Mockba Circus, what a circus (Bolshoi Moscow Circus)

Member Name: Cammij

Product:	Bolshoi Moscow Circus
Date:	07/06/01 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, Rip-Roaring exciting, Kids love it

Disadvantages: Clowns not violent enough, overworked performers

I went to the world famous Moscow Circus in March. First off it didn't seem much like a circus when we arrived as it is in a permenant arena rather than a tent. This is actually very good, not only does it result in better climate control, it lowers the need of a fleet of carny type people to set up and dismantle the tent , and you don't have to spend the whole show wondering if the big top is about to collapse or burst into flames.

People been a bad mouthing the Circus. The director who had managed the Circus for the past 36 years had given it up and Moscovites universally agree that the Circus had seriously declined. We went knowing full well it was not going to be what we had come accustomed to. We paid only 90 rubles for some good tickets and that was from kiosk, you can buy tickets at the circus for about 60 rubles. You probaly don't need a conversion if you are bothering to read about Moscow, but it is roughly, about, in the ball park figure, a remote estimate, as of June 5, 2001, a roughshod, shot in the dark, guess at the exchange rate is 28.5564 rubles per dollar give or take .0054 rubles.

So the circus is pretty cool. You got to find your seats in the circular building with around 3654 seats. They have the musical pit up above you and the ushers help you get to your seat. You can buy all sorts of trinkets and snacks before going in, mostly candy bars, pizza, ice cream and stuff like that. The pizza is terrible don't try it, but the standard universal snack fare of Salmon on black bread is good. The snacks are actually pricey even by US standards, so if you are some cheap penny pinching jerk you might want to haul a great big bag of snacks and candy to the circus.

Ok the Circus. If you buy the program for 10 rubles, you get a few pages of advertisements, but will discern that there is a rotating cast of performers involved in the circus and it is hit or miss which ones you will get to see. Our day was
composed of not seeing any of the myriad performers who had won all the awards in Monte Carlo (it is the World Cup of circussing home), instead we had two guys who looked like the blond Siegfried and Roy guy, they were brothers and I recall one was named Sebastian. It is important to acknowledge that no matter how faggotty the job, or flashy dressed one must be, Russians are seldom gay, look at their figure skaters, the guy ones actually marry their partners on ice.So these guys are probaly straight.
So these guys had to do it all, they were the monkey trainers, the jugglers, and jumpers on and off horses running in a circle. They had to do every act except when these clowns were running around. Clowns in russia employ a wry sense of humor that considers getting punched or kicked in the nuts the pinnacle of humor.
I liked how they handled, Dancing Dogs, Lions, and monkeys, especially monkies, if the monkey snarls at the trainers the trainers aren't afraid to use that stick they carry to put their wayward charge in line. The monkies didn't seem to want to do much and had to be encouraged quite a bit. They had a family of acrobats but it truely lacked the magic I had expected. The only interesting feat of the acrobats is the one girl managed to keep her gigantic hooters in her costume while performing. That was their only amazing feat.

Leaving you can put the kids on rides and buy really cool souveniers as you try to beat the rush to the metro station, right there.

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