Koringa, 1913 - 1976
Dates
- Existence: 1913 - 1976
Biography
Koringa was a circus performer and Fakir.
According to the publicity issued by Mills Brothers Circus, where she performed from 1937 onwards, Koringa was a native of India who was raised by fakirs in Bikanir after being orphaned at the age of three. It was from them that she purportedly learned the arts of sorcery and magic, including the ability to mesmerize, walk over broken glass with her bare feet, and be buried in a snake-infested sand pit.
Born Renée Bernard in Bordeaux, she was in fact discovered by the Mills brothers working in a small touring circus in France in 1937, where they were amazed to see her dancing barefoot on a ladder of razor-keen sword blades. By 1938, she was the leading act for Mills Brothers, appearing in Blackpool at the legendary Tower Circus, touring France with Cirque Pinder, and South Africa with Boswell’s. A dancer, magician, circus artiste (as well as a member of the French Free Forces who performed secret missions in World War II), the story of Koringa in part reflects her period’s complex fantasies toward the “Orient.” With her exotic beauty and flamboyant stage presence, Koringa created an aura that was steeped in the traditions of India, a country with which female performers in the West had had a long-standing love affair. From snake charmers to exotic dancers, the lure of India became an essential part of performers’ identity and, as Sarah Dadswell writes, “the British audience craved the colourful theatrical display of Indian exoticism.”
Koringa performed alongside four female assistants, all dressed in Eastern costumes, and five live crocodiles, the largest named Churchill. Her particular expertise was the art of mesmerism or hypnotism: she startled her audience with her ability to walk on the heads of hypnotized crocodiles in a specially designed tank whilst wearing a necklace of live serpents. Her stage persona as a wildly coiffured green-tinted exotic was artfully crafted and drew on a number of influences within performance history. Her make-up, for example, was characteristic of European supernatural silent films, where green tinting indicated the presence of the uncanny or the otherworldy, a visual feature put to great effect by the German Expressionists. Her afro-styled hair was reminiscent of the Circassian beauties first presented by P. T. Barnum in the 1860s at his American Museum in New York. Barnum and other showmen had drawn on Circassian women’s mythical reputation for beauty, spirited nature, and love of eroticism, and turned them into a side-show attraction that maintained its popularity throughout the nineteenth century. However, unlike the snake charmers, Circassian beauties, and other exotics of the Victorian period who often played a secondary role to the main attraction, Koringa was the headline star at many major international European circuses until she stopped touring in 1960. Her sense of style, elaborate costumes, and magnetic stage presence remained a feature of her shows until her retirement in France in 1968.
Koringa was not the first female performer to step out of the traditional role of the magician’s assistant and take center stage. Artistes such as Okita (1852-1917), Iona (1888-1973), and Talma (1861-1944) mesmerized audiences in the early 1900s; contemporary “beautiful dames” as diverse as performer and sex-activist Annie Sprinkle, artist and show woman Rose English, diva of magic Romany, and performance artist Marisa Carnesky continue magic’s hybridization with not just circus, but many other striking and provocative performance genres.
Found in 17 Collections and/or Records:
Althoff Circus Programmes, 1953 - 1977
Althoff Circus programmes for Franz Althoff, Carl Althoff, Adolf Althoff and Rudi Althoff Circus, containing colour illustrations on the front covers, inside black and white and colour photographs of perfomers and acts with text, introduction, programme and commercial advertising, featuring Koringa, Buffalo Bill impresonators, Rogge Sisters, Rogana, Arthur Robin aka The Black Hercules and The Rivels.
Bertram Mills' Circus Programme, 22 December 1937 - 27 January 1938
Olympia, London. Colour illustration of Koringa's head on top section in green and black and crocodiles and snakes below on a black background on front cover, inside black and white photographs of performers and acts with text, some articles, programme with illustrations in the centre and commercial advertising. Printed by Fleetwood Press Ltd, 28p.p.
Bertram Mills' Circus Programme, April - October 1939
Colour illustration of Koringa on top section in green and black with crocodiles and snakes below on a purple background on front cover, inside black and white photographs of performers and acts, programme in the centre and commercial advertising, 10p.p.
Bertram Mills' Circus Programme, 1940
Colour illustration of Koringa on top section in green and black with crocodiles and snakes below on a purple background on front cover, inside black and white photographs of Bertram Mills, his sons, The Earl of Lonsdale and the Lord Burghley, programme in the centre and commercial advertising, 4p.p.
Bertram Mills Circus Programmes, c1900 - 1999
Bertram Mills Circus programmes at Olympia and travelling shows.
Boswell Wilkie Circus and Programmes of Circus in South Africa, c1900 - 2005
Programmes for South African circus Boswell and Wilkie.
Boswell's South African National Circus Programme, 1958
Includes an introduction and a programme in the central pages as well as information on different acts with black and white photographs including, Koringa, The Flying Marilees, The Cycling Bales, Trio Chromatique, Les Morellys, Trevor Bale, Stanley Boswell, The Volants, The Congars. Colour illustration of woman wrestling a crocodile, surrounded by other crocodiles and snakes on the front cover and clown on back cover, 9p.p.
Circus Friends Association Collection
This collection consists of a large library of books and journals, as well as archival material including posters, programmes, photographs, films, handbills, research material, scrapbooks, original artwork and many other items of ephemera relating to British, Irish and European circuses
Durrant's Press Cuttings, 1930 - 1955
Koringa Poster, c1930 - 1959
Colour illustration of Koringa’s face in green with crocodiles and snakes below on a navey blue background. Printed by Plakatdruck Klibor, Berlin SW68.
Newspaper and Magazine Cuttings on Circus, 1897 - 2005
Newspaper Cuttings and Scapbooks, 1838 - 2007
A collection of newspaper cuttings on circus, circus proprietors and performers and scrapbooks containing newspaper cuttings, posters, programmes and other items of ephemera, covering mainly British circuses and venues such as Belle Vue and also some international circuses.
Pinder and Jean Richard Circus Programmes, 1931 - 1979
Programmes for Circus Pinder, Jean Richard Circus, Pinder Jean Richard Circus, Pinders Royal Circus and Menagerie, Pinder's New International Circus, Pinder's Grand Imperial Circus and Pinders Big Zoo Circus containing colour illustrations and photographs on the front covers, inside black and white and colour photographs of perfomers and acts with some text including Koringa and Rogana, introduction, programme and commercial advertising.
Posters, c1900 - 1959
Various circus and variety performers posters including Koringa.
Programmes, c1800 - 2019
A collection of mainly British and international circus programmes and some variety and music hall programmes containing circus acts.
Richley Collection
Circus and sideshow posters including small amount of material on Koringa and copy of Bertram Mill’s Circus limited edition book written by the donor.
Signed Photograph of Koringa, c1930 - 1959
Autographed Koringa album page, consisting of black and white photograph of Koringa in performance outfit in the centre inside a pencil drawn decagon with some red pencil colouring on a grey piece of paper reading ‘Koringa the only female fakir in the world’ and signed on bottom right. On reverse autographs by George Crangnell and Edward Lauri BBC singer and comedienne.