Bartabas

Bartabas (born June 2, 1957) is the performing name of a French horse trainer, film producer and impressario. He created his first theater company at age seventeen, and later founded the performing troupe, Cirque Aligre. In 1998, he founded the equestrian performing show, Zingaro, which means "Gypsy" The name was taken from the name of his first horse, a spectacular friesian horse who was also the star of his shows. He also produced two movies: Mazeppa (1993) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107535/] and Chamane (1995) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115861/] , both of which featured spectacular equestrian action. Though he is not a household name in the United States, among those who know horses he is considered one of the most talented trainers currently living [http://www.francemagazine.org/articles/issue73/article117.asp?issue_id=73&article_id=117] . In 2002, he founded the Académie du Spectacle Équestre (Academy of Equestrian Arts) [http://www.acadequestre.fr/index.php?id_rubrique=2&modele=couverture] in the Grand Ecurie of the Palace of Versailles.