The Zapashny Brothers of the Great Moscow State Circus will bring the show UFO: Circus from Another Planet to Dubai from February 10 to 13 at Dubai World Trade Centre.
Dubai will be the third country that the Russian circus troupe has performed the show in, a departure from the traditional act that the circus has been performing.
“It’s a brand new show for the Russian circus. Even in Russia, where the Moscow Circus is famous, this hasn’t been presented at the scale of style and story that we will present here,” Askold Zapashny, director, screenwriter and the head of the creative group that developed the show, told tabloid!.
“UFO was born two years ago. Firstly, it’s a departure from the traditional Russian circus because it has no animals,” Zapashny said. “My brother [Edgard] and I are very popular in the country as predator trainers, especially tigers. The main reason why we are bringing UFO is not because of all the controversies around the use of animals in the circus. It’s just a different style of performance. It’s the story of how a usual guy who is captured by aliens while he’s spending a weekend with his girlfriend and how he meets different aliens on board a spacecraft, who are just as confused about him as he is by them and as to what he’s doing there.
“Two other main characters are in the show: One is a doctor, who simply wants to observe the human; and this big guy who’s green in colour and he is called Green. Our hero in a way is representative of human nature although he is not officially chosen to.”
The show will offer some technological highlights, said Zapashny, on the scale of the famous Cirque du Soleil and shows from Las Vegas, something that is new to the Russian circus even though all the acts — aerial, equilibrium, acrobatics — have been conducted by young, talented performers from Russia, some who were part of award-winning shows, he said.
Zapashny said it was a quite a shock for Russians to see a show without animals and even though he would personally take the traditional animal circus to the world, he understood that a change was needed in style.
“The circus is changing simultaneously with the country. I think I am a happy person because I’ve seen the change from the Soviet Union to the democratic country it is now. It’s like living in different places, even though [it’s] the same country and I was observing it all as I was part of the change itself.
“As far as the circus is concerned, I’ve seen the Soviet circuses which came with a strong social and political ideology to present the Soviet culture to the world. Later they fell by the roadside as the world didn’t care about the ideology anymore. Yet the circuses fought hard for survival. Only some strong families survived.
“Right now many are trying to make a comeback. But the circus is still in a state of flux in Russia. Some people are still trying to create something different and modern while others are still repeating what the old ones did. It’s difficult to actually define Russian circus at this stage,” said Zapashny.
“For me and my brother, we perform differently as we are the biggest circus in Europe — the Great Moscow Circus. It’s the state circus. We started working eight years ago doing shows based on legends and have been running full houses for months each year. But we felt it was time to change. We already started to use more technology and special acts even before UFO. For us it was always theatrical, a circus but with a story. We have speech, dance, pyrotechnics and other modern effects along with animal acts”.
Addressing animal abuse
While animal rights groups are fighting against the use and abuse of animals in circuses, how does he justify advocating the use of animals in traditional circus?
“When you say traditional circus there are two things — using animals in circus and the circus itself. First thing, the issue of using animals in the circus is today political. For me this is a weak point in the circus to discuss because I’m for [circuses] with animals and I know there are several politically-motivated green groups which are using the circus for their [agenda] — not because they love animals or care for them but only because it’s easy [to point a finger].
“Circus is a popular show. So it’s easy to say these guys are doing cruel stuff and let’s stop using animals. It’s nothing to do with tradition. In Russia working with animals in circus is part of the tradition. It’s normal, it’s nice and everyone loves it.
“As far as the circus itself is concerned, it’s great. But at the same time, sometimes it’s good to do something different. The world is becoming smaller and for me it’s great to showcase my culture and my product abroad. For me, as the creator of the show, what’s important is to please the audience with my show, so that they come again.
“People in the circus live in the circus, not just work in the circus. Sometimes things becomes so usual that they don’t see anything beyond what they do. But the world moves fast and those who are rooted in this traditional setup, [when] they get out of the mainstream... some understand it too late. When they keep repeating themselves over and over they lose the audience. There’s nothing new.
“Circus is a special kind of art. It’s live cinema. It’s not just entertainment but a relationship between man and animal and people will always want to watch that even though the styles may change. Yes, the political groups will be there and certain circuses will become without animals, such as Cirque du Soleil, but they will be special circuses. Circus is not just about a flag of a country, circus is about people who worked hard in it all their lives”.
Don’t miss it!
UFO: Circus from Another Planet is at Dubai World Trade Centre on February 10, 6-9pm; February 11, 7-10pm; February 12, 2-5pm and 7-10pm; and February 13, noon-3pm and 6-9pm. Tickets from Dh140 on platinumlist.net.
