Sunday, November 8, 2009

Hey, there! Hoop-la! The circus is in town! Have you seen the elephant? Have you seen the clown?*





Some families go to church on Sunday morning, some - go to circus. Our family belongs to the second variety. The Russian and Ukrainian circus came to town and I bought the tickets. How I got them is a frightening story involving an argument with the scariest ever ticket seller, a lot of convincing on my driver's part and charging me a bit more than a ticket price at the end.


And so we went to the circus and didn't regret it. Yes, it isn't the Cirque du Soleil and not even Moscow Circus but it was enjoyable and predictable. Perhaps, part of the enjoyment was in predictability - it created a bridge between my memories of visiting circus as a child and introducing it to my own kids.


As expected, they had a ringmaster who was introducing the artists and spoke to the audience - we were even able to follow his commands - it's hard not to guess what to do when everyone around start to clap their hands or raising them up. As expected, they had acrobats and gymnasts, two hoopers, sort of a juggler, a unicyclist, six tightrope walkers, a magician and two delightful clowns; some animals were present - two monkeys, poodles, a lonely lama, five or six goats, a small dog that looked like a hedgehog and a pack of playing soccer bulldogs. Unexpected part was the most touching - after each act small kids ran onto the arena with bouquets of flowers for the artists.


It was basic but it was nice. So, buy your tickets in the ticket booths downtown in order to avoid unpleasant encounter with the wicked ticket lady; take taxi - parking there is a screaming murder; don't get spooked by kids wearing little masks, after all we have cases of H1N1 in the city, and go see the clowns.


Baku State Circus, 68, S.Vurgun str.(across from Taza bazaar)


P.S. I've discovered that funambulist isn't a synonym for a clown (the "fun" part is deceiving) but for a rope walker. Isn't it fun?


*"The Circus" by Micheal James Dennis

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