"The greatest show on Earth"

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32521, 3 February 1971, Page 17

"The greatest show on Earth"

The Great Moscow Circus with a well-earned inter-. national reputation as “The I Greatest Show on Earth” ’ opens its 14-day Christchurch season in the largest big top ever seen in the Southern Hemisphere on Thursday night. This much acclaimed circus which has already broken all attendance records in Auckland and Wellington- -and promises to do the same here—is unlike any previous circus seen in Christchurch. It has only one ring, two animal acts—bears and lions, clowns who rarely resort to knocking each other around for laughs, and half of each performance takes place high up inside the big top well above normal eye level. Unlike more normal types of entertainment where preceding acts lead up to the star performance .of a show every one of the 16 acts in the Great Moscow Circus is of such star quality that defining the top act is near impossible. There is, of course, the incomparable Oleg Popov who is considered the greatest circus clown of the day. His acts are said to often make the performances of

first-class artists appear as fill-ins between his own appearances. Popov, the youngest of the great international clowns, has many complete routines. He trained as a juggler, conjuror, equilibrist, animal trainer, acrobat and musician before he became a clown and all of these skills are included in his carefully prepared repertoire. There is the 21 years old lion trainer, Boris Denisov. Taught his skills by his father, who before his retirement was a lion trainer, Boris is one of the few artists anywhere who can boast that at 15 he was performing a solo act in a cage with a dozen wild beasts. Apart from the lion act Luigi Bezano’s bear circus will delight many young and old alike. Hand to hand balancing, perch acrobatics, tightrope walking are ill achieved with speed and ease by his delightful performing brown bears. Unquestionably the great-

est troupe of acrobats in the world today is the Vladimir Doveyko Troupe, which will be seen in amazing demonstrations of precision and strength. Feats never before seen in any circus will be provided by the Lozovik Cosmic Flyers including trapeze “flights” in a darkened tent A couple who have travelled abroad with the circus many times are Ljubov Orlova and Gennadi Karpi equilibrists on a monocycle. Then there is Veronika Birina whose act with a dagger, a sword and a ladder—took many years to perfect. Complicated, exacting and beautiful acrobatics are demonstrated by the gymnastic skills of Yuri Shubin and his partners. Another equally clever performance is given by Valeri and Valentine Lunego who suspended from the peak of the big top carry out a series of breathtaking spins and flying formations. The remaining three

acrobatic acts are those of the Davidovitch troupe which performs gyrating around the ring spreadeagled on huge hoops; Galina Cheezova a beautiful and talented young aerialist; and the Alekhanovee family which is considered the uncrowned champions on the high wire. Wire walking is almost the national sport in Daghestan.