In this "kinder, gentler" era of glasnost and perestroika, a different kind of circus came to town on Thursday night. Instead of the frantic, three ultrabusy rings packed with continuous excitement, the Moscow Circus, like those in Europe, has just one big ring.
You can tell the difference the minute you walk into the Salt Palace. The merchandise vendors are low-key and they don't have all that much to peddle - mostly T-shirts and programs.But if you think a one-ring circus will be boring, look again.
The 11 acts direct from Russia have been hand-picked to represent the very best from the hundreds of circuses throughout the USSR.
Minus the glitz and overwhelming pageantry of your typical American circus, the Moscow Circus gets right down to the business at hand - entertaining a nearly packed Salt Palace arena with world-class performers.
Like those legendary Russian bears. Almost humanlike, Raisa and Grant Ibragimov's furry creatures do all sorts of antics, from a graceful "Bearishnakov" ballet dancer to another that nimbly caught a dozen or so fast-thrown rings.
Or the 10 feisty felines that were featured in Olga Denisova and Sarwat Begbudi's tiger act, snarling one minute, gently pussyfooting their way through a routine the next.
And the spectacular finale - Tamerlan Nugzarov and his Djigits. No, not fingers and toes. These Cossack horsemen not only thrill the crowd with daredevil riding, but also tell a legendary Russian tale.
But the Moscow Circus' human acts don't have to take a back seat to the animal routines. These exciting acts included:
- The Agaev Family, performing all kinds of really insane stunts on the narrow strand of tightrope high above the arena floor, without a net.
- Alexander Hertz' team of trapeze artists, including one young man (nick-named "the Peter Pan of Russia") who literally flew through the air the full length of the net, from his swing to the hands of the catcher. It took two tries, but he made it. The gracefulness and beauty of this trapeze performance looked more like an aerial ballet, rather than just somersaulting through the air.
- The Gugkaevs, who have been called the "Cossacks of the Air," performing death-defying stunts on a teeterboard, balanced high above the floor.
- The Gibadulin Jugglers, said to be the fastest jugglers in the world - and who are we to argue? This is not just one person tossing objects into the air. This is Juggling By Committee, with everyone tossing batons and plates at each other!
- And the Doveyko teeterboard troupe. Although a couple of flips turned into flops, one young lad did an incredible double layout and double pirouette, while attached to a long stilt.
- And, last, but certainly not least, the clowns. There weren't dozens and dozens of them - just three of the very finest, including Valery Serebriakov ("Russia's Charlie Chaplin"), his tall sidekick, Yakov Popov and Alexander "Sasha" Frish, who is both clown and part-time ringmaster.
Assisting Sasha as co-ringmaster was the lively and energetic Albert Makhtsier, who grew up in Leningrad, but who has been a U.S. citizen for several years.
I don't think I've ever seen a circus in Salt Lake City receive a standing ovation.
But the Moscow Circus did.
And it was well deserved.