Moscow State Circus, Star City, Birmingham - review

But where to? Christmas market? Too busy. Cinema? Not festive enough. Panto? Nearly there, but not everyone's cup of tea. Oh no it's not.

Just when we thought we were running out of options the circus rolled into town. The Moscow State Circus to be precise, with its magical Christmas circus spectacular.

The circus has set up home for the seasonal show at Star City in Birmingham.

And it fits right in, the huge big top nestling among the flashing lights and loud music of the fair rides. We turned up on the busy opening night this week, but thanks to plenty of staff and good organisation, there was not much queuing involved and we were straight in and seated in plenty of time.

The show began as it meant to go on, with a breath-taking display of agility, flexibility and strength as a scantily clad acrobat took to the skies, dangling variously by her hand or foot performing contortions in mid-air.

She was followed by various other acts of death-defying brilliance. An Egyptian themed display of some incredible gymnastic bar work and tumbles and acrobatics from gymnasts dressed in Elizabethan English costume were among them.. There was a fantastic tightrope walker who slid across the wire quickly, gracefully without putting a foot wrong, moonwalking as though she was floating on air.

Then there were the contortionists performing inside two giant Christmas baubles dangling in the air. All very impressive but when the baubles split open and the girls inside dangled by a hand or an ankle the audience members were on the edge of their seats.

No circus would be complete without a clown, and the show's in-house funnyman entertained the audience in between the acts. He had the full works; big shoes, baggy trousers that kept coming down, a bike that fell apart and so on. The younger members of the audience loved him and shrieked with delight at antics. Some were a little dated to impress the older audience members however.

The daredevil acts became more breath-taking as the show went on.

We saw roller-skaters spinning round on stage so fast that their striped costumes became a blur; acrobats performing a pole routine high up in the air – impressive anyway but more so as the pole was balanced on the shoulder of a trusted colleague below; and much more.

The two-hour show's high point however has to be its final act.

A group of male acrobats leapt and somersaulted from two giant Russian swings, being caught mid air by one of their number who was dangling from a hoist high above the ground. They turned and twisted as they dropped to land on their feet on the mats below, or, even more incredibly, on to the end of the still-moving swing.

As they performed, the audience became hushed and all that could be heard were the gasps of amazement as the sure-footed performers carried off the act with serious aplomb.

The show runs at Star City until January 8. It's a fantastic spectacle, and not just for Christmas.

By Sally-Anne Youll