The Mongolian State Circus

The Mongolian State Circus in Ulaanbaatar stands empty, most of the time, its golden-tiled big top a monument to the glory days when a Communist state could truly fund a circus.

But at special times of year — like Mothers’ and Children’s Day or Naadam — the circus comes to town. And how.

There’s the ringmaster, rapid with the patter, suave in his top hat, keeping the balance right between the big ticket drama — contortionists, acrobats — and the smaller acts, the clowns, the jugglers…

The corde lisse is balletic.

And, oddly, feminist, too.

The girl and the guy are equal partners. She lifts him, he her.

The clown works the crowd with balloon animals, bringing kids and adults alike into the ring. But when the animal tamer sends the ducks down the slide, the building almost shakes with laughter.

The trapeze artists don’t whelm the crowd so much as the acrobats, spinning vertiginously high into space, or the jugglers, balancing on rolling pipes while throwing bowls from head to head.

Mongolia has the best contortionists in the world, some say. My jaw heads floorward at the sight of the girl on the left, but the audience takes it in their stride.

They’re waiting for the big act. The…

Yes, I’m afraid it really is. Not just a skipping poodle. But a dancing bear.

We don’t have dancing bears in England, any more. They went out not long after the bear-baiting they derived from.

And yet… Watching the sheer fear on the bear-tamer’s face, and the size of those savage, savage claws, it’s not hard to see why in Mongolia this is the highlight of the show.

Because, as Zac puts it, “It feels as though the bear could win.”

The UB Post is the place to look for circuses in Mongolia. There are also excellent contortionists, as well as throat-singers, nightly round the corner at Tumen Ekh.