Jules Léotard

The French Artist Jean -Marie Jules Leotard ( born August 1, 1838 in Toulouse, † August 16, 1870 ibid ) invented and led the first man to Seilakt " flying trapeze " in the air before. The performance was so unusual that in 1867 the song "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze ," texted by George Leybourne was, for that time.

Life

Leotard was born in 1838 in southern France Toulouse, the son of an artist and teacher of acrobatics. The young Jules mastered his exams and seemed destined for a juridical career. But at the age of 18 he began to experiment with trapezoids, bars, ropes and rings, which were suspended over a swimming pool. His father Jean operating this pool commercial and trained Jules.

In 1869, Jules Leotard organized together with Clément Ader in the early days of cycling the first cycling race in the Pyrenees and won the journey between Toulouse and Villefranche. In Toulouse, the artist opened a sports hall (14, Rue Rempart Saint -Etienne), in its place stands a synagogue today.

During a tour in Spain, he is said to have been infected with smallpox or cholera, which led to death in 1870.

Career as an artist

He was a member of the " Cirque Napoléon ," which - renamed in 1871 in Cirque d' hiver - still exists in Paris. On November 12, 1859, he made ​​his first public appearance as a trapeze artist. He was, as such, the first man to beat in the air in the middle a somersault and the first to jump on the other by a trapezoid.

The circus act lasted 12 minutes, during which Leotard with and between three trapezes around gymnastics and finally ended with a somersault onto the covered with a carpet safety mat. This presentation was so revolutionary that his colleagues donated a banquet in his honor and a commemorative medal was coined.

Jules Leotard became the heartthrob. The newspaper Le Figaro published on June 21, 1860 a report on a vaudeville comedy under the title " Les Amoureuses de Leotard " ( " Lovers of Leotard "). It should have given ladies who thronged after, to get into the first row of seats to see Leotard flying through the air.

In May 1861 he made ​​his debut at the Vaudeville Theatre Alhambra Theatre in Leicester Square in London with his Luftseilakt. The trapeze act was performed over the heads of the audience and was extremely popular. For this he was paid £ 180 per week, the equivalent of almost £ 5,000, by modern standards. In the Ashburnham Hall in Cremorne Gardens, he completed an appearance at five trapezoids with a somersault between each.

After several seasons on " Cirque Napoléon " he toured through Europe and the United States of America.

In 1866, the star appeared again on London and 1868 mainly in vaudeville theaters and " Pleasure Gardens ", where he found extremely well received.

Garment

Jules Leotard invented a skin-tight one-piece garment with long sleeves, which he called maillot and contributed to his ideas. It was designed to permit unrestricted movement and to show his muscles. It was relatively aerodynamic and had no fluttering parts that could become entangled with the ropes. Leotards clothing quickly became the outfit for acrobats and aerialists. The garment took its way from the circus in the ballet studios of Paris. It is known as Leotard today: The first reported use of the term in English dates from the year 1886 ( The French word means today maillot swimsuit. ).

Others

When Jules Leotards performances a variety of mattresses has been widely used, if it should come to a mishap. The first safety net was made possible by a Spanish force that " Rizarellis " clamped in " Holborn Empire" in 1871.

Jules Verne mentioned Leotards name ( and that of the tightrope walker Charles Blondin ) in the first chapter of his novel Around the World in 80 days in that scene when the servant Jean Passepartout of Phileas Fogg is set.