The Circuses Of Moscow - Revision history

Djando at 19:55, 25 January 2024

2024-01-25T19:55:04Z

Djando: /* Jacques Tourniaire */

2021-11-03T20:07:15Z

‎Jacques Tourniaire

Djando: /* Jacques Tourniaire */

2019-02-05T20:06:39Z

‎Jacques Tourniaire

Djando: /* Circus Nikitin (1911-1926) */

2019-02-05T20:02:52Z

‎Circus Nikitin (1911-1926)

Djando: /* Circus Nikulin (1989-present) */

2019-02-05T20:02:21Z

‎Circus Nikulin (1989-present)

Djando: /* The Moscow State Circus of the Order of Lenin (1937-1985) */

2019-02-05T20:02:01Z

‎The Moscow State Circus of the Order of Lenin (1937-1985)

Djando: /* Circus Salamonsky (1880-1936) */

2019-02-05T20:00:43Z

‎Circus Salamonsky (1880-1936)

Djando: /* Circus Salamonsky (1880-1936) */

2019-02-05T19:59:56Z

‎Circus Salamonsky (1880-1936)

Djando: /* Circus Hinné (1868-1892) */

2019-02-05T19:59:32Z

‎Circus Hinné (1868-1892)

Djando: /* The Moscow State Circus of the Order of Lenin (1937-1985) */

2018-09-01T18:40:34Z

‎The Moscow State Circus of the Order of Lenin (1937-1985)

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:55, 25 January 2024
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−	Although the name ''[[Moscow Circus]]'' is familiar to the public all over the world, there has never been one specific “Moscow Circus” whose troupe toured internationally. The name was a generic term for the circus shows from the USSR traveling abroad during the Soviet Era. It has, over time, become synonymous with “Russian circus.” Yet, there are today (~~2017~~) two resident circuses in Moscow, [[Circus Nikulin]] on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, and the [[Bolshoi Circus]] (''bolshoi'' means ''big'', in Russian) on Vernadsky Avenue—and there have been indeed several others before them.	+	Although the name ''[[Moscow Circus]]'' is familiar to the public all over the world, there has never been one specific “Moscow Circus” whose troupe toured internationally. The name was a generic term for the circus shows from the USSR traveling abroad during the Soviet Era. It has, over time, become synonymous with “Russian circus.” Yet, there are today (2024) two resident circuses in Moscow, [[Circus Nikulin]] on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, and the [[Bolshoi Circus]] (''bolshoi'' means ''big'', in Russian) on Vernadsky Avenue—and there have been indeed several others before them.

	==Jacques Tourniaire==		==Jacques Tourniaire==

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 ==Jacques Tourniaire==
-The first circus built in Russia was established by the French equestrian [[Jacques Tourniaire]], who settled in 1827 in what was then the Russian capital, St. Petersburg. The building, designed by the architect Smaragd Shustov and named ''Cirque Olympique'', was located near the Fontanka canal, practically where St. Petersburg’s [[Circus Ciniselli (St. Petersburg)|Circus Ciniselli]] stands today. Tourniaire’s circus had only a short existence: it was bought back by the government of St. Petersburg in 1828 to be transformed into a theater. Still, the event didn’t fail to catch the attention of the Muscovites, who always took exception to the influence of Peter The Great’s Baltic capital.
+The first circus built in Russia was established by the French equestrian [[Jacques Tourniaire]] (1772-1829), who settled in 1827 in what was then the Russian capital, St. Petersburg. The building, designed by the architect Smaragd Shustov and named ''Cirque Olympique'', was located near the Fontanka canal, practically where St. Petersburg’s [[Circus Ciniselli (St. Petersburg)|Circus Ciniselli]] stands today. Tourniaire’s circus had only a short existence: it was bought back by the government of St. Petersburg in 1828 to be transformed into a theater. Still, the event didn’t fail to catch the attention of the Muscovites, who always took exception to the influence of Peter The Great’s Baltic capital.
 The previous year, Tourniaire had exhibited his equestrian prowess in Moscow, in the manège of the Pashkov mansion (today the Russian State Library), on Mokhovaya Street. Another famous trick rider, [[Jacob Bates]], had long preceded him in the former Russian capital, where he performed in 1864, and since then, Moscow had welcomed several equestrian companies&mdash;among which that of [[Pierre Mayheu]], the famous Spanish rider, in 1790&mdash;but contrary to most European major cities, the great Russian metropolis didn’t have a permanent circus of its own.

