Moscow’s Juggling Bears and Acrobats Delight N.Y.

The Los Angeles-bound version of the Moscow Circus opened its tour of the United States Thursday night with Cossack horseback riders, juggling Siberian bears, Sumatran tigers, high-flying acrobats on stilts and clowns who are graduates of the official Soviet Circus University.

At least one act in the show needs to go back to school. Most of the children in the hall were invited to come up on stage to witness a juggler--who shamelessly begged his audience for “one more chance” to successfully complete his bungled trick.

The show begins with the Chernievski acrobats who do flips on tall stilts, starting out on a teeterboard and landing on a table-size mat.

Spectators who go to the Moscow Circus for the Russian bears won’t be disappointed by the Zolkin family and their 12 trained animals ranging in age from 6 months to 11 years. At one high point of the act some of the bears and trainers simultaneously juggle balls with their paws and feet.

Fans of trained animals also ohhed and ahhed while Nikolai Pavlenko coaxed his 17 tigers through their paces, without the help of a cracking whip.

In a finale which is worth waiting for--the circus runs on for more than three hours--Tamerlan Nugzarov and his riders sent 12 Caucasian horses galloping at full speed around the Radio City stage.

When the circus moves west, it will appear in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.