CIRCUS ANIMALS "EARN MONEY" DURING THE BREAKS

A1+
[12:19 pm] 31 October, 2006

Our general imagination of the Yerevan circus is formed the moment
the ticket-collector nervously tears the tickets of the audience. Then
follows the hustle and bustle and endless queue.

The circus administration has been concerned about the reconstruction
of the arena since the Soviet times.

They hung various multi-colored balloons from the ceiling in attempt
to make the general atmosphere more attractive. Neither the orchestra
nor its site has changed. The only change we fixed immediately was
that recorded music was switched on during the breaks to entertain
the audience.

The show was to start at 5 p.m. but it was cancelled for half an
hour because of the hawkers. One can buy anything he wishes inside
the building – from food to toys.

finally, the show started. It was announced that besides the Armenian
entertainers and performers there would also be guests from Russia
and Ukraine. The start was promising. The Ukrainian equilibrist Gayane
greatly impressed the audience.

But the second performer’s attempts to roll five loops at a time
were doomed to failure. The loops kept falling all the time. When the
assistant gave her 25 loops, she made great efforts to roll them at
least twice but in vain.

The continuation was still worse.

The appearance of the animals on the arena was completely spoiled. The
horses made such an impression as if they were in the circus for the
first time. One of them even tried to hit one of the front sitters.

At that moment someone shouted from the audience, "We had better go
to the zoo instead of the circus and watch the animals as long as we
wished. Then there was a break for 15 minutes.

The performers earned 500AMD per a circle on a "trained"
horseback. Soon a large queue was formed, and the administration
added the time of the break for another fifteen minutes.

P.S.

We shall try to find out from the circus administration in the nearest
future what factors such a low-quality show was determined by and
what problems the Yerevan State Circus faces nowadays.