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 ==Jacques Tourniaire==
-The first circus built in Russia was established by the French equestrian [[Jacques Tourniaire]], who settled in 1827 in what was then the Russian capital, St. Petersburg. The building, designed by the architect Smaragd Shustov and named ''Cirque Olympique'', was located near the Fontanka canal, practically where St. Petersburg’s [[Circus Ciniselli]] stands today. Tourniaire’s circus had only a short existence: it was bought back by the government of St. Petersburg in 1828 to be transformed into a theater. Still, the event didn’t fail to catch the attention of the Muscovites, who always took exception to the influence of Peter The Great’s Baltic capital.
+The first circus built in Russia was established by the French equestrian [[Jacques Tourniaire]], who settled in 1827 in what was then the Russian capital, St. Petersburg. The building, designed by the architect Smaragd Shustov and named ''Cirque Olympique'', was located near the Fontanka canal, practically where St. Petersburg’s [[Circus Ciniselli (St. Petersburg)|Circus Ciniselli]] stands today. Tourniaire’s circus had only a short existence: it was bought back by the government of St. Petersburg in 1828 to be transformed into a theater. Still, the event didn’t fail to catch the attention of the Muscovites, who always took exception to the influence of Peter The Great’s Baltic capital.
 The previous year, Tourniaire had exhibited his equestrian prowess in Moscow, in the manège of the Pashkov mansion (today the Russian State Library), on Mokhovaya Street. Another famous trick rider, [[Jacob Bates]], had long preceded him in the former Russian capital, where he performed in 1864, and since then, Moscow had welcomed several equestrian companies&mdash;among which that of [[Pierre Mayheu]], the famous Spanish rider, in 1790&mdash;but contrary to most European major cities, the great Russian metropolis didn’t have a permanent circus of its own.

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 ===Circus Nikitin (1911-1926)===
-[[File:Akim_Nikitin_1909.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Akim Nikitin]]By the late 1890, Piotr had retired from the family enterprise and Akim was alone at the helm, overseeing a growing circus empire with buildings in Tiflis (today Tbilisi in Georgia, which was the Nikitins’ home base), Baku and Astrakhan (where Circus Nikitin spent the winter season), Tsaritsyn (today Volgograd), Saratov, Samara, Kazan, Nizhniy-Novgorod, Ivanovo-Voznesensk, and Kharkov. A true showman and the most ambitious of the brothers, Akim needed now the cherry on his cake: A permanent circus in Moscow. The fact that his Tiflis flagship circus had burned down in 1910 probably persuaded him to make the big jump.
+[[File:Akim_Nikitin_1909.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Akim Nikitin]]By the late 1890, Piotr had retired from the family enterprise and Akim was alone at the helm, overseeing a growing circus empire with buildings in Tiflis (today Tbilisi in Georgia, which was the Nikitins’ home base), Baku and Astrakhan (where Circus Nikitin spent the winter season), Tsaritsyn (today Volgograd), Saratov, Samara, Kazan, Nizhniy-Novgorod, Ivanovo-Voznesensk, and Kharkov. A true showman and the most ambitious of the brothers, Akim needed now the cherry on his cake: A permanent circus in Moscow. The fact that his Tiflis flagship circus had burned down in 1910 probably persuaded him to make the big jump.
 Akim found a piece of land near Triumfalnaya Square on Bolshaya Sadovaya Street, a large avenue northwest of central Moscow, and he commissioned the architect Bogdan Mikhailovich Nilus, a well-known proponent of the Art Nouveau architectural movement, to build him a state-of-the-art circus. Open in 1911, Circus Nikitin was outfitted with a revolving ring that could also sink into a water basin, following the example of Paris’s famous [[Nouveau Cirque (Paris)|Nouveau Cirque]], and covered with a removable coco mat instead of soil and sawdust&mdash;the first time this kind of ring cover was used in Russia, and a clear sign that Circus Nikitin didn’t intend to be a classical equestrian circus like Salamonsky’s. The building had also an imposing façade that made it quite conspicuous to passersby.

