How long is the performance at the circus (in time)?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

A circus is a group of performers who put on a variety of entertainment shows featuring clowns, acrobats, trained animals, gymnasts, musicians, dancers, rope walkers, jugglers, magicians, unicyclists, and other masters of manipulating objects and stunt-oriented artists. 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 is in the circus on Vernadsky or in any other similar institution. The timing of the performances does not differ much 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, gladiator 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 serveddifferent purposes and differed in design and construction. For a show with imitations of naval battles, the structure was flooded with water.

However, 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 may have taken place in huge arenas that the Romans called 'circuses' - but it is a mistake to identify these grand and bloody spectacles with the modern circus.

Others argued that the pedigree of the modern form of performing arts still goes back to Roman buildings, and the chronology of entertainment associated with circus shows can be traced back to Roman gladiator fights and the Hippodromes of Constantinople that existed before the 13th century, through the medieval and Renaissance jesters, minstrels and troubadours to late 18th century Britain and the innovations of Philip Astley.

The birth 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 riding amphitheater at Lambeth, London on 4 April 1768. Astley was not the inventor of horse riding tricks, 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 rode in a circle rather than in a straight line as his rivals did, and thus played in a circle performance format. He performed tricks in a 42-foot diameter ring, the standard size used by circuses ever since. Astley invented the arena for performances, 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 a performance in a circus was, and in 1770 Astley hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and clowns to fill them with performances between performances.

Circuses in Russia

In 1919, Lenin, head of the USSR, expressed his desire for the circus to become a "folk art form" with a prestigious status on par with theater, opera and ballet. The USSR nationalized Russian circuses. In 1927, the State University of Circus and Variety Arts, better known as the Moscow Circus School, was established. The performers were trained using methods developed under the Soviet gymnastics program. When a troupe called the Moscow State Circus began international tours in the 1950s, its originality and artistic skills were very well appreciated all over the world, especially in the West.

Circus show

To find out how long a circus performance lasts, 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 performersspeaks to the audience and generally manages the show itself. Circus activity traditionally takes place inside the ring - large circuses, for example, may have several rings, like the hexagonal Moscow State Circus. He often travels with his musical group, whose arsenal traditionally includes brass instruments, drums, glockenspiel, and sometimes a distinctive calliope sound.

Acts with animals

Many animals have historically been used in circus acts. The most common are large felids, camels, llamas, elephants, zebras, horses, birds, sea lions, bears, and pets such as cats and dogs.

The earliest animal involvement in the circus was just a way to show exotic creatures to the public (there were no zoos back then). As early as the early 18th century, many were brought to North America for display in circuses, and animal fights were a popular form of entertainment. Horses were the first domesticated animals to perform in the arena. Elephants and large cats like lions and leopards soon appeared. Isaac A. Van Amburgh entered a cage with several large cats in 1833, and is widely regarded as the first dangerous animal trainer 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 trapezoid, air silk, lifting on ropes or cords), tricks withflexibility, stilts and many other tricks. Juggling is one of the most common activities in the circus. The combination of juggling and gymnastics is called balancing and includes activities such as plate spinning and the rolling ball. Such actions are among the most common and habitual.

Clowns are common to most circuses and are commonly used in almost all performances. "Clowns getting into the act" is a very familiar theme 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 the 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 is still the most popular. If you want to become one of the lucky 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 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 in knowing in advance how long the performance in the Nikulin circus is, we advise you to read the article to the end - in principle, the timing of performances is usually the same for everyonecircuses.

Among the famous performers who worked here were the clowns Pencil, Oleg Popov and Yuri Nikulin. Nikulin ran the establishment for fifteen years, and the circus was named after the artist's death in 1997. In front of the building is a wonderful statue of Nikulin, whose son inherited his father's business and now runs the circus.

The Great Moscow State Circus

Many people are interested to know how long the performance in the circus on Vernadsky Street lasts. The Great Moscow State Circus is indeed located on Vernadsky Prospekt, for which it received its "folk" name. It was opened on April 30, 1971. It can accommodate up to 3400 people, and the height of its amphitheater reaches 36 meters. Performances are held every day in the afternoon and evening.

The circus building has 5 arenas (equestrian, water, illusionist arena, ice rink and arena for light effects).

Initially, the circus building was just a performance venue. In the early 1990s, a company was formed to run the circus. It was headed by Leonid Kostyuk, a former circus artist and tightrope walker. A former organizer of circuses in Soviet Russia was the Soyuz Gost-Circus (loosely translated as the Russian People's 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, andtherefore, their salaries were low compared to the West, but employment was stable, and all equipment, suits, travel and accommodation were provided on time by the state, as was a pension. Having learned how long the performance at Vernadsky is going on, young artists are in no hurry to get a job there - after all, government work with such a big responsibility repels many. And there is something to work on, because it is necessary to please the audience for 2-3 hours.

So how long does a circus performance last?

In terms of the average duration of a performance in any circus, any performance lasts a minimum of two hours (plus an intermission of 15-20 minutes). In general, 2–3 hours is the optimal time to perform in a circus. This is relevant for all organizations of this kind, and this information is necessary for both 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 performance on Tsvetnoy lasts.

It's hard for some people to sit that long, but you can watch an interesting performance for hours, and then it doesn't matter how long the performance in the circus lasts.

Why do we need intermission?

During the intermission, the circus staff rearranges the stage - they install an animal cage and other attributes for a full-fledged performance with tigers, horses and other circus animals. This information is especially importantfor those who are interested in how long the performance in the Zapashny circus lasts - world-famous animal trainers. It is required there, because the program has numbers with predators.