Poster by Wyndham Payne for Circus, a burlesque ballet in three scenes by Cyril W Beaumont, 1926. Watercolour and gouache.

A full length clown, wearing a beige conical hat over a black skull cap, white and red make-up, a wide beige neck frill, black top with three large buttons down centre front, blue and brown striped trousers and pumps with red pom-poms. The background is black with, at torso level behind the figure, a red brown and white striped barrier; at the top to either side of the head, the word 'CIRCUS'. Beneath the image "A BURLESQUE BALLET IN THREE SCENES, BY / CYRIL W BEAUMONT / MUSIC COMPOSED BY FRED ADLINGTON / CHOREOGRAPHY BY FLORA M FAIRBAIRN AND CYRIL W. BEAUMONT / SCENERY & COSTUMES BY WYNDHAM PAYNE AND THE AUTHOR" Around the drawing two black lines coloured blue, graduating from dark at the lower edge to pale at the top. Drawing signed Wyndham Payne, watercolour and gouache.

Cyril W. Beaumont Bequest

The poster was produced by Wyndham Payne to advertise the burlesque ballet "Circus", devised by Cyril W Beaumont to music by Fred Adlington, with choreography by Flora Fairbairn and Cyril W Beaumont, designed by Wyndham Payne and Cyril W Beaumont; the ballet was presented as part of a ballet matinee given by the Cremorne Company at the Scala Theatre on 11 March 1926. The ballet, set on Hampstead Heath, was in three scenes and featured a trained dog, a group of dervish dancers, led by Frederick Ashton, clowns, ringmaster, tightrope walkers and an equestrienne. The ballet seems to have been the most successful part of the programme - an offer was made to present it between films at a Croydon cinema, but the proposed financial terms were unacceptable, and four further performances were given in a dance programme at the Duke's Rehearsal Theatre of the Royal Academy of Music later in 1926 when Beaumont appeared as the Ringmaster.
As there were so few performances and no financial backing, the posters would probably have been 'originals' and not art-work for a printed version.
The poster came to the Museum as part of the Cyril Beaumont Bequest.

Historical significance: The Cremorne Company, which performed Circus, was a group assembled by Cyril Beaumont, the dance historian, critic and bookseller, and Flora M Fairbairn, who ran the Mayfair School of Dancing. A single matinee was given at the Scala Theatre on 11 March 1926, made up of various works devised by Beaumont, solos by established dancers such as Penelope Spencer, and works by Flora Fairbairn, but there was no prospect of further performances or of forming a permanent company and, after a few further performances as part of a dance programme at the Duke's Rehearsal Theatre of the Royal Academy of Music, the dancers dispersed to accept engagements elsewhere.
The venture is significant as part of the growing ballet activity in England in the wake of revived interest in dance in the 1920s, which culminated in the foundation of permanent companies in Marie Rambert's Ballet Club and Ninette de Valois' Vic-Wells (now Royal) Ballet.

S.349-2001