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 ===Circus Nikulin (1989-present)===
-[[File:Circus_Nikulin_(façade).jpg|thumb|right|350px|Circus Nikulin]]The new Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard opened its doors September 29, 1989. To everybody’s relief, the old façade still could be seen, even though it was framed within a giant glass front. Another sign of continuity was the house, which resembled the old one, with its characteristic columns and color scheme—and had retained its warmth&mdash;although it had been significantly enlarged to a seating capacity of 2,000, and equipped with a much higher cupola, allowing the presentation of the most elaborate aerial acts. Backstage, the practice ring, the many workshops, modern dressing rooms and animal quarters, offices and rental spaces for businesses made it a superb circus tool.
+[[File:Circus_Nikulin_(façade).jpg|thumb|right|400px|Circus Nikulin]]The new Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard opened its doors September 29, 1989. To everybody’s relief, the old façade still could be seen, even though it was framed within a giant glass front. Another sign of continuity was the house, which resembled the old one, with its characteristic columns and color scheme—and had retained its warmth&mdash;although it had been significantly enlarged to a seating capacity of 2,000, and equipped with a much higher cupola, allowing the presentation of the most elaborate aerial acts. Backstage, the practice ring, the many workshops, modern dressing rooms and animal quarters, offices and rental spaces for businesses made it a superb circus tool.
 It was not the "Old Circus" anymore, and as a matter of fact, the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard quickly regained its status as Moscow’s premier circus. In 1991, Yury Nikulin celebrated his 70th birthday in the ring of his new circus, in presence of the Mayor of Moscow and a huge crowd of personalities of the Russian circus, the arts, and politics. The Soviet Union had just collapsed, and as much as this joyous celebration, the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard became symbolic of a new era.

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 This renewal of interest in the circus arts was epitomized by the creation in 1944 of the first "All-Union Circus Competition", which was held on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. It became an annual event that would have a growing importance in the Soviet circus system: To win the competition meant working in the best circus programs of the USSR, and most importantly, starting in the 1960s, to get an opportunity to participate in the highly rewarding Soviet Circus’s international tours with the so-called "[[Moscow Circus]]" companies.
-[[File:Tsvetnoy_Blvd_(c.1970).jpg|thumb|left|350px|The Circus On Tsvetnoy Boulevard]]Among the many Soviet circus stars that made their mark at the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, two clowns stand out: the diminutive and extremely popular [[Karandash]] (Mikhail Rumyantsev, 1901-1983), one of the first graduates of the State College for Circus and Variety Arts, who provided Muscovites with much needed laughter during the somber years of WWII; and his protégé, the beloved [[Yury Nikulin]] (1921-1997), star of the ring as well as of the silver screen, who was given the management of the Circus in 1983. Under Nikulin’s tenure, the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard was to undergo drastic changes.
+[[File:Tsvetnoy_Blvd_(c.1970).jpg|thumb|left|400px|The Circus On Tsvetnoy Boulevard]]Among the many Soviet circus stars that made their mark at the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, two clowns stand out: the diminutive and extremely popular [[Karandash]] (Mikhail Rumyantsev, 1901-1983), one of the first graduates of the State College for Circus and Variety Arts, who provided Muscovites with much needed laughter during the somber years of WWII; and his protégé, the beloved [[Yury Nikulin]] (1921-1997), star of the ring as well as of the silver screen, who was given the management of the Circus in 1983. Under Nikulin’s tenure, the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard was to undergo drastic changes.
 In 1971, a brand new, state-of-the-art circus had opened its doors at Verdnasky Avenue, on Lenin Hill near the University of Moscow. With its 3,300 seats and technical amenities hitherto unknown to the circus world. The ''Moscow Circus On Lenin Hill'', as it was officially named (it was popularly known as the "New Circus"), was a little distant from the center of Moscow, but even so, it took over the place of the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard as the Soviet Circus’s official flagship&mdash;although not its place as the Muscovites’ favorite circus.

