There is no shortage of activities to fill our days here. This past weekend we decided to give the circus a go. Almaty is unique in that it has a permanent circus arena called the Kazakh State Circus.
I’m not 100% sure on this yet, but I believe Almaty has its own group of circus performers. This past weekend, however, we were seeing a traveling circus troupe from Siberia (the Russian tundra).
The building was constructed in 1972 and looked its age. Once we got into the arena, however, the vibe warmed up and felt nice and cozy.
The costumes were quite exceptional and perhaps the highlight of the show. This wooly mammoth cracked me up. It reminded me of Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street in both looks and how it shuffled awkwardly from side to side.
This was my favorite costume (below). So pretty!
The acts were good but not great. It was not like the circus of my youth–no cages with motorcycles and tigers and tightrope walkers and trapezes–nor Cirque de Soleil, but it was entertaining and the show was fast-paced and professional. Thankfully, the only animals used were two horses and four poodles.
The main acts were aerialists, acrobats and tumblers, animal performers, dancers, jugglers and clowns. We were in the fourth row, so we felt very close to the action. The whole space was pretty intimate though and the seat angle was such that most any seat had decent visibility. My favorite act was the aerialists shown above. Nick’s favorite was the acrobats shown below.
All in all, it was a fun way to spend two hours. It felt very local, and the crowd was lively and engaged. Would I go again to see a different show? Maybe. It wouldn’t be high on my list though. Then again, I’ve never been a huge circus fan anyway. The ones I saw in my youth always left me feeling a bit uncomfortable (probably a combination of the animal treatment and worry about the safety of the performers). I had neither of those worries with this show, as there were visible tethers for the aerialists and animal usage was minimal and humane. So that was a plus. And Nia said she enjoyed it as well, which was our main objective. Can you believe it was her first time seeing a circus?!
