Moscow State Circus - Style and Politics

Style and Politics

Since these well attended shows often ran for four hours and were run by the government, they became outlets for Soviet propaganda. Instead of several rings, the Moscow Circus had only one (as was traditional) and the acts told stories, proverbs, or folk legends.

One such act was the “Cranes,” a flying trapeze troupe. The “Cranes” were named after and themed by a song depicting fallen Soviet World War II soldiers who fly up into the sky as cranes, instead of being buried in the ground. The show, set to classical music, focused on the story being told, rather than on the incredible display of skill. One of the performers threw a “quad” (4 backwards rotations before being caught by the catcher), an impressive and incredibly rare trick, which would have been the focus of the act in any other kind of show; nevertheless, the performer said that the most important part of the act was the way the it was an aesthetic experience. He said it was not the individual skills, “but the simultaneity of our aerial gymnastics and the psychological effectiveness of our acting, all of it working together to move an audience...other circuses have first-rate performers, but we do something special — each act creates a small vignette. These are playlets that give spectators not only the flavor of our life, but also reveal the soul of Soviet man.” Aesthetics were very important to the Soviet circus, and every acrobat received formal ballet schooling.

In many respects, the shows resembled American shows of the day: they had parades and a spec, their clowns wore red noses and silly hats, their shows were full of big cats and Liberty Horses. This commonality fostered a sense of international community. One man credited the “peace caravan of circuses,” which traveled through the streets of many cities, including Paris, Warsaw, Prague, and Berlin, with “contributing to the Wall’s removal.” He continued, “For a brief period in 1989, the clowns became the leaders, crossing cultural and national borders, celebrating the end of the Cold War before it was declared over by official parties.”