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 Adjacent to the circus’s elegant façade was an aisle that housed Salamonsky’s apartment, and a café that would become, over the years, his favorite haunt&mdash;to the extent that his wife, the equestrienne Lina Schwartz, would eventually take over the management of the circus. Yet, in spite of his devastating fondness for the bottle, Salamonsky was a great artistic director, and his Moscow circus quickly gained an excellent reputation all over Europe. His liberty acts were highly praised, and he formed several outstanding horse trainers and equestrians.
-[[File:Circus_Salamonsky_in_Moscow.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Circus Salamonsky]]Circus Salamonsky remained a conservatory of the grand tradition of the classic equestrian circus, an elegant place of entertainment that was Moscow’s circus of choice until the death of its founder in 1913&mdash;and in spite of the competition of the old Circus Hinné until 1892, and more importantly, of [[The_Nikitin_Brothers|Akim Nikitin]] and his brothers: In 1886, when they occupied the old Panorma building next to the circus; in 1888, when they rented Circus Hinné; and from 1911 onward, when Akim eventually built his own Muscovite circus on Bolshoya Sadovaya Street.
+Circus Salamonsky remained a conservatory of the grand tradition of the classic equestrian circus, an elegant place of entertainment that was Moscow’s circus of choice until the death of its founder in 1913&mdash;and in spite of the competition of the old Circus Hinné until 1892, and more importantly, of [[The_Nikitin_Brothers|Akim Nikitin]] and his brothers: In 1886, when they occupied the old Panorma building next to the circus; in 1888, when they rented Circus Hinné; and from 1911 onward, when Akim eventually built his own Muscovite circus on Bolshoya Sadovaya Street.
 After Albert Salamonsky’s death, however, his circus fell apart. In 1914, as the winds of revolution were beginning to blow over Russia, its performers decided to elect their own director, Yury Radunsky, a circus employee with no prior managerial experience. Then came the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917; in 1919, all circuses in Russia were nationalized, including Circus Salamonsky. Many artists and directors of foreign origins&mdash;who were a vast majority in the Russian circus landscape&mdash;chose to leave the country (among them, [[Scipione Ciniselli]], the last director of the Ciniselli circuses, and even the Russian [[Nikolai Nikitin]], who had succeeded his father, Akim Nikitin, after his death in 1917).
-Various intellectual and artistic committees tried to define a politically correct circus, which resulted in a rather confused period, the "high point" of which was an experimental spectacle directed by Konstantin Stanislavsky and presented at the old Circus Salmonsky, ''Political Carrousel''. It was a flop of epic proportions, which at last finished to convince the cultural authorities that the management of Moscow’s two circuses (Salamonsky and Nikitin) should be given to a circus professional: They chose [[The Truzzi Dynasty|Williams Truzzi]] (1889-1931)&mdash;one of the few directors of foreign origin (albeit born in Russia) that had not abandoned ship. Truzzi took over in 1921.
+[[File:Circus_Salamonsky_in_Moscow.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Circus Salamonsky]]Various intellectual and artistic committees tried to define a politically correct circus, which resulted in a rather confused period, the "high point" of which was an experimental spectacle directed by Konstantin Stanislavsky and presented at the old Circus Salmonsky, ''Political Carrousel''. It was a flop of epic proportions, which at last finished to convince the cultural authorities that the management of Moscow’s two circuses (Salamonsky and Nikitin) should be given to a circus professional: They chose [[The Truzzi Dynasty|Williams Truzzi]] (1889-1931)&mdash;one of the few directors of foreign origin (albeit born in Russia) that had not abandoned ship. Truzzi took over in 1921.
 Williams Truzzi’s tenure in Moscow lasted only four years (he would die in 1931, at age forty-two), but it was enough to put the circuses back on their tracks&mdash;if not to restore their luster. The two Moscow circuses competed with rather similar shows, whose originality and quality didn’t really stand out. There were not enough artists left in Russia to sustain the existence of two permanent circuses of good quality in the new capital of the USSR; Circus Nikitin was eventually closed in 1926, and transformed into a variety theater, leaving the old Circus Salamonsky alone in Moscow.

