Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoi Boulevard was the only circus in Moscow between 1926 and 1971 and still remains the most popular one. The circus building was opened on 20 October 1880 as the Solomonsky Circus. Known by a variety of names during the Soviet period, the troupe was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1939. Among the famous performers who worked there were the clowns Karandash, Oleg Popov, and Yury Nikulin, who managed the company for fifteen years and whose name it has borne since his passing in 1997. In front of the building is a remarkable statue of Nikulin, whose son has been in charge of the circus ever since his death.

[edit] See also

• Bolshoi Moscow State Circus on Vernadsky Prospekt
• Ciniselli Circus in Saint Petersburg
• Valentin Gneushev - the artistic director and choreographer of Nikulin's circus in the late 1990s

[edit] References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (August 2008)

• Encyclopaedia of Moscow. Great Russian Encyclopedia Publishers, 1997. (online)
• Richard Stites. Russian Popular Culture: Entertainment and Society Since 1900. Cambridge University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-521-36986-X.

Coordinates: 55°46′14″N 37°37′11″E / 55.77056°N 37.61972°E / 55.77056; 37.61972