Privet from Pavlodar, Kazakhstan! Rachel here.
One of the privileges of this trip for us is that we get to live one, and only one, life while we are in Central Asia. That may sound strange, but being a performer in New York City means that we live many lives all at once - teacher, babysitter, waiter/waitress, florist, bartender, film editor, graphic designer etc., on top of being a performer. I am lucky that my other life in New York City is also as a performer. I am a circus artist specializing in aerials such as aerial hoop and silks as well as hand-balancing. Even though we certainly are still busy teaching and performing while here, it is amazing to be able to focus on just one project at a time rather than the constant changing from one to another. That said, I couldn't completely leave that life behind during my travels. And so, when I learned in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan that the Russian Circus was in town I got very excited. Its not often that I would get the chance to see a traditional Russian circus because in North America the circus is a lot more of what we call "cirque nouveau" or "contemporary circus". Cirque nouveau is to traditional circus what modern dance is to ballet in that it takes the idiom and brings it into the present by fusing the old with new influences from other arts forms and often is more current and contemporary. Unfortunately I found out too late to actually see the circus in Ashgabat because the only shows were that night and we'd already missed the show or the night of our show at Mukamlar Palace, so that wasn't going to happen.
Disappointed, but hopeful that there might be another circus in a different city we would visit on our tour, I soldiered on. That is, until we came to Pavlodar, Kazakhstan where one of the first things I saw on our ride to the hotel from the airport was a sign for was had to be a circus! I couldn't get too excited yet because I couldn't read the writing on the poster, so I had to wait and see if there were even showtimes while we were in town. After some inquiries, the amazing consulate staff working with us here in Pavlodar were able to arrange for several of us to go see Euro Circus, the Russian Circus (or Ruskie Tsirk in Russian as I've learned).
After a day of master classes, we headed off for what was my first trip to the traditional circus, animals and strong men and all. There were tons of children but also some adults, besides us, who weren't accompanying kids and everyone had a huge grin on their faces.
The show had lots of animal acts including doves, dogs, a baboon, a black bear, snakes, cats, and turtles, as well as a few aerial numbers, two jugglers, a hand-balancer and ballerina duet, a strong man named "Iron Alex", who withstood a three-ton car being driven over him among other insane feats, and of course a pair of clowns to fill in the scene change gaps.
One of the evening’s high points was one juggler who juggled six balls while swinging suspended in the air by a harness. Quite a feat indeed! I found it very interesting that most of the music was actually in English, even for acts geared toward children probably too young to be bilingual. Overall, it was a very kid-friendly show, though, as with even the Nutcracker, there were a few jokes and bits sprinkled in there for the adults.
Disappointed, but hopeful that there might be another circus in a different city we would visit on our tour, I soldiered on. That is, until we came to Pavlodar, Kazakhstan where one of the first things I saw on our ride to the hotel from the airport was a sign for was had to be a circus! I couldn't get too excited yet because I couldn't read the writing on the poster, so I had to wait and see if there were even showtimes while we were in town. After some inquiries, the amazing consulate staff working with us here in Pavlodar were able to arrange for several of us to go see Euro Circus, the Russian Circus (or Ruskie Tsirk in Russian as I've learned).
After a day of master classes, we headed off for what was my first trip to the traditional circus, animals and strong men and all. There were tons of children but also some adults, besides us, who weren't accompanying kids and everyone had a huge grin on their faces.
The show had lots of animal acts including doves, dogs, a baboon, a black bear, snakes, cats, and turtles, as well as a few aerial numbers, two jugglers, a hand-balancer and ballerina duet, a strong man named "Iron Alex", who withstood a three-ton car being driven over him among other insane feats, and of course a pair of clowns to fill in the scene change gaps.
One of the evening’s high points was one juggler who juggled six balls while swinging suspended in the air by a harness. Quite a feat indeed! I found it very interesting that most of the music was actually in English, even for acts geared toward children probably too young to be bilingual. Overall, it was a very kid-friendly show, though, as with even the Nutcracker, there were a few jokes and bits sprinkled in there for the adults.
All in all we had a fantastic evening (Evan and Joe even got to take a picture with the baboon) and I was reminded that no matter the idiom (circus, dance, opera, theater, or music) art creates a liminal space for people to escape to from their daily. It is an inspiring, thought provoking, and communal experience and it made me so proud to see so many people attending live entertainment, especially with their children.
Dos vedanya!
Dos vedanya!
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