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 ===Circus Salamonsky (1880-1936)===
-[[File:Albert_Salamonsky_in_old_age.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Albert Salamonsky]]After his successful stint at Circus Hinné, Albert Salamonsky went on touring Russia with his own traveling circus and company, and eventually settled in Odessa in 1879, where he built a permanent circus. The following year, in 1880, Muscovite newspapers announced that Salamonsky was to build a new circus in Moscow, on Tsvetnoy Boulevard.
+[[File:Albert_Salamonsky_in_old_age.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Albert Salamonsky]]After his successful stint at Circus Hinné, Albert Salamonsky went on touring Russia with his own traveling circus and company, and eventually settled in Odessa in 1879, where he built a permanent circus. The following year, in 1880, Muscovite newspapers announced that Salamonsky was to build a new circus in Moscow, on Tsvetnoy Boulevard.
 A wide thoroughfare in central Moscow, with a tree-planted and flowery median strip (''tsvetnoy'' means ''colorful'' in Russian), Tsvetnoy Boulevard was a popular promenade flanked by many places of amusements. One of its favorite destinations was the Panorama, housed in a circular building adjacent to the piece of land acquired by Salamonsky. ([[Vladimir Durov]] would debut as an assistant animal trainer in the menagerie of Hugo Winkler, which the latter had installed on the other side of the Boulevard, practically at the same time as the German director’s arrival.)

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 ==Circus Hinné (1868-1892)==
-[[File:Carl_Magnus_Hinné.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Carl Magnus Hinné]]In 1868, the Austro-Hungarian equestrian and director [[Carl Magnus Hinné]] (1819-1890), who had built a new circus in St. Petersburg the previous year, purchased from the Princes Dolgoruky, who were embroiled into financial problems, a piece of land on Vozdvizhenka Street near the Arbat in Moscow. There, he erected a wooden construction in which his circus troupe began to perform. Its success was significant enough for Hinné to consider, the following year, to replace his temporary structure by a permanent building that would be Moscow’s counterpart of his circus in St. Petersburg.
+[[File:Carl_Magnus_Hinné.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Carl Magnus Hinné]]In 1868, the Austro-Hungarian equestrian and director [[Carl Magnus Hinné]] (1819-1890), who had built a new circus in St. Petersburg the previous year, purchased from the Princes Dolgoruky, who were embroiled into financial problems, a piece of land on Vozdvizhenka Street near the Arbat in Moscow. There, he erected a wooden construction in which his circus troupe began to perform. Its success was significant enough for Hinné to consider, the following year, to replace his temporary structure by a permanent building that would be Moscow’s counterpart of his circus in St. Petersburg.
 Hinné’s circus in St. Petersburg was making a strong impression, mostly owing to the considerable talent of its principal equestrian, his Italian brother in law [[Gaetano Ciniselli]] (1815-1881). Hinné was a great showman, and he knew he needed another gifted equestrian to headline his Moscow’s circus. He hired [[Albert Salamonsky]] (1839-1913), heir to an old and celebrated German Jewish family of equestrians and entertainers, who came to Circus Hinné with his own troupe. Both Ciniselli and Salamonsky would become major figures of Russian circus history.

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 The new circus, which opened in 1937, was officially named ''Moscow State Circus of the Order of Lenin''&mdash;although the only sign on its façade was the word ''Tsirk'' (Circus). To its Muscovite audiences, however, it was simply ''The Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard''. Its rather bland façade had lost indeed the aristocratic looks of the old Circus Salamonsky, but its house had retained a classic elegance, and with 1,500 seats (gone were the promenade and the narrow benches of the popular section), it had an atmosphere of warmth and intimacy.
 By then, Moscow’s [[State College for Circus and Variety Arts]], the USSR’s first state circus school, had been instituted (in 1929), and a new generation of highly skilled Russian circus artists was beginning to pump new blood into a resurecting Russian circus. The Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard became the epicenter of this circus renaissance, and only the best acts of the land were invited to perform in what was now the Soviet Circus’s flagship. To Soviet circus artists, playing on Tsvetnoy Boulevard quickly became a badge of artistic achievement.
 This renewal of interest in the circus arts was epitomized by the creation in 1944 of the first "All-Union Circus Competition", which was held on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. It became an annual event that would have a growing importance in the Soviet circus system: To win the competition meant working in the best circus programs of the USSR, and most importantly, starting in the 1960s, to get an opportunity to participate in the highly rewarding Soviet Circus’s international tours with the so-called "[[Moscow Circus]]" companies.