What are multiple horizontal bars?

Answer 1

Multiple horizontal bars are an acrobatic apparatus invented by the Germans in 1855. The bars can number two, three or five and be floor mounted or aerial. Considered one of the four most difficult circus acrobatic acts, it came to the U.S. during the civil war and became the most celebrated acrobatic act in the circus and vaudeville. The American performer became the most proficient at this dangerous artform up until World War II. Many young performers from around the world died in that war and the skills of this artform became nearly extinct. The Russians, Romanians, and Bulgarians revitalized the act from approximately 1950 to present time. Unfortunately, because of television, an easier lifestyle, lack of discipline, and few skilled instructors, the American multiple horizontal bar culture fell way behind. Thanks to a few retired, but dedicated, bar performers a handful of American gymnasts/acrobats carried the artform into the twenty-first century, but alas, I believe they too have faded from circus history. If you would like to read about one such acrobat read "Gadjo: An Odyssey" Volume I, The Beginning"; the first in a series of books about the training and experiences of Jim Bovay; an acrobat and multiple bar performer from early 1970 to 2000 or go to http://www.circusgadjo.com