The Soviet-era circus building in Dushanbe still operates performances on weekends during the season (roughly October through spring). Soviet circuses were a genuine art form — the Dushanbe company, though much reduced from its Soviet-era size, still includes acrobats, jugglers, and animal trainers trained in the Russian circus tradition.
Attending a performance is a window into a Soviet cultural institution that has largely disappeared in Russia and Ukraine but persists in Central Asia. The audience is local and enthusiastic, the acts are variable in quality but always genuine, and the tickets are extremely cheap. Worth an evening if you happen to be in Dushanbe during the season.