The mascotts
The Mascotts (sometimes The Mascots in English) were a female acrobat duo (Christa Cosentino, née Lange, October 7, 1939 and Bärbel (in English Barbara) Hochegger, née Lange, December 16, 1940). Their “head to head acrobatics” was characterized in particular by the fact that they worked without a head ring, which was previously considered impossible.
Emergence
Christa and Bärbel Lange were initially trained as trapeze artists by their mother Wally Lange, but at the age of 7 and 6, respectively, both children were integrated into the acrobatic performance of their parents Wally and Julius Lange. The Lange family performed mostly on cabaret stages and in variety theaters (at that time it was also common for artistic performances that were later to be seen almost exclusively in circus companies ). Since the two siblings were always the youngest of the troops at the time, they were nicknamed "The Mascotts" by the other artists in the shows, which they later kept as their stage name.
The extraordinary talent of the two artists soon became clear and they appeared for the first time in 1955 at the Astoria in Bremen, with their father assisting. In the course of the many trips, the head ring was often lost, actually an "indispensable" prop. While father Julius Lange was making a new head ring (three pieces of rope are tied together in a circle and tied in soft fabric), the girls were already rehearsing, and in the long run they noticed that contrary to all assumptions, it was possible to work without a head ring at all. The premiere without a head ring took place in 1951 in the Olympic Village, where the two sisters appeared in a performance for the athletes.
biography
Success was not long in coming. They achieved international fame not only because of their work without a head ring, but also because they went head to head over the ladder, and not just up and down the same side as usual. They worked for both circus companies and stage shows. Her tours initially took her through Europe to Circus Brumbach (Germany), Park Linnanmäki (Finland), Cirkus Louis (Denmark), Herberth Revue (Norway), Circus Scott (Sweden).
In the winter of 1955 they appeared in "London Olympia" at a gala performance for the Queen. This was followed by tours at Cirkus Schumann Denmark and Circus Knie in Switzerland. In the winter of 1957-58 they made their first overseas performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York and were guests on the Ed Sullivan Show . This was followed by several years in the Bertram Mills Circus in England and one year in the Circo Americano in Spain. In September 1961 they performed for the second time in the "Olympia of Paris", followed by a year in the Cirque Pinder in France, before they traveled to several countries in Asia with the German National Circus.
After another year in the Swedish Cirkus Scott, Bärbel Lange married Anton Hochegger ( Toni Hochegger ) in 1964 . For the first time, but only for a total of four months, “The Mascotts” took a break when Michaela Rosa Hochegger (Rosi Hochegger) was born in 1965. Another tour followed with the Knie Circus and a gala in the United States at the Hollywood Palace, before Christa Lange married Gianni Cosentino in 1967 (* December 5, 1935, † February 16, 2000) and gave birth to their daughter Larissa Cosentino in 1968 . The Mascotts insisted on ending their career in their hometown in the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin.
Further career
After the end of the acrobatic career of the "Mascotts" and the birth of their son Bernd, Bärbel Hochegger performed successfully as Barbara Mascott with Russian greyhounds ( Barzois ). To this day she is known among fans of this not very common breed. Under her real name she wrote some humorous short stories and painted caricatures around the dog breed Barzoi, these were published in the Swiss magazine "Greyhound Friend".
literature
- Paul de Cordon: Instants de Cirque. Chêne 1977, ISBN 2-85108-153-5 .
- Hélène Margaritis: Livre d'or de la piste aux étoiles. Fernand Nathan 1968.
- Monica J. Renevey: Le Grand Livre du Cirque. Bibliothèque des Arts, Edito-Services SA, Genève 1977.
- Juan Villarín García: El Maravilloso Mundo del Circo. Publicada por Ediciones NOVA SA, ISBN 84-85658-05-1 .