Edgard Zapashny: Grand Moscow Circus is planning a tour to South Caucasus

The Grand Moscow Circus and the Zapashny brothers are planning to tour Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. the director of the Grand Moscow Circus, People's Artist of Russia Edgard Zapashny said in an exclusive interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza. "As a child I spent a lot of time in the South Caucasus. I even went to school there, because my dad was frequently on tour in Baku and Tbilisi and Yerevan. I always liked to be there and I hope that in the near future we will be able to travel there with our performance. It is a good time for this now," he said.

The trainer shared his memories of the trip to Baku when he starred in the film "Don't Be Afraid, I Am With You! 1919" by Yuli Gusman. He noted that first of all he was very pleasantly surprised by kind attitude of Azerbaijanis to Russians.

"I didn't feel any animosity or tensions, there was no language barrier. Even if a person didn't understand what I said,he was still trying to find a common language. It's great. I was also pleasantly surprised that about 30 km from Baku people sit at night at outdoor restaurants and eat a meal. I asked several questions about security, but I was assured that everything was organized at a high level. As for the center of Baku, it competes with the Arab Emirates. It is beautiful – vast expanses, super lighting,'' he said.

Speaking about the development of the circus in the Caucasus, he expressed the hope that the Baku circus will be reconstructed soon. "It is the correct step, because it needs to be reconstructed. At the same time, the Baku circus is one of the most visited circuses in the world. I still remember it from childhood. Four performances were given a day in Baku. Nobody else could boast of this. The Azerbaijanis love the circus, they know a lot about it. It is really popular there," Edgard Zapashny said.

In addition, he spoke about the tour of one of the teams of the Grand Moscow Circus, which started in Dubai on Wednesday February 10th. The performance "The UFO from Another Planet" gathered 2500 onlookers the day before yesterday. It was the first day of our tour, which is to last until February 13th. Six performances have been scheduled there. One of the performances is to be visited by the king and the princess. They will invite about 2000 children with disabilities. It will be a charity event. Our tour caused a big stir in the local press, which attended the premiere yesterday. So I am convinced once again that as an art the circus can and should be have an international character, because it is not easy to bring what was made in Russia to the UAE," he shared his opinion.

However, he drew attention to the fact that the circus is an international, a-political and non-age-specific language. "Under our dome we unite a very large number of different people of different nationalities, religions and political views. We allow to relax, to be together, enjoy and believe in miracles," Edgard Zapashny summed up.