The Spectacular Moscow Nikulin Circus

The Old Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard is one of the oldest circuses in Russia. More than a hundred years ago, in 1880, this building on Tsvetnoy Boulevard was built for Albert Salamonsky's circus by the office of the merchant Danilov. It is said that Salamonsky framed the first ruble earned from a ticket and hung it in the box office. When the circus welcomed its first spectators on October 20, 1880, there were five rows of seats, boxes, a dress circle, second-tier seats with unnumbered wooden benches, and a standing gallery. Later, the building was remodeled and expanded several times, but throughout its long life, it served the circus. The most famous artists performed in its ring. Anatoly and Vladimir Durov, Vitaly Lazarenko, Williams Truzzi with his trained horses. The unsurpassed jumpers Sosin. First-class jockeys Vasily Sobolevsky and Herbert Cook. The graceful dancer Martha Sur. The Oceanos acrobats. The incomparable equilibrium sisters Koch. The famous "trickster" Kio, who fascinated all boys. The circus was made famous by its renowned directors, and each tireless in their search. Arnold Arnold brought clowns into Kio's mysterious attraction. Boris Shakhet made elegant dancers partner with Kornilov's huge elephants. The success of the circus was greatly facilitated by the work of the Artistic Director Yu.S. Yursky, who became famous for his theatrical parade-prologues, chief director M.S. Mestechkin, stage director A.G. Arnold, and directors N.S. Baikalov and A.V. Asanov.