Flying Shurale, miracles on tubetey and own horses

There are never enough ornaments

Director Elmira Bulatova announced the preparation of the programme last autumn, in an interview with Realnoe Vremya she described it as follows: “This is about our everything — our myths, legends, traditions, about what Tatarstan is — as we see it in the circus. Naturally, there will be Sabantuy, without it, the national Tatar show will not work.” The show was taken over by Evgeny Shevtsov, the main director of the Moscow Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard (he also did New Year's Labyrinth). Together with the choreographer Olga Poltorak, they received the Thea Awards in Los Angeles this year (for Chimelong Showin Guangzhou). The team also includes Director of the Kazan Circus Andrey Sharnin, production designer Nadezhda Russ, set designer and visual effects artist Anatoly Nezhny. Artistic director of the Kamal Theatre and Ekiyat Ilgiz Zainiyev, who wrote At the Sennoy Bazaar, advised turning to legends.

The rest is already a circus process, when spectacular numbers were combined with light, sound and bright costumes. Rehearsals with the participation of more than 80 people ended on the day of the premiere, 12 June, at four in the morning. The budget slightly exceeded the planned 100 million rubles.

The language of Miras is Tatar and Russian, like in Soviet times: first in one language, then in the other... For example, this is how the song Tugan Yak is performed with simultaneous translation into Russian on large screens.

Aigul Zainullina, the leader of Bolgar Girls band, acted as a music consultant. The lyrics were written by Gelyusa Battalova, a poet and deputy director of marketing at the Atna Theatre. But at the same time, Disney music and the obligatory Latin American music were played in Miras. And the audience was even encouraged to perform Seven Nation Army.

At first, Tugan Yak sounds as an instrumental. After which, in the arena, we see a rocking chair with a grandmother (Victoria Buturlina), telling stories to her grandchildren, and the artists and students of the children's circus school of the Kazan Circus arrange a parade with heroes, among whom you notice the magic horse Tulpar.

Each number is stylized as some kind of iconic legend. The plots are all right in this regard, but the laws of the circus genre require twisting the handles to the right, so, of course, apologists for authenticity will have to make compromises — a kind of magical realism is recreated on stage.

Tatar Cossacks and a giant bear

The show's colouring is mostly Tatar — even the arena workers ran around in skullcaps. And the Honoured Artist of the Republic of Tuva Demir Khertek demonstrated miracles of balance on reels, performing on a giant tubetey. Emilia Budzilovich with trained sheep appeared in a Kryashen outfit (and a guy with a kurai looked after her).

Sakha provided Kazan with a trio of jugglers under the direction of Roman Romanov — however, our artists transformed into Zilants with tails — they did not interfere with juggling. Here, the audience was shown equipment for fire barriers, but, frankly speaking, if they had not been mentioned in the release, they would not have made an impression.

Our aerial gymnasts were responsible for the song episode based on Tukay's poem The Moon and the Sun (it's called Tatar Wisdom), and the singers were either Symbel Kiyamova or Aigul Gardislamova. In the act Air Horizontal Bars Perezvony, Shurale flew under the dome.

Sometimes the circus show turned into a spectacular fashion show. Artists danced in bear and fox masks, a huge bear head flew over the audience — and this was only an introduction with a trained bear under the direction of Aliya Takshantova from the Moscow Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard (she sports a Turkish fez, popular among Tatars at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries).

Thanks to Acrobats on the Track, we were able to see what the mats with ornaments look like — the atmosphere of Sabantuy was conveyed brightly and cheerfully.

The Kazan people had a joint act with the Belarusian State Circus — these were riders on horses under the direction of Andrei Astafyev, a student of Yuri Merdenov, who created the act Kuban Cossacks back in 1974. Kazan first bought its own horses. So, finally, the circus united the Cossacks and Tatars (in the theatre, let us recall, the Naberezhnye Chelny residents had already done this). Well, and when one of the horsemen unfurled the flag of Tatarstan, one could forgive both the pauses and forget that one of the riders almost got under the hooves.

What is allowed in the circus

It seems that the most touching number was based not on legends, but on Soviet classics — this is the Blue Shawl by aerial gymnasts on belts Alina Ivacheva and Ivan Grebenkin, who appeared as a loving couple from the cult Tatar performance.

The second place of honour is held by the performance Tugan Tel by the solo equilibrist Ivan Grebenkin, who in the image of a poet rose on his hands above stacks of books, and then even higher, with the help of a stylized pen.

Finally, we saw a circus ballet on the stage, in which the headdresses of girls with covered faces (like the Udmurts at weddings) were decorated with the symbols of Tatarstan. At that moment, it seemed that the building near the Kremlin had rethought Tatar folklore so coolly, as no mega-extra-street-fashion-echpochmak-designer, postulating “neo-Tatarism,” had ever managed to do.

The pauses during the changes were filled by the clown Ksenia Zubova, who played the role of the Matchmaker. But at the same time, for some reason, she was looking for a Batyr for herself and dragging men onto the stage, flirting in every possible way. Matchmakers must unite hearts! She was also assisted by Chak-Chak and Domovoy (played by Filgat Ziyatdinov), as well as Echpochmak and the Old Man (Pavel Loginov). The accordionist (Azat Zalyaliev/Semyon Leontyev) brought some sense to the process.

To be honest, the deliberately “cranberry” naivety of Miras, in whose design the word “Mirage” was visible, did not suit him. But the uncompromising courage, determined by circus laws, suited him very well.