When Cirque du Soleil first set up in Moscow’s Kremlin theatre in February, Russian circuses were nervous about losing their audiences.

That hasn't happened, as the Montreal troupe’s Zarkana differs from the traditional Russian circus fare.

However, the Cirque then began hiring away their performers — about one-quarter of the acrobats on the Moscow show are Russian-trained.

As Jean-François Bélanger reports, the real rivalry has now become who lands the most promising artists.