Casselly Moscow 2009 (From Don Covington)

Casselly Moscow 2009, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Hi Buckles, The French circus site "au Cirque" just posted this photo of the act that Germany's Rene Casselly took to the Moscow Circus Festival this month. His liberty act with four elephants and four horses captured a prize (no mean feat with a Russian jury). The combination looks similar to what Sasha Houcke put together when he was with Ringling. The accompanying story described the act that won the grand prize (unfortunately, there was not a photo). The Festival winner was a wild animal number entitled "In the Ruins of the Old Castle". A cage act, it featured 3 tigers, two black panthers and one spotted leopard. The trainers, Andrei and Natalia Shirokalov, choreographed the routine to original music. Natalia entered the cage from above, doing an aerial routine. The reviewer said that the most spectacular tricks involved the cats making long jumps between tall columns. The act lasted 30 minutes and received a standing ovation from the audience and the jury. All the best, Don