The Nicolodis and
the golden age of music-hall acrobats
Nothing is for man closer to real flight than the purety of acrobatic. In a time when acrobats tends to sophisticate their gifts with elaborate coreographies and boutique presentations, we wish to remember the recent but gone era of night clubs and classical circuses. An era when acrobats graced the surreal twists of their bodies just with simple smiles, gazes to the girls in the house, or a bit of humor in real contact with the audience. They presented themselves as normal peoples, supported by a live band, seemingly enjoing the frenesy and the apparent easiness of their instead incredibly hard tricks.
This is the case of the Nicolodi, a family that for five generation have been performi
ng in each corner of the globe, in front of admiring crowned heads, distracted jet-set tourists, or amazed family audiences in european villages.
I happened to spend for few years, the late 80s, nights after nights in the Moulin Rouge dressing rooms: hearing the audience and band during the acts, then seeing appearing the calm, sweating performers, as coming after a trip in an unreal world. The Nicolodi act was costumed as a kind of gala italian waiters, serving the most energetic acrobatic specialities ever compacted in the law of the seven minutes. Everytime you felt their act was finished, you had more.
Today this kind of acts just doesn’t exist anymore; but we can still gaze for seven minutes into the past.
Ladies and gentleman: the Nicolodi Troupe.
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