Dancing on the Whale Fish and the Gymnast Tsar Maiden
The Kazan Circus presented «The Little Humpbacked Horse»
The Kazan Circus has presented a joint project with the Nikulin Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard — the New Year's tale «The Little Humpbacked Horse». The main character is the mini-horse Funtik. Acrobats, horses and dancers dressed as houses are woven into the plot framework of the 19th-century classic. The performance is set to be shown 61 times — this is a new record for the Kazan Circus.
From the creators of the «Miras» show
«The Little Humpbacked Horse» is a production prepared in Moscow in 2023 by the same team that prepared the «Miras» performance in Kazan this year. The team includes chief director Yevgeny Shevtsov, chief ballet master Olga Poltaraq and clown director Andrey Sharnin. It is important to understand that the tale was not brought to Kazan, but rather transferred there.
The entire main plot framework of Pyotr Yershov's work has been transferred to the circus space. The performance will be shown 61 times.
Vladimir Kozhevnikov, the inspector of the ring at the Nikulin Circus, speaks on behalf of the author. The roles of the three brothers are entrusted to the clown trio «Without Socks» — all of them are from Yekaterinburg and have been working together for 11 years. The eldest is Danila (Artyom Babinov), the middle one is Gavril (Konstantin Kopeikin), and the youngest is Ivan (Maxim Karpov). All the performers are dressed in colourful costumes by Nadezhda Russ — Kadysheva would be pleased!
The performance begins with the flight of Ded Moroz (Father Frost) on a sleigh. The project is indeed a joint one, judging by the acts and participants. For example, the role of Grandfather is played by Pavel Loginov, an actor from the «Sdvig» circus and theatre, and the role of Snegurochka (the Snow Maiden) is played by ballet dancer Polina Bibikova.
Horses, people and ferrets
Next, we learn that the brothers grow wheat. And on the arena, lined with hay, acrobats are already jumping on a triple Russian pole under the guidance of Ilya Tyufyaev. The artists have visited Kazan several times, for example, last December for the New Year's «Labyrinth».
The mare appears, by the way, all the acts are named after quotes from Yershov, and of course, the mini-horse Funtik. The brothers go to the market, where the controversial in terms of meaning song «Everything in the world is for sale, everything is bought at the fair» is played: the circus ballet company turns into market stalls. The balance artists soar into the air on perches and then fall sharply and deliberately, delighting the audience — this is a group led by Alikhan Alikhanov.
In the capital, there lives a «progressive» tsar — Andrey Averyushkin Sr. In Kazan, he performs with his wife; they show an act with ferrets and roosters. It is interesting mainly due to its humour — for example, in one moment the ferrets start «playing» wind instruments.
Two black «gold-maned» horses appear at the market, led by Elena Pavlovich and Yulia Yakubovskaya — this is a difficult act to prepare, but not very spectacular, and the tsar orders to get the feather of the Firebird.
This is the preparation for the performance of our Kazan gymnasts, students of the Children's Circus School (Aisha Agaeva, Zaira Amirova, Zlata Guseva, Valeria Zaitseva, Elizaveta Ulybina, Diana Turgunova). The beauty of the act is emphasised by the original construction, which the technicians manage to disassemble and assemble in just a few minutes.
Greetings from «The Blue Shawl»
The second part of the performance also begins originally, with the theme of Month Mesyatsovich and the Sun: Kazan residents Yevgeny Petrov and Artur Yapparov climb into two wheels spinning in a circle and put on a bold acrobatic performance, jumping and running not only inside but also outside.
The organisers emphasise that the performance is created for the whole family. Apparently, the ballet's appearance in the second part in all its splendour is intended for older viewers. Here we see Alina Ivacheva, an aerial gymnast, in the role of Tsar Maiden. In general, we would like to thank our circus ballet, which often «pulled off» one or another act.
This happens, for example, during the appearance of Yulia Yakubovskaya's trained Nubian goats. The scene is gorgeous — a huge чудо-юдо (miracle-monster), a whale fish, on which houses are dancing. But the goats are not impressive; we can say that despite our respect for the work of the animal trainers, the acts with animals are not the strongest part of the performance.
And now there are three cauldrons in which the tsar-father must take a bath. Since this is a children's show, no one gets boiled in the boiling water; instead, the sovereign «starts to dance» and puts on a show with «percussion» cauldrons. It is worth remembering that the crown act of his son, Andrey Averyushkin Jr., is related to drums.
And Ivan transforms from a clown into a gymnast — Ivan Grebennik. He and Ivacheva soar into the sky on straps. Note that a similar act was in the «Miras» programme, where the authors turned it into a dedication to the «Blue Shawl» performance. Here their appearance is designated as «The Crown of Love».
Note that the performance lasts a little over two hours with an intermission — any special interludes involving the audience are kept to a minimum, and the technicians work quickly. The problem with the ending, where the Tsar Maiden presents the candidate for the new sovereign, has also been solved. And here, since the previous tsar has gone mad, and there can be no monarchy without a monarch, Danila and Gavril (and the people) decide that Ivan should be the tsar — «Smart, kind brother of ours!».