CWM Audio 74
Antoinette Concello Interview, September, 1978
36 minutes, 25 seconds
Antoinette Concello Interview, September, 1978
36 minutes, 25 seconds
Antoinette Concello (1910-1984) was a native of Sutton, Quebec Canada and member of the famous aerialist troupe the Flying Concellos. Concello entered the circus world through her sister Gertrude “Mickey” King who was at the time working on the Sells-Floto Circus. Concello first performed an Iron Jaw Act (hanging from a leather strap by her teeth) before moving to Bloomington, Illinois to train and perform with the Flying Wards. While at Bloomington she met and later married Arthur Concello, a member of the Flying Wards and later with him formed the Flying Concellos. For many years the Flying Concellos performed with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Antoinette is credited with being the first woman to complete the fabled "triple" (completing three full somersaults while "flying" through the air after leaving their bar and being caught by a "catcher"). Concello retired from performing in 1953 but returned to the circus in the early 1960s to serve as the aerial director of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, a position he held until her death in 1984.
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Antoinette Concello sitting in a camp chair sewing. Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus, 1935
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Antoinette Concello balancing on her stomach on a single trapeze. Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus, 1935
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The Flying Concellos on the showgrounds lot at Madison, Wisconsin, 1939. Left to right: Antoinette Concello, Art Concello, and Eddie Ward.
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