Сircus backstage view

Circus backstage is a wonderland. Vorgang, the curtain that separates the ring from backstage, is a zone of particular tension. An inexperienced person will see here only hectic movement, Brownian movement. Some are getting ready for performance waiting for the moment when they will run out into the ring into the limelight and do their numbers. Others return here, all covered with sweat all exhausted by the performance. Uniformists (ring workers) rush about installing and replacing the circus props for circus acts. Every act has unique props and apparatuses; they need to be installed fast and safe, because often an artist’s life depends on it. Bears on chains sit aside waiting for their act. One needs to watch it very well, because a kind and tame bear can accidentally wave a paw – and the consequences will be hard to predict.

Everybody is equal here be that a world-known clown or a rooky uniformist. Success of the performance depends on every circus worker no matter where such performance takes place: in a chapiteau in Zhmerynka, in Paris or in the famous Moscow Circus on Vernadsky Blvd…

Vlad Honcharov, a famous Ukrainian lion tamer runs up to me, “Let’s go; we’ve got 30 minutes for your Weekly.ua.” This was at a prestigious circus festival. It has just became known that Honcharov’s act earned the Golden Prize, a dream of any circus artist. There was only Gala concert to be held and after that everybody went their own ways. A young, four-year old lion Hector lazily jumps off the pedestal and stands beside Vlad waiting. “This strange routine again,” the thought is written on the creature’s face. The tamer tousles the lion’s mane; grabs his jaws with his hands, opens up the mouth and slowly starts to put his head into the lion’s mouth between the yellow fangs. The trap is set. In wildlife, a lion bites through an antelope’s neck in one move. When this act is performed on the ring, the audience gets so still that you can physically feel the silence; then follows a sigh of relief – that is how the adrenaline, which is why the people come to the circus, dashes out. “Did you get it?” Vlad comes up and looks at the camera’s screen with interest. “Maybe once again?” We did not want another attempt. Today, many Ukrainians speak with admiration about the world-known Canadian Cirque Du Soleil not even suspecting that Ukrainian, Russian and Chinese artists account to 80% of its troupe. It is simply a fact that circus art in the West started to develop after collapse of the Soviet Union, when thousands of unemployed in their homeland talented artists moved to work there. The West with its typical pragmatic approach managed to turn circus into a quite profitable business. The tickets for circus performances there cost more than for concerts of pop stars. International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo, founded by Prince Rainier III is among the hallmarks of Monaco along with its casinos and Formula One race. Clown d’Or  is just as prestigious in the circus world as Oscar in the film industry. There are dozen festivals in the world – in Paris, Budapest, Moscow, China, Cuba – where artists from all around the world come. For the audience, it is an unforgettable event and for circus artists a labor market.

It is may be improper to say that money is the moving force of art and circus is not exception, but that’s exactly how it goes. An average performer in a western circus earns EUR 100-150 per one act in the ring while a unique act earns EUR 600 or even EUR 1,000 per one performance. That is why the artists work hard, hire famous (and expensive) directors for staging an act, order original music, attend festivals in order to earn the much cherished prizes. If you become one of the distinguished performers, you will secure a comfortable living for yourself and your producers and a nice retirement. The situation at home is not that bright. In Ukraine, US $30-50 per act is the maximum you can earn. In a month, you can have 20 acts.

People have their own stories of coming to a circus. But once you come here, you stay here forever. Love led Vlad to the circus. Not in the circus right away, though. After the army, friends offered him to make some money by working as a circus manager. He distributed posters, sold tickets. There he met Milena, a trapeze gymnast. It is not so easy to love a circus artist since they have a nomadic way of life and are always on the move. The choice was scarce: either Milena leaves the circus, which was out of question, or Vlad remains to work in the circus. He promised his beloved lady that he would become a star and throw the Monte Carlo’s Clown d’Or at her feet. He went and bought a small lion for his own money and started working on taming it. It was an unusual situation. He had no relation to taming animals, while the circus artists did not hurry to share the secrets with him. He took up the most risky circus genre. It was a precarious and adventurous thing. On the one hand, there was a small, clueless beast who did not really understand what a man wanted from him and on the other – illusory Monte Carlo. Who believed in success? Only Vlad and his Milena.

Fifteen years passed. Lions wounded the tamer three times. Once, he was practically eaten by them. Vlad tells about it without constraint: “I had a timely escape from the cage. They united into a pride and set out for hunting. Hunting me!” At home, he has the most prestigious circus awards on the shelf – Golden Elephant of Moscow Festival at the Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Avenue and Golden Prize of the Festival in Budapest. His six-year old son Timur also participates in the act. This is just the case when circus workers say to each other that the child was “born in the sawdust”.

By the way, invitation to the 35th International Circus Festival in Monte Carlo is already in Vlad’s pocket.