Anthony Gatto

Last updated
Anthony Gatto
Born
Anthony Commarota [1]

(1973-04-14) April 14, 1973 (age 50)
Occupations
Website anthonygatto.com

Anthony Gatto (born Anthony Commarota on April 14, 1973) is an American juggler who holds several juggling world records. He began performing in Las Vegas at the age of ten.

Contents

Early years

Born in Manhattan [2] and growing up in Ellicott City, Maryland, [3] he learned to juggle at the age of 3, taught by his stepfather, Nick Gatto, a retired Vaudeville performer. [4] By age 5, his skills had exceeded his father's. [4] He was a juggling prodigy: world-class by the age of nine, when he won a gold medal at Circus Mondial in Paris. [5]

He made his first television appearance at the age of 8 on the program That's Incredible! [1] [6] At the age of 13, he came in third place in the individual competition at the 39th annual convention of the International Jugglers Association. [7] His family moved to Las Vegas when he was 14 in order to take advantage of the career opportunities located there. [8]

Adult career

In 1998, Gatto met his future wife Danielle, who became his assistant during his performances. A professional dancer, Danielle added circus-style skills to her résumé to accompany her husband on circus tours. Danielle and Anthony married in 1999 and they have two children.

In 2000, he became the first and so far only juggler to win the prestigious Golden Clown award at the 24th International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo. [9] Between 2007 and 2009, Gatto's performance was a part of Cirque du Soleil's show Koozå . From 2010 to 2012, he was part of Cirque du Soleil's show La Nouba.

In 2012, Anthony Gatto retired from performing in Cirque Du Soleil in order to run a concrete resurfacing business "Big Top Concrete Resurfacing LLC" under his birth name of Anthony Commarota. [1] The business was founded by him in August 2012 and is located in Orlando, Florida.

Skills

Gatto formerly shared the record for most rings juggled and caught at least once. He currently holds the following 7 juggling world records:

Rings
Clubs
Balls

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juggling</span> Circus skill manipulating objects

Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object or many objects at the same time, most often using one or two hands but other body parts as well, like feet or head. Jugglers often refer to the objects they juggle as props. The most common props are balls, clubs, or rings. Some jugglers use more dramatic objects such as knives, fire torches or chainsaws. The term juggling can also commonly refer to other prop-based manipulation skills, such as diabolo, plate spinning, devil sticks, poi, cigar boxes, contact juggling, hooping, yo-yo, and hat manipulation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circus</span> Group of entertainers performing circus skills

A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term circus also describes the field of performance, training and community which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Newcastle-under-Lyme born Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cirque du Soleil</span> Canadian contemporary circus company

Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 June 1984 by former street performers Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix.

<i>Quidam</i> Former Cirque du Soleil production

Quidam was the ninth stage show produced by Cirque du Soleil. It premiered in April 1996 and has been watched by millions of spectators around the world. Quidam originated as a big-top show in Montreal and was converted into an arena format beginning with its 2010 tour in North America. It then changed back to the Big Top for a 3-month run in Seoul, South Korea before returning to an arena show for its tour to Oceania. The show performed for the final time in Christchurch, New Zealand on February 26, 2016.

<i>La Nouba</i> Cirque du Soleil show

La Nouba was a Cirque du Soleil show that ran for 19 years in a custom-built, freestanding theater at Disney Springs' West Side at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It was a contemporary circus performance featuring acrobats, gymnasts, and other skilled performers. The show's creation was directed by Franco Dragone, who also directed many of Cirque du Soleil's earlier shows. Its title derives from the French phrase faire la nouba, meaning "to party" or "to live it up".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Laliberté</span> Canadian businessman, investor, poker player, space tourist, and musician

Guy Laliberté, is a Canadian billionaire businessman, and poker player. Along with Gilles Ste-Croix, he is the co-founder of Cirque du Soleil in 1984. The Canadian circus company's shows have since been seen by more than 90 million people worldwide. Before founding the company, he had busked, performing as an accordion player, stiltwalker, and fire-eater.

