These Graduates Throw Themselves, Not Caps, in the Air<br />Valentina Savina, the school’s director and author of a textbook about teaching the circus arts, summed up the power of the big top: "If ballet, music<br />and theater require age in order understand their philosophy, circus is understandable to everyone, from young to old." Sergey Kerdivarov, 66, a former trapeze artist, taught in Sweden before returning to Russia to instruct students at the Moscow Circus School.<br />21, 2017<br />MOSCOW — Ringling Brothers has shut down in the United States,<br />but the big top lives on in Russia, which carries on a deeply-rooted circus tradition that soars above today’s geopolitical conflicts.<br />The hall was packed with family members and talent scouts, including Edgard Zapashny, director of the Moscow State Circus.<br />Rumyantsev State School of Circus and Variety Arts — a four-year program with 180 students<br />who attend free of charge — bills itself as the world’s first full-fledged circus college.<br />" said Ms. Belova, who started out at the age of 8. that I came to a performance, saw it and wanted to do it,<br />" he said. that The circus is like one family — everyone helps each other,
