Applause to the circus artists in South African Republic

“We haven’t seen such a performance before!”, “This is phenomenal!”, “Stunts beyond reality!” – those were typical headlines of the newspapers and magazines in South African Republic in the days of the Russian circus’s tour.

   For the residents of South African Republic circus is an exotic phenomenon. Many people are acquainted with the arena arts only via news items and magazine articles. And that’s why public excitement, which accompanied the tour that lasted from 26th March to 27th April, is quite understandable. Two grounds were prepared for the performances in the biggest cities of South African Republic - Johannesburg and Cape Town, halls seating up to 3 and 7 thousand spectators. In all the central streets of these cities one could see bright posters promising an unprecedented show; reels with fragments of performances were demonstrated on TV. Among those who took part in the programme are acrobats with teeter boards, the Chernievskiys, gymnasts with stein-trap Grigory and Tatiana Prozenko, jugglers Mikhail Ivanov and Alyona Ivanova, air gymnasts Akilovs, performer of a plastic etude Maria Sarach, group jugglers under the direction of Mikhail Talanin. Together with the Russian artists, acrobats under the direction of Sergey Yarmoshko (Belorussia), artists on horizontal bars under the direction of Igor Baibak, “Ikar artists” under the direction of Vladimir Kuskov (Ukraine). Each turn was accompanied with rapt exclamations of the overcrowded hall. And on the whole the programme, according to the spectators’ admission, left an unforgettable impression and was an event which will stay in people’s memory for a very long time.