Corteo is a Cirque du Soleil touring production that premiered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on April 21, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juggling ring</span>

Juggling rings, or simply "rings", are a popular prop used by jugglers, usually in sets of three or more, or in combination with other props such as balls or clubs. The rings used by jugglers are typically about 30 centimetres (12 in) in diameter and 3 millimetres (0.12 in) thick.

Wintuk was a semi-permanent and seasonal residency show created by Cirque du Soleil. Wintuk played seasonally from 2007 to 2011 at the former WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden entertainment complex in New York.

Laci Endresz Jr. is an English circus performer who performs as the circus clown Mooky the Clown. He has been the main clown at the Blackpool Tower Circus since 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo</span>

The International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo is an annual circus festival that is held in Monaco every January. The festival was created in 1974 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco to recognize and promote circus performers at the pinnacle of their profession. It was initially held in Monte Carlo until the festival's permanent venue in Monaco's Fontvieille district, the Chapiteau de Fontvieille, was completed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steben Twins</span>

Karyne and Sarah Steben, also known as the Steben Twins, are Canadian twin trapeze artists. The pair were the first female innovators of the feet-to-feet catching technique.

Contemporary circus is a contested term in circus studies. In this article, it is used in contrast to the term 'traditional circus', combining with the genre elsewhere disambiguated as new circus or nouveau cirque. Many circus scholars prefer to separate these styles, as elaborated in circus. Contemporary circus, by this definition, is a genre of performing arts developed in the late 20th century in which a story, theme, mood or question is conveyed through traditional circus skills. For fans of animal performance in circus, this genre could arguably be found more akin to Variety as animals are rarely used, and traditional circus skills are blended with more choreographic, character-driven or mechanical approaches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emplume</span>

Emplume is a street theater duet made up of two twin sisters. Their work has been classified as "urban animation." The duet has performed in their native Quebec and various venues around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thom Wall</span> American juggler

Thom Wall is an American juggler and variety entertainer from Saint Louis, Missouri, USA. NPR has called him "one of the world's most notable jugglers."

Peter Shub is an American actor, clown and vaudeville show director who moved to Europe in the 1980s. He has worked with a number of distinguished international organizations and artists and went on tour with well known circuses such as the German Circus Roncalli, the Big Apple from New York and the Canadian Cirque du Soleil. He has won a Silver Clown of Monte Carlo award and went on tour with his own show as well as with other vaudeville shows throughout Europe. He has been called a "legend", a "modern master", and a "fixture of the German Varieté world."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berousek family</span>

The Berousek family is a Czech family, originally from Vilémov, with members who have been circus performers for two centuries. Skills include comedy, puppetry, acrobatics, equestrianism, bear training, tight rope walking, and juggling.

Le Cirque World's Top Performers is a contemporary circus company based in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincent Bruel</span>

Vincent Bruel was a French juggler. Born in Toulouse, he studied and taught at Le Lido, and is known for his experimental approach and studies on the practice of juggling.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Dropped". grantland.com. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  2. Gatto, From Vaudeville Acro-Cat to the King of Juggling, Produced by Alan Plotkin
  3. Smith, C. Fraser (January 24, 1983). "A 'peacock' juggles in Ellicott City". The Baltimore Sun. p. D1.
  4. 1 2 Holzberg, Janene (March 15, 2009). "The Natural: Cirque du Soleil juggler learned at dad's shop". The Baltimore Sun. p. A3.
  5. "Juggler, 12, sets own high goals". Asbury Park Press (Asbury Park, New Jersey). p.G8.
  6. Gatto, Anthony. "History of Gatto Ent?" May 5, 2008. Juggling Talk. Archived December 15, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Convention attracts 700 jugglers and one teen prodegy". Associated Press. The Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada). p. C14.
  8. Boiler, Donna E. (July 19, 1989). "Juggling his way through life". The Baltimore Sun. p. HCS2.
  9. "List of previous award winners". International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo. Retrieved October 16, 2009.[ permanent dead link ]
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "List of Numbers Juggling Records". Juggling Information Service Committee on Numbers Juggling (JISCON). Retrieved February 20, 2011.