Rossa Matilda Richter
Rossa Matilda Richter (7 April 1860 – 8 December 1937), who used the stage name Zazel, was an English aerialist and actress who became known as the first human cannonball at the age of 17.
She was named by a lawmaker as one of the reasons for proposed legislation in England to prevent dangerous acrobatic stunts, leading her to take the show to the United States.
She toured Europe and North America with circuses including Barnum & Bailey, executing tightrope, trapeze, and high dive routines in addition to the human cannonball.
[4] The young lady crawls into a huge mortar—a most realistic-looking weapon—with the greatest nonchalance, and, instead of shuddering, we applaud most heartily, and then proceed to watch and to wait with almost breathless eagerness.
our vision is startled by the sight of a living missile flying through space, and alighting safe and sound in the huge net spread to receive her.
[10] Starting in 1870, Farini dressed him in women's clothing and began advertising performances for "The Beautiful Lulu the girl Aerialist and Circassian Catapultist.
[19] Zuila and Loyal were hired by Adam Forepaugh, an American circus owner who learned that his rival, Barnum, might bring Richter to North America.
[11][22][23] Louis Cooke wrote in The Billboard that "the breathless silence that always preceded the act while it was being prepared only added to its intensity, and the graceful bow of the young lady who had the temerity and muscular strength to withstand the shock and presence of mind to guide her flight never failed to receive a round of rapturous applause.
It praised "her unhesitating confidence, the graceful ease and swiftness of her motions, together with her placidly smiling face, [which] destroy all sense of fear for her safety in the minds of the audience, and enable them to enjoy the spectacle of her extraordinary agility, strength, and seemingly terribly daring feats, with none but pleasurable, although strongly excited sensations.
"[25] The author went on to describe the mix of anxiety and delight an audience member should expect to experience, and noted that Richter counted among her fans future king Edward VII, who reportedly attended two of her shows when he was Prince of Wales.
For that stunt, she would make repeated jumps from a raised platform into a net, gradually increasing the distance until she reached a peak of 29.6 metres (97 ft).
The West Australian wrote that she would start atop the proscenium arch, fall 27.4 metres (90 ft) into the net, then pop up to smile at the audience.
She would also include tricks such as running, standing on one foot, putting baskets on her feet, lying down or sitting on the wire, and spinning around while holding it with her knees.
Once the human cannonball act started and became popular, people began protesting the perceived danger of the show and tried unsuccessfully to have it stopped.
[7][22] Concerned complaints made their way to the Home Secretary, Richard Assheton Cross, who told the Aquarium's manager, Wybrow Robertson, that he would be accountable should an accident befall Richter.
[28] Richter's first human cannonball accident was at the Aquarium, followed by another in Portsmouth in 1879, where the net used to catch her was rotten due to wear and she fell through.
[3] The Citizen wrote about the outrage expressed at the apparently sloppy safety checks that had missed the poor condition of the net: "If the public demands such sickening exhibitions ... then most certainly it is the bounden duty of those in authority to see that the precaution is a reality, and not a farce.
"[3] The Graphic insisted, "When will the Home Secretary be made to see the necessity of putting some restraint upon the suicidal sensational acrobatic feats, which are now, to our shame, be it said, so popular?
By that time, Ernst had left the entertainment business, worked as an engineer, and had separated from Susanna, with whom Rossa lived and who raised no such objections to the potential for danger.
"[3] The Truth reporter admitted he did not know much about the law, but said he should talk to a magistrate to ask how to get an injunction, opining that the justice system should indeed "prevent girls and children from risking their limbs in order that, with or without the consent of their parents, their task-masters may deserve profit.
[3] Many years later, Richter gave her opinion of the legal interventions in an interview with John Squire, eventually published in Solo & Duet: "A lot of those interfering men in Parliament started a committee about it and they passed a law forbidding me to do it.
[9] She played various parts in comic opera, including a performances as Regina in La princesse de Trébizonde and Eliza in Billee Taylor, or The Reward of Virtue.
She tied a stout cord about her skirts, and throwing her head up and backward, she sprang to the centre of the net as confidently and as gracefully as my lady springs from her carriage.
In addition to performing stunts, she wrote on the subject for people who live in large buildings and worked with The Evening Sun to publicise her ideas, sparking conversation throughout the US.
[47] According to historians Janet Davis and Peta Tait, circus performers like Richter challenged stereotypes of femininity through acts that demonstrated unabashed feats of strength and agility.
Interviewers asked Richter about circus life, and her marriage to Starr facilitated discussion of the wholesome, quasi-traditional lives of the performers.
"[48] Combining statements about female performers' strength with flattering descriptions of their beauty and figure may have served a similar balancing function.
[11] Richter's cannon act inspired a scene in the Henry James Byron burlesque, Little Doctor Faust, when it played at the Gaiety Theatre.
[26][50][51] Young Man's Fancy, a 1939 British comedy film written and directed by Robert Stevenson and co-written by Roland Pertwee, featured a character based on Richter.
[52][53] On 2023, the Israeli choreographer, Miriam Engel, alongside, the musician, Yigal Mirtenbaum, created a dance work - ZAZEL, based on the story of Richter.
