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CNN Live Sunday

Russian Circus Falls on Hard Times

Aired February 10, 2002 - 18:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, after the fall of the Soviet Union, many state-funded programs like the circus have been teetering along a financial tightrope, and, as CNN's Matthew Chance reports, there are hard times under the big top.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Treading the line between survival and cultural abyss, this, the training ground for the future of Russia n circus. Once heavily sponsored in the Soviet Union, Moscow's State Circus College is now dilapidated and short of funds, but it's still the preserve of generations of skill and experience that once captivated a nation.

LUDMILLA SHEGULINA, TIGHTROPE INSTRUCTOR (through translator): The circus has always been for the masses not just for a selected few. When a spectator comes to watch, they leave energized, in a better mood. And it's not by accident the Russia n circus has always been the best. Russia ns are themselves brave and happy people.

CHANCE: Students from across Russia enroll here, learning the circus arts from former Soviets masters. The old prestige of a job in the ring has vanished, but the college still attracts those drawn to the glamour of circus life.

NASTYA, STUDENT (through translator): My mother send me to circus school when I was 5. At first, I wasn't really interested, but when I starting going into the ring and seeing everyone's excitement I got hooked and enrolled here.

(LAUGHTER)

CHANCE: But these are the college elite, just a few with talent enough to train as clowns. Most won't make it, enduring the rigors of the clown course, the tutor told me, is no joke.

VLADISLAV SHPAX, CLOWN INSTRUCTOR (through translator): They say you can't be made a clown; you have to be born one. You have to have an intuitive feeling for illogical behavior and the ability to combine all the human aspects, be cunning, modest, silly, intelligent, and kind at exactly the right time.

CHANCE: It's a delicate balancing act perfected here in the past. And the hope is the appeal of Russian circus will endure for years to come.

(on-camera): Like so many institutions that once thrived in the Soviet Union, the Russian circus has suffered greatly as a result of fall of Communism. Hall audiences have been taken away, seduced by television shows or video games. Still, but the instructors and the students at this circus college say they're now determined to fight back, and to make this declining Russian tradition popular again.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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