FWD: (SG) Times change but the show goes on for Moscow Circus

[Guest guest]

By Nao Nakanishi

 

SINGAPORE, July 9 (Reuters) - Gurov the giant Russian clown gently takes the

Chinese baby from his excited mother and, to thunderous applause, shows the

barely upright toddler how to twirl a huge hula hoop around his waist.

 

Anatoli Gurov is good at that sort of thing after a quarter of a century

with the Moscow Circus, an institution rooted in Tsarist Russia that

achieved fame in Soviet times.

 

" Adults are different. But the children are the same everywhere in the

world, " the clown said after a recent show in Singapore.

 

The big top has been packed day after day for three months. An estimated one

million people, about a quarter of Singapore's population, have seen the

circus since the first show in the city state in 1990, organisers say.

 

The Moscow Circus became a great Soviet institution after revolutionary

leader Vladimir Lenin hailed circuses as one of the most important arts of

the people.

 

The circus has faced many challenges after the Soviet Union crumbled 10

years ago, but has managed to transform itself into a multinational group of

performers and an international business.

 

 

 

HEART OF OLD RUSSIA

 

At its heart are performers like Gurov.

 

He says he joined because he liked to work with children. He plans to start

teaching his four-year-old daughter the craft, beginning with juggling and

horse riding.

 

As a young man, he spent four years at Moscow's School of Circus and Variety

Artists, which was founded in 1926 and draws students from around the world.

 

Gurov says he uses " a golden magic key " to unlock audiences' hearts but it

is not always easy to please them, particularly in places with very

different cultures.

 

" Had I known that it was so difficult, I would have chosen another

profession -- maybe a truck driver, " he said.

 

Ringmaster Alexander Frisch says he has to spend plenty of time out on the

streets in a new city -- observing, talking and playing with people -- to

understand what he calls their special local " emotion. "

 

 

 

THE HUMAN FACTOR

 

The troupe numbers 84 performers, including nine Australians, two Chinese

and two Norwegians.

 

But this time it brought along none of its big animal acts, concentrating

instead on jugglers, acrobats, magicians, high-wire artists and clowns.

 

The move back to human acts is now a global theme, influenced by such

spectacular international shows as Cirque du Soleil, which mixes modern

technique with much older performing arts drawn from mediaeval and

Renaissance traditions.

 

The Moscow Circus boasts a history stretching back to Russia's Nikulin

circus, set up in 1880. The show reflects a mix of old and modern.

 

Two contortionist devils with suggestive fur loincloths -- looking a lot

like imps from a 19th century Russian storybook -- amuse the audience as

they jump out of a wooden barrel and dance with a huge fork.

 

Foot jugglers in leather jackets on motor bikes toss youths into the air to

heavy metal music.

 

A magician, kitted out like a refugee from the fantasy film " The Matrix, "

makes women and large cats vanish into thin air.

 

 

 

HARD TIMES, GOOD TIMES

 

The circus shows no scars from the financial struggles it faced, like other

state-sponsored organisations, after the Soviet collapse.

 

Some say the proud menagerie of the circus had been reduced to a few drugged

monkeys and slack-skin ponies during the early 1990s.

 

" Money is scarce for all government bodies. But we have not seen any impact

on traditions or qualities. In some years, the circus gets 5,000

applicants, " said tour director Greg Hall, who has been with the circus for

the last 35 years.

 

Russian artists say they prefer to work abroad, though they are not

necessarily paid more when they do.

 

In Russia, they say people do not have the means, or time, for fun, as the

country goes through wrenching transformation.

 

" It is very hard, very difficult to work in Russia as a circus, " said

another member who declined to be named. " It starts with the problem of

selling tickets. People have all kinds of difficulties. "

 

 

 

A CIRCUS LIFE

 

Frisch, the ringmaster, said he often wondered what his colleagues think

behind their made-up faces.

 

" The life in the circus passes very quick. How long can you fly on the

trapeze? How long can you make five somersaults? " he said. " It is a tragedy,

particularly for women. "

 

Frisch, who has spent more than 21 years with the circus, also lamented the

loss of some talent and traditions following the break up of the Soviet

Union.

 

The circus can no longer easily secure talent from the 15 nations of the old

bloc such as stunning horse riders from Chechnya, jugglers from Ukraine or

elephant trainers from Latvia.

 

" We lost for the circus a very good family. It's very sad, " Frisch said.

" Now many young performers come from sports. " But like others in the circus,

Frisch is also optimistic. " Now we start writing a new story of the Moscow

circus. We get Australians, Germans, Chinese... Maybe we make one big world

circus in future, who knows, " he said. " Because it's circus, it's very

flexible. "

 

21:45 07-08-01