INTERNATIONAL performers from the collapsed Moscow Circus are forging their own way under a new big top.
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We now have Moscow-quality acts at half the price
- Goldie the Clown
After the Great Moscow Circus went into liquidation last week, 13 performers left stranded in Ballarat have since joined a new gig and took to the stage for the first time on Thursday night in Warrnambool.
The two animal trainers and their brood of 17 join three Brazilian and one Chilean motor bike riders added to Hudsons Circus’ list of performers this week.
The new additions join a group of experienced performers, many whose paths have crossed in the past.
Motor bike rider of 20 years, Chilian-born Eduardo Ogaz said the nomadic lifestyle allowed for frequent crossovers for circus performers.
“Most of us all knew each other from years before,” he said.
“When you are in the industry you usually know most other circus people.”
While acts may be the same the equipment only arrived on Wednesday night, with Warrnambool being chosen as the training ground.
“These are brand new bikes and a brand new globe,” Mr Ogaz said.
“It is a smaller globe than we are used to in the Moscow show and the bikes are a lot more powerful,” he said.
The globe is known in the production as the ‘Globe of Death’.
For animal trainers Rob Joye and Belinda McGahan it is a return to familiarity.
“We were originally a part of Hudsons Circus, we moved to Moscow Circus, and now we’re back,” Mr Joye said.
“The difference is here we are able to own our own animals and that’s much better for us and them.”
Hudsons Circus funny man ‘Goldie the Clown’ was a ring-in himself.
He joined the show after resigning from being Dreamworld’s mascot in 2012 after 20 years in the role.
“There’s a lot of us here that ran away to join the circus,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter where you came from.”
Goldie also said the liquidation of the Moscow Circus had its benefits for Hudsons Circus.
“We now have Moscow-quality acts at half the price,” he said.