Moscow State Circus

Their acts were more focused on Eastern European culture, and tended to hold more narrative and be more dance-oriented than their bespangled, action-packed contemporaries.

At the Soviet Circus's peak of popularity in the late 1980s, students at the Moscow Circus School trained for 20 hours every week in various disciplines, and upon completion of training, the young men were required to enlist (though they worked in an entertainment division of the army); women were welcomed, but not required to serve.

[4] Despite the work, approximately a thousand individuals auditioned for the 70 spaces in the school;[6] life as a performer with the Circus was almost as good as being a government official.

[4] Artists performed nine shows each week, delighting over 70 million citizens per year, and were guaranteed retirement benefits, childcare for children over one year old, maternity leave, the ability to travel, and in special cases were awarded luxuries, like nicer housing, normally restricted to the political elite.

[3] Officials considered the circus to be culturally on par with the Ballets Russes or Tchaikovsky, but was much more affordable, and therefore more proletarian, at only about five dollars per ticket.

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.

[9] The circus building has 5 arenas (equestrian, water, illusionist, ice rink, and light-effect), located 18 metres below the floor, which can be swapped during the performance.

The circus organisation was threatened by the dismantling of the Soviet Union, and by some performers' inclination to seek better-paid foreign contracts.

In June 2007, an attempt to privatise the building was initiated, strongly opposed by company director Leonid Kostyuk, among many others.

Such a tour is currently being promoted and produced in the United Kingdom by The Extreme Stunts Show ltd., a company formed for this specific purpose.

[citation needed] The current production, which began touring in April 2011, is entitled Babushkin Sekret ('Grandmother's secret') and is themed around the Russian story of The Twelve Chairs.