The enviable reputation of Russian circus (and that of other countries of the former Soviet bloc) is based on 200 years of tradition, but in particular 70 years of massive state support under the communist regime. Modern circus was started in London in 1768 by Philip Astley and rapidly became the chief form of performance entertainment throughout much of the world during the 19th century.

Catherine the Great had invited the English trick rider and impresario Charles Hughes (Astley's rival) to set up a riding school in St Petersburg, and circus quickly spread, eventually producing its own dynastic families - the Durovs, Zapashnys, Kios, Kantemirovs and others - who passed on their skills from one generation to the next.

To the founding fathers of the Soviet state however, circus had a special significance which put it on a par with, even above, the ballet and opera: it was a truly popular - egalitarian - form of entertainment, enjoyed by all, regardless of race, language, age, education or class. Requiring great skill and benefiting from creativity and originality, circus nevertheless needs no sophistication.

Through the establishment of state circus schools in Moscow and other major cities, circus developed in quality and on a scale unknown in other countries, and from the 1950s became a highly successful cultural export. (Its first visit to Britain was in 1956.)

At its height, on the eve of the collapse of the communist regime in the early 1990s, there were 70 permanent circus buildings and about 50 travelling circuses. The major building is the Moscow Circus with its four vertically interchangeable rings for different types of acts, equestrian, aquatic etc. But a citizen in the farthest reaches of the USSR could expect to see 5 or 6 circuses every year in his home town - about 100 different acts.

The fall of communism has thrown this massive cultural organisation into disarray, and the future is uncertain. Meantime, however, we are priviledged still to be able to glimpse the glory of this part of Russia's impressive cultural heritage