Rowe’s Olympic Circus: dalla tradizione del circo inglese al mercato dello spettacolo americano

The essay offers an unrealised historiographical study of the Rowe circus, marked by the stage hybridity and the extensive migration. Through the collection and interpretation of primary sources, Rowe's shows are contextualised in the nineteenth-century American circus history as significant artistic experiences. They mark, indeed, a crossing point on the eve of the Civil War, when a new way of conceiving the performance and staging was taking shape, in line with the socioeconomic needs of American society. While on the one hand, Rowe's circus joins the English tradition; on the other hand, it certainly appears to be fully in tune with the emerging entertainment industry. From this perspective, the essay points out the innovative character of the Rowe circus, which launches a new circus entrepreneurship: to make the circus a mass entertainment through the occupation and the creation of ever larger and more diversified spaces in the entertainment market.