Moscow Circus

I took my mom and dad to the circus a few nights ago. We had fun. But this was not just any ordinary circus. We went to the Moscow Circus. Yes - Moscow. As in Russia. One of my second graders thought we had traveled to Russia and back overnight until I explained that the Moscow Circus is on a tour through the United States and we only had to go to Byron Center.

The circus was very similar to Cirque Du Soleil, but with a smaller cast (about 20). Most performers were dressed in some type of Russian costume and a trio of folk musicians played Russian music throughout the show. The opening number showed photographs of scenery from Moscow including a number of buildings my mom and I had toured on our trip there, so that was fun for us to see.

The performers were all very accomplished and amazed us with their skills. One woman twirled up to 10 hula hoops at one time - all in different places (ankles, one leg raised in the air, each arm, her neck, etc.), and she juggled the hula hoops as well. There was also a trio of jugglers who incorporated acrobatics in step with their juggling. At one point the girl stood on one of the guys’ shoulders while the three continued their juggling back and forth. Other acts included a woman contortionist (ouch!), a couple with an incredible trapeze act, and a hand balancer. There was also a performance by two men called Voltij Acrobatics. I can't find out what the term means, but it involves tremendous physical power and acrobatic precision. One guy stood up high on the other’s hands and then was tossed in the air, landing on the guy’s hands again. The only animal in the circus was a little dog who jumped and hopped all around his trainer - hard to explain but pretty cool. A couple of clowns entertained in between the acrobatic acts.

Since my mom and I never made it to the Moscow Circus when we were actually in Moscow, I’m glad we made it to their Michigan performance. It was a great evening!

Here's their promo video. A few of the acts have changed since the video was made, but the aerial straps, hand balancer, contortionist, team jugglers, and dog act, as well as the clowns are all the same.