THE GREAT MOSCOW CIRCUS. South African tour.
Karen Rutter
If you had to run away and join the circus, you’d do well to choose The Great Moscow troupe. You’d get to tour the world with a team of talented performers who all seem to absolutely love what they do. You’d learn the behind-the-scenes secrets of the stars – like how on earth those quick-change artists swap costumes, and why the Globe of Death bike riders don’t collide. Ultimately, you’d be part of a tradition that stretches back over a century.
The Great Moscow Circus pays tribute to the history and development of the circus in Russia, a country where this art form has always been taken seriously. The highly regarded Moscow Circus School and other institutions prepare literally hundreds of performers for fulltime circus careers and, according to the programme notes, today there are around 5000 professional Russian circus performers supported by nearly 10 000 circus workers. Not a bad way to earn a living …
What a line-up!
Some of these graduates are to be found in the South African leg of The Great Moscow Circus tour (alongside artists from other countries including Cuba and Mexico). Ringmaster Stanislav Kniazkov is among these, and clearly relishes his master of ceremonies role in the ring. With a manic smile and a monumental Russian accent that is entertainment in its own right, he ushered in each successive segment with all the razzmatazz that goes with this responsibility. And what a line-up it is!
The Catwall Trampoline Troupe that opened the evening had my palms sweating straight off with their intrepid acrobatics. Just one slip and the consequences would be dire. It was a fabby way to start.
The acts came fast and furious after this, with the requisite clowns providing slapstick humour during the scene changes. There was a gymnastic sequence on the horizontal bars, the giant double wheel act, a spectacular juggler, quick-change artists, and two contortionists/balancing act artists who were frankly bizarre. Fast track acrobatics, Scottish skipping and more balancing tricks followed, building up to the grand finale – five motorcyclists enclosed in a small steel ball, revving their engines to the max. It truly was a spectacular climax, the epitome of a death-defying circus act.
Just as the Great Moscow Circus is the epitome of what a circus show should be. Exciting, funny, amazing and nerve-wracking. Also bright, brash, over-the-top and camp. This is not the Cirque du Soleil, let us just say, with its poncy actors performing in theatres. This is real greasepaint-and-grit stuff, where you can see the pantyline on a gymnast’s slightly grubby tights, and if a mistake is made, people could get hurt. You smell the popcorn, you see the sawdust in the ring, and the sweat on the juggler’s brow. It’s life under the big top. And for two exhilarating hours you can be swept away by it.
Roll up, roll up – the circus is in town, and it truly is great.
Where and when: Foreshore – Founders Garden, Cape Town from 3 to 10 February
Book: Computicket
WS
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