

Among the numerous prominent Italians who have made the history of the festival and of the international circus we can in fact mention acrobats such as the Pellegrini Brothers and the Errani Brothers, tamers such as Giuseppe Nones, the first trainer to win the Golden Clown, and Flavio Togni (true record holder of the Monegasque festival), and clowns such as David Larible and Daris and Gianni Fumagalli. But there are so many names that have brought prestige to Italy.

Il modello dell’eccellenza has received the enthusiastic support of the Monte Carlo Festival, of its director Urs Pilz and of the Fédération Monde du Cirque, whose president is H.S.H. Princess Stéphanie of Monaco. These two entities have offered their patronage to this initiative and will contribute to finding the necessary material. A demonstration of esteem for the entire Italian circus sector, which enjoys the respect gained over decades of performances of the highest level. The analysis and research work will be carried out in collaboration with the Centro di Documentazione delle Arti Circensi of Verona, one of the most important archives in the sector worldwide, with the Circusfans.eu portal, which for years has been managing (at the hands of Maurizio Colombo assisted by all the staff) the Almanac of the Monte Carlo Festival, a monumental audiovisual compendium that collects photos, films, news and awards of the event, with the Amici del Circo Club, whose vice-president Flavio Michi is one of the leading experts in statistics relating to the event and will be enriched by the video archive of Roberto Guideri, historic documentarian of popular entertainment.

Il circo italiano a Monte Carlo. Il modello dell'eccellenza has the aim of reaffirming the quality of Italian circus at all levels, involving the circus community, the public and the academic-cultural supply chain. To do this, a series of events is planned in which the special issue of the magazine Circo will be presented and excerpts from the video interviews will be screened, accompanied by interventions by journalists, critics and experts in the sector. Among the first confirmed occasions, the Salieri Festival in Legnago, the Study Days on Circus Art at the University of Milan, the conferences organized by the European Circus Association in Monte Carlo coordinated by Helmut Grosscurth, the ENC-AGIS Assembly, the lessons at the Accademia del Circo of Verona and the Clown&Clown Festival of Monte San Giusto. At the same time, the results will be shared online: the circo.it website and the Facebook page of the Ente Nazionale Circhi (as well as the channels of the project partners) will publish the articles already published in paper and will relaunch the videos appropriately adapted to the context of the social media.

At this link you can view all the articles and videos published and discover upcoming releases.