A circus is a group of performers who conduct a variety of entertainment shows in which clowns, acrobats, trained animals, gymnasts, musicians, dancers, rope walkers, jugglers, wizards, unicyclists, as well as other masters of manipulating objects and stunt-oriented artists participate. The program of any circus is very rich and contains a lot of interesting performances - and in this regard it does not matter how long the performance in the circus goes to Vernadsky or any other similar institution. The timing of the performances is not too different from circus to circus, but the differences in its quality are sometimes simply amazing.
Circuses in antiquity
In ancient Rome, the circus was a building for the exhibition of horses and chariots, horse shows, battles, gladiatorial fights and performances with trained animals (as well as fights with them). The circus of Rome was similar to the ancient Greek hippodromes, although they served other purposes and differed in design and construction. For a show with simulated naval battles, the building was flooded with water.
However, the Roman circus buildings were not round, but rectangular with semicircular ends. The lower seats were reserved for members of the nobility. The circus was the only public spectacle in which men and women were not separated. Some circus historians, such as George Speight, write that: “These performances could take place in huge arenas that the Romans called“ circuses, ”but they mistakenly identified these grandiose and bloody spectacles with the modern circus.
Others argued that the pedigree of the modern form of spectacular art still dates back to Roman buildings, and the chronology of entertainment related to circus shows can be traced back to the Roman gladiatorial fights and the Hippodromes of Constantinople, which existed until the 13th century, through medieval and Renaissance jesters, minstrels and troubadours to Great Britain of the late 18th century and the innovations of Philip Astley.
The origin of the modern circus
The origin of the modern circus is attributed to Philip Astley, who was born in 1742 in Newcastle-under-Lyme, England. He became a cavalry officer who founded the first modern amphitheater to demonstrate horse riding techniques in Lambeth, London, on April 4, 1768. Astley was not the inventor of riding stunts, and certainly not the first to introduce actors and clowns to the English public, but he was the first to create a space in which all these actions were brought together to perform in a general show. Astley traveled in a circle, and not in a straight line, as his rivals did, and thus played in the format of a performance in a circle. He performed stunts in a ring with a diameter of 42 feet, which is the standard size used by circuses since then. Astley invented an arena for the performance, looking like a circle under the roof, as an amphitheater, and later it was this invention that became known as the circus. At that time, there was still no clear idea of how long the performance in the circus was, and in 1770 Astley hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and clowns to fill the pauses between performances with their performances.
Circuses in Russia
In 1919, Lenin, the head of the USSR, expressed his desire for the circus to become a “form of folk art” with a prestigious status along with theater, opera and ballet. USSR nationalized Russian circuses. In 1927, the State University of Circus and Pop Art, better known as the Moscow Circus School, was created. The performers were trained using methods developed by the Soviet gymnastics program. When a troupe called “Moscow State Circus” began international tours in the 1950s, its originality and artistic skills were very well appreciated throughout the world, especially in the West.
Circus show
To find out how much the performance in the circus is, you need to understand the very structure of circus performances. A traditional circus performance is often led by a ringmaster who plays a role similar to the Master of Ceremonies. He represents the performers, speaks with the audience and, as a rule, manages the show itself. The activity of the circus traditionally takes place inside the ring - large circuses, for example, can have several rings, like the hexagonal Moscow State Circus. He often travels with his musical group, whose arsenal traditionally includes copper instruments, drums, glockenspiel, and sometimes the characteristic sound of calliopes.
Acts with animals
In circus acts, many animals have historically been used. The most common are large feline, camels, llamas, elephants, zebras, horses, birds, sea lions, bears and domestic animals such as cats and dogs.
The earliest involvement of animals in the circus was only a way to show exotic creatures to the public (zoos did not exist then). As early as the beginning of the 18th century, many of them were brought to North America for demonstration in circuses, and animal fighting was a popular form of entertainment. The first domesticated animals performing in the arena were horses. Soon there were elephants and big cats, like lions and leopards. Isaac A. Van Amburg entered the cage with several large cats in 1833, and is rightly considered the first trainer of dangerous animals in the history of the world circus.
