Moscow Aquarium's Koschei Show: A New Year's Spectacular

I had the idea to visit a water show at Moscow Aquarium after our last visit to the oceanarium exhibit. We were lucky enough to catch an open dolphin training session, and it was really interesting and educational, and of course, I wanted to see their full performance. Plus, my kid is also interested in other marine animals, after the sea lions and walruses show in Yarko's Acrobatic Show in the Big Moscow Circus on Vernadsky Prospekt, my son was completely thrilled.

Just in time for the New Year, Moscow Aquarium started showing a new program, the fantastical water show 'Koschei', which combines performances by musical theater artists, acrobats, aerialists with numbers featuring marine animals. The show is a real spectacle!

Tickets

Tickets for the show are quite pricey. The cheapest ones cost 1500 rubles and are just a couple of small rows on the sides. They sell out immediately. The next in line are tickets for 2200 rubles, the farthest seats from the center (A1 and C3) and slightly closer seats in the upper rows (A4 and C5). We bought tickets for sector A4, row 187. The view was great, although it was an edge seat, but nothing obstructed it, minus the distance to the stage.

Before, we hadn't been to a show at Moscow Aquarium, so I had no idea what the size of the hall was like, according to the layout, it seemed pretty small to me, but it's not. The stage is separated from the hall by a large pool, so from the upper rows, you can't see the small details, the performers' faces when they're on stage. But you can see the performers in the air and in the water just fine.

But even the seats on the very first rows have their downsides, as the action happens not only on stage but also in the air, in the pool, and on the platforms right in front of the first rows, so the view can be partially obstructed.

It's best to sit in the middle, but on the side seats, the descending structures where the swords slide down might slightly obstruct your view.

The distance between the rows is comfortable, you can easily walk to your seats without disturbing the people already seated.

I ordered the tickets on Moscow Aquarium's official website and immediately received them in an email after payment. You don't need to print the tickets, the staff at Moscow Aquarium will scan the QR codes directly from your phone screen at the entrance.

The hall where the water shows take place is located on the 3rd floor of Moscow Aquarium. There are several entrances to the hall, one for each sector. There are also small cloakrooms nearby, so you don't need to stand in line for the cloakroom on the first floor.

Before the show started, the foyer was just packed with people, no pre-show entertainment to be seen. We were greeted with lines for the escalators and lines at the entrance.

It started a bit late, about 10 minutes behind schedule, and people just kept pouring in while we waited.

In the meantime, we got to check out the stage and decorations. They're seriously impressive in scale. Right in front of us was this massive aquarium with three shallow areas, exits for the marine animals to the audience. Although no one actually swam out to them during the show, the dolphins and shark did jump right in front.

The aquarium's transparent, so from the front rows you can see the animals through the water. From the upper seats, it's visible too, but the angle's not as great.

The stage is on the opposite side of the aquarium, partially flooded with water. That's where the sea lion, seals, and walrus came out.

The decorations are on either side of the stage, a huge castle that can be lit up in different ways to change its look. Behind the stage is a massive screen with constantly changing multimedia projections.

Plot

The plot's your standard New Year's show fare: some villains try to ruin the holiday and kidnap Father Frost. In this case, the villains are the students of the School of Mischief: Zmey Gorynych, Vodyanoy, Baba Yaga, and the top student, Koshchei. Although they're named after Russian folk characters, they look different. Baba Yaga, for example, is a young witch in a pointy hat.

Koshchei meets Snegurochka, and... he's immediately left in the lurch by his former partners, loses his magical powers, and has to team up with the people he was just trying to harm.

Koshchei's not the only one who's not what you'd expect, though. Snegurochka's more like Harley Quinn than the traditional Snow Maiden, with her red coat and two blonde ponytails.

The story's a pretty standard romance, with opposites attracting, heroes facing challenges, and love conquering all. There are some slow parts, too many pointless dialogues, and songs that don't always add to the plot. The sound's pretty loud, coming from the stage, but sometimes the actors are in the audience, making it hard to tell who's speaking or singing.

Still, the action's pretty intense and sometimes even magical.

This show's definitely not for little kids, more like younger school kids and up, maybe even teenagers. It's not your typical fairy tale, it's modern, uses slang, and has jokes.

Adults might find it a bit dull.

The production's massive, with a huge cast of performers flying above the audience and stage, doing acrobatic stunts on giant lollipops suspended in mid-air, jumping off seesaws into the water, riding dolphins, dancing on stage and in front of the first rows.

There are synchronized swimmers in the water.

But sometimes there's too much going on, it's hard to know where to look, and the action can get a bit chaotic. If you get caught up in the moment, you might miss something important.

Among all the action, the marine animals don't get a lot of screen time. The walruses and seals do a great job, though - they don't do anything supernatural, but it all fits perfectly with the narration.

The dolphin performance was amazing, though. Eight or nine dolphins were performing at the same time, jumping out of the water in different parts of the pool, so everyone in the audience could see them.

The trainers were whipping the dolphins around so fast, it was incredible.

And the dolphins were even throwing balls into the audience - we were in row 18, so they didn't quite make it to us, but the people in the first few rows were catching them.

In the end, during the romantic song, a seal appeared in the pool. It was a bit weird that Snow Maiden and Koschei were singing off-stage, so we were watching them, and we almost missed the main star, the seal Naia.

We were blown away by how good she was!

The seal did a few flips out of the water, showed herself to the central section of the audience, popped up near the stage (she didn't climb out of the water entirely), swam around the pool (she was moving so fast!), and then swam away. It was only about five minutes, but it was incredibly impressive! We'd never seen a seal up close before - no special effects can compare to the beauty of this marine animal.

After the show, people could pay to take photos with the performers in a special photo zone.

I left the Magical Water Show 'Koschei' at Moscow Aquarium with mostly positive impressions - I'd give it a solid 4 out of 5. The show itself is a real spectacle, but it can get a bit chaotic and drag on at times, leaving the marine animals' performances feeling a bit rushed.