Wednesday, July 26, 2017

#4 Stamps


Posted by Buckles at 7/26/2017 05:14:00 AM

6 comments:

Chic Silber said...


World famous Russian Bear trainer

Valentin Filatov He had an entire

circus of bear acts He came over

with the 1st Moscow Circus tour

presented by Morris Chalfen in 63

Old (#3) Garden at 49th & 50th

I worked frontlight a few of the

nights filling in for a friend

Never saw horses as fast as the

Cossak Riders at FULL gallop

Tremendous reinforced ring curb

with a great bank of dirt

26 July, 2017 15:12
Unknown said...

This show was one of the best I ever saw. I have a record of the show and I used to play it over and over. Volshanki wire act, Popov, Kiss with juggling, the list goes on.

Other Russian shows came over but I thought this one was really special. Popov was in a class of his own and worked through out the show.

Bob Good

26 July, 2017 18:24
Chic Silber said...


Absolutely Robert I had never

seen anything like it (or since)

Oleg Popov was a fantastic talent

He passed away just last November

These was a juggling strongman

that gave me pause as he threw

heavy brass balls in the air &

caught thm on his neck (ouch)

(Something like Yevesyvold)

I believe this was a cultural

exchange when Art Concello

sent an American contingent to

the USSR (as we knew it then)

26 July, 2017 18:34
Roger Smith said...

This sounds like the same show I saw in the late '70s. Russ Darr led the band.

27 July, 2017 21:11
Unknown said...

Vsevolad Kherts was the strongman. Russians love a strongman act and this was the first I ever saw.

Filatovs bears would pick the bikes off the floor and ride them.

Kiss the juggler was a mentor for the great Ignatov.

Volshanki high wire act was out of sight, Tricks like a onehander on the head of bottom man going up an incline were just one in a series of tricks I have not seen before or since.

Low bar act was arranged in a square with giant swings on all four bars at once while another walked on the top between their hands,

Two man handbalancing was top notch. Cossacks the best ever.

One act was standard in my book and that was the strongman's wife did a low wire routine in peasant costume. I was young and may have missed something there,

Merle actually played the Russian march on one of his reoords.

Popov was just great. I get excited just thinking about that show. As far as I know that it the only time they came over with that particular group. I still have the program.

Bob Good

27 July, 2017 22:07
Chic Silber said...


Thanks Robert for the details

A million memmories come back

But no Roger the 2nd Moscow tour

wasn't nearly the same show

A real letdown from the 1st

28 July, 2017 07:16

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)