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Elephants, lions, tigers and leopards evoke fascination and awe, fear and excitement. This book analyzes trained acts in twentieth-century live circus and cinema, reveals how humans anthropomorphize animals with their emotions, and interrogates the notion that animals embody a phenomenology of emotions and feelings in culture.Contents Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Introduction Calm Patience and Pyramid Poses The Lion Roars from a Pedestal Dancing Elephants in Skirts Leopard Around the Neck Born Free Again Sensing Emotion Works Cited Index
'Wild and Dangerous Performances is a highly readable account of the ways in which circus animals, particularly big cats (lions, tigers, leopards) and elephants, respond on an emotional level to, even develop an emotional rapport with, their trainers. Tait's new book provides a vivid perspective on developments in animal training in the nineteenth and twentieth century, while wryly noting the persistent gender stereotyping of both trainers and performing animals. This is an original, academically well grounded study, which valuably extends our knowledge of performance history.' - Professor Jim Davis, University of Warwick, UK
'Big cats on pedestals, humanised dancing elephants, live leopards as fur collars this book offers a compelling history of trained animal performers in fin de si?cle and twentieth century circus. Tait provides far-reaching insights into the complexities of animals as performers and how we interpret emotion through their physical feats and performances. Commencing with the trained acts of the 1890s, Tait's meticulous research and theoretical framing redefines what live and cinematic circus animal performance means. Wild and Dangerous Performances: Animals, Emotions, Circus is an extraordinary feat a major contribution to circus history, performance and emotion studies, and to the contemporary field of animal studies.' - Dr Melissa Boyde, University of Wollongong and the AustlÓ(
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