Death of Alexis Gruss, determine within the circus world | EUROtoday

Lhe patriarch left the stage. Alexis Gruss, the king of the equestrian circus, died Saturday April 6, at Saint-Joseph hospital in Paris, his household introduced in a press launch, stories Le Figaro : “It is with immense ache and disappointment that the Gruss household publicizes the loss of life at present, Saturday April 6, 2024, at 9:40 a.m., of Mr. Alexis Gruss, following a coronary heart assault, on the age of 79 years previous. » The French squire and acrobat, circus director from the age of 27, additionally a saxophonist, was at all times on the ring within the massive prime within the Bois de Boulogne.

“Alexis Gruss was much more than a man of talent; he was a pillar, a master of the equestrian and performing arts, whose imprint will remain forever engraved in our hearts,” greeted his household, notably his spouse, Gipsy Gruss, his brother, in addition to his kids, his grandchildren. kids and his great-grandchildren. The spiritual ceremony will likely be celebrated within the Saint-Roch church in Paris, on Thursday April 11, at 9:30 a.m. The burial will happen in “strict family privacy”, additional stipulates its communications service.

The Alexis Gruss firm comes from “a couple formed in 1868 by the marriage between Charles Gruss, initially a stonemason, and Maria Martinetti, member of a family of squires and acrobats running their own big top since the 1850s”, can we learn on the corporate's web site.

In efficiency since 1984

The equestrian specificity of the household has been refined over time and, within the fourth era, Alexis Gruss gave a brand new shine by creating the Cirque à l'Ancienne in 1974. This construction, launched with the actress Silvia Monfort, is taken into account main within the renovation of circus arts. The Cirque à l'Ancienne “creates a profound break in style with the so-called traditional circus of the 1970s, in particular through the predominance of equestrian exercises”, we are able to learn on the web site of the National Library of France (BnF). “By placing the horse at the very heart of the project, the Gruss […] prefigure the Zingaro Equestrian Theater and the Centaure Theater, respectively created in 1986 and 1989,” explains the establishment.

In a every day interview in October 2023, Alexis Gruss spoke of the eagerness that had been his for 50 years. Concerning his future, he stated he was getting ready for it “by living intensely in the present. We are constantly putting new things in the works. If I had to just stop for a moment, I would simply say that I am a happy father, grandfather and great-grandfather,” he mused.

In 1981, he received the Grand Prix nationwide du cirque, awarded by the Ministry of Culture. Knight of the Legion of Honor and Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters, he was additionally the creator of the Circus Biennale in Lyon in 1995. Since 1984, and with out stopping, he had annually proposed a circus present. “He dedicated his life to perpetuating the equestrian arts of the track through his teachings and transmission, inspiring entire generations. The foundations of his life were until the end his family, the horses, the track,” his household lastly greeted.