High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Valentin Gneushev (born December 20, 1951) is a Russian circus director and choreographer. Gneushev was born in the city of Nizhny Tagil in the Serdlovsk region. He studied to be a clown at the Moscow State Circus School and later graduated from the Russian Academy of Theatrical Arts as an artistic director. The first circus act he worked on, the aerial group performance Cranes (1985), was an instant success. It was on tour in many countries and received various awards.