Circus acts
General acts include various types of acrobatics, gymnastics (including drum and trampoline), aerial acts (such as trapeze, aerial silk, lifting on ropes or cords), magic tricks with flexibility, stilts and many other tricks. Juggling is one of the most common actions in the circus. The combination of juggling and gymnastics is called balancing and includes activities such as spinning plates and a rolling ball. Such actions are one of the most common and common.
Clowns are common to most circuses and are usually involved in almost all performances. “Clowns falling into the act” is a very familiar topic in any circus. Famous circus clowns in the West are Austin Miles, the Fratellini family, Rusty Russell, Emmett Kelly, Grock and Bill Irwin. The most popular representatives of this profession in the USSR were Pencil and Yuri Nikulin.
Nikulin Circus
The Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, or Nikulin Circus, is located on Tsvetnoy Boulevard in the Tverskoy district of Moscow. It was the only circus in the city between 1926 and 1971 and still remains the most popular. If you want to become one of the happy visitors to this amazing place, and are interested in how long the performance in the Nikulin circus takes, then the answer will not surprise you very much - from 2 to 3 and a half hours.
The circus building was opened as the Salamon Circus on October 20, 1880. He is one of the oldest in Russia. His troupe was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1939, even before the arrival of Yuri Nikulin. For those who are interested to know in advance how long the performance in Nikulin’s circus is going on, we advise you to read the article to the end - in principle, the timing of performances is usually the same for all circuses.
Among the famous artists who worked here were the clowns Pencil, Oleg Popov and Yuri Nikulin. Nikulin managed this institution for fifteen years, and the circus got his name after the death of the artist in 1997. In front of the building is a wonderful statue of Nikulin, whose son inherited his father's business and now runs a circus.
Grand Moscow State Circus
Many are interested in knowing how long the performance in the circus on Vernadsky is. The Big Moscow State Circus is indeed located on Vernadsky Prospekt, for which it received its "popular" name. It was opened on April 30, 1971. Holds up to 3400 people, and the height of its amphitheater reaches 36 meters. Performances in it are held every day, day and evening.
The circus building has 5 arenas (horse, water, arena of illusionists, an ice rink and an arena for lighting effects).
Originally, the circus building was simply a venue for the performance. In the early 1990s, a circus company was formed. It was led by Leonid Kostyuk, a former circus artist and balancer. The former organizer of circuses in Soviet Russia was the Gost-Circus Union (freely translated as the Russian national circus). Under Soviet rule, there were more than 70 circus buildings in the republics of the USSR, as well as special educational institutions in which future artists were trained. Thousands of performers worked in circus organizations. They were all civil servants, and therefore their salaries were low compared to the West, but their employment was stable, and all the equipment, costumes, travel and accommodation were provided by the state on time, as well as a pension. Having learned how long the performance is going to Vernadsky, the young artists are not in a hurry to get there - after all, government work with such a great responsibility repels many. And there is something to work on, because it is necessary to delight the audience for 2-3 hours.
So how long is the performance in the circus in time?
Speaking of the average duration of performance in any circus, any performance lasts at least two hours (plus intermission 15-20 minutes). In general, 2-3 hours is the best time to perform in the circus. This is true for all organizations of this kind, and this information needs to be known both to casual readers who have decided to visit the circus after a long time, and people who are interested in specialized issues - such as how long the circus on Tsvetnoy takes.
It’s difficult for some people to sit for so long, but an interesting performance can be watched for hours, and then it becomes completely unimportant how long the performance in the circus takes.
Why do I need intermission?
During the intermission, the circus staff rearranges the stage - sets up an animal cage and other attributes for a full-fledged performance with tigers, horses and other circus animals. This information is especially important for those who are interested in how much the performance in the circus of Zapashny is going on - world-famous trainers. There it is required, because the program has numbers with predators.