October 4, 2004
By Anish Abraham
BOOKINGS are now open for the Great Moscow Circus - one of Russia's most famous exports showcasing over 70 circus greats performing their feats of daring skill without safety nets.
The Great Moscow Circus, on a 20-week tour of South Africa, hits Johannesburg in late January 2005 where it will pitch camp at Montecasino in Fourways.
In addition to the Russian performers, there will be special guest acts by international circus stars.
With over 100 tons of equipment, shows will include acrobats, trapeze artists, clowns, balancers, horses, dogs, tigers, showgirls and loads more. Not to
mention popcorn and candyfloss: by the time the circus packs ups its tent and moves on, patrons will have consumed about three tons of popcorn and 7 000 bags of candyfloss.
To create a traditional European circus atmosphere, the circus will take place in a specially made 2 500-seater, air-conditioned Big Top. The tent is made of 2 000mē of PVC plastic, uses over 2km of steel cabling, has over 1 000 light bulbs and more than 120 theatrical lamps, and consumes 150KVA of electricity - enough to run a small shopping mall.
"The circus travels with 26 containers for carrying equipment, takes 48 hours to assemble and eight to pull down, while the backstage comprises offices, kitchens, dressing rooms, technical workshops and stables," says a press release. "The show travels with its own power plant to run the air-conditioning, lights and the entire circus."
It takes 85 Russian workers to set up the Big Top and rig the lighting. In addition, organisers will hire local workers to help, creating temporary employment.
The Great Moscow Circus will be based at Montecasino
The circus has its roots in the Olympics of ancient Greece, where men would ride two horses, with one foot on each. The Romans developed the idea by introducing chariot racing, beast hunts, gladiatorial fights and other forms of usually dangerous entertainment.
The circus in its current format was created in England in 1768 by trick rider, Philip Astley, and spread through Europe and America.
The circus has been a great cultural tradition in Russia for centuries, appealing to both aristocrats and the masses. Under the soviet system, the state created an organisation and a professional circus school to maintain the level of artistic excellence among performers.
For the Great Moscow Circus, the producers travelled throughout Russia to book the best performers. The final selection was made in July and an employment contract was signed between the producers and the Russian Ministry of Culture.
In charge of the Great Moscow Circus is ringmaster Alexandre 'Sasha' Frish, better known as the Pied Piper of Moscow, because of the hordes of children who follow him around during performances.
Apart from Johannesburg, the circus will visit Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth, East London, and Bloemfontein.
Brought to South Africa by Edgley International, company boss Michael Edgley, says: "We felt it a quite natural move to look for additional territories for our favourite and most successful attraction. Hence our investigations of the South African market and the major launch that we have just done for our first tour."
Tickets for the Montecasino shows cost between R110 and R270 for adults and R65 and R170 for children and are available at Computicket. Shows will be from Tuesday to Sunday at 2pm and 7.30pm.
For more information, contact Bridget van Oerle on 011 673 4995.
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