Soviet Classics: The Russian Circus as Art

Soviet trapeze performers, clowns, artists and acrobats were famous for their talents and skills, and various circus acts toured the United States (among other countries) under the name "The Moscow Circus", bringing the Russian circus global notoriety.
Events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Russian national circus were held starting this summer and will continue through the fall, across the country: in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Sochi, Voronezh, Kislovodsk and many other cities.

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Circus artist, Marina Shaevskaya, on the ice at the Great Moscow State Circus, 1966.

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Ballet Performance of the Great Moscow State Circus at the Idol World Festival of Circus Art, 2019.

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A boy watches a performance of circus artist and illusionist Igor Kio in the arena of the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, 1967.

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Gymnast Ksenia Yelkina performing in the circus show "UFO- The circus from Another Planet" at the Great Moscow State Circus, 2014.

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Illusionist Emil Kio and the gymnasts The Bubnovs in the Moscow Circus, 1957.

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Equilibrists Rosa Polovneva and Yuri Polovnev perform at the Moscow Circus, 1969.

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Participants of the "Arena" Inter-Regional Festival-competition of circus arts preparing for performances behind the scenes of the Novosibirsk State Circus.

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Circus artist Yuri Nikulin, 1974

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Young spectators during the "Soviet Circus - 50th Anniversary" circus performance, 1969.

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The Zapashny Brothers Circus new show "Sadko" with the participation of tigers, 2009.

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An artist before an anniversary performance in honour of the 95th anniversary of the Russian State Circus at the Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard in Moscow, 2014.

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Gymnasts led by Russian artist Eduard Kolykhalov performing on an aerial horizontal bar at Zapashny Brothers Circus in Moscow, 2014.

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An artist performs with a circus number in the new Bravo programme in the arena of the Moscow Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard in Moscow, 2016.

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A group of jugglers led by Edward Abert. Artists of the Moscow Circus.

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