Origins
The development of circus arts in Ukraine took place in parallel and from similar origins to that in Western Europe. Frescoes in St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev show buffoons and jugglers as early as the times of Kievan Rus. Singing, acrobatics and dancing were the essential elements of the Skomoroshestvo, which can probably best be translated as folk theater.
When the modern circus, which dates back to Philip Astley, established itself in Western Europe in the 19th century, it gave rise to more and more successful circus businessmen with a desire for expansion. This also led them eastwards, which can be seen in the emergence of the first stationary circus buildings. The first magnificent circus buildings were built by western European entrepreneurs in the territory of the then Russian Empire. The Frenchman Jaques Tournier started it in St. Petersburg in 1827 [1]. In 1857, Jean-Baptiste Godefroy built a tent in Odessa from simple means in which he presented horse riding and clowning. Other venues with varied histories were to follow until the so-called "iron circus" was opened in 1894 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Odessa. The building was given the status of state circus in 1925 and still functions today. [2]
Kharkiv in the east of Ukraine also has a long circus history, which began with the construction of a temporary wooden circus by the Prussian Wilhelm Sur in 1862. The first stone circus building in Kharkiv was built in 1906 by the merchant Heinrich Grikke. According to legend, the merchant's son Grikke fell in love with a circus rider, took her as his wife and fulfilled her dream of owning her own circus as a wedding present. After the revolution in 1917, the building was used as a state circus and was extensively renovated in 1930. The building miraculously survived the Second World War, as it was mined by the retreating German troops. According to the story, the wife of an artist remembered the position of the mines so precisely that they were successfully removed. [3] In the current war, the building was damaged by shells exploding nearby, but is reportedly still largely intact.
The first stationary circus building in Kyiv was built in 1875 by the Austrian Ignatius Sobbot. However, the pompous performances with more than 60 artists, a 35-person orchestra and 40 horses soon proved to be unprofitable. After just one year, the circus was closed and the building was rented to touring theater groups. It would take until 1891 before Kyiv would have a stationary circus again. [4]
The examples of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa show that though the modern circus in Ukraine was created during a time of Russian rule, it was initially western European entrepreneurs who sought their fortune in the East, imported the circus and found their local imitators. The Nikitin brothers - Akim, Petro and Dmytro - then had a formative influence in the 19th century. "By raising circus performances to a higher artistic level, they not only made this art popular, but also consistently defended the shameful honor of the circus, which had long had a reputation as a low spectacle." [5]
The brothers, who were born into poor circumstances, earned their money as street artists at a young age until they came up with the daring plan to take on the big western circus entrepreneurs. With their savings, they bought the material of the Czech Circus Emanuel Beránek and celebrated its premiere in the southern Russian city of Penza on December 23, 1873. It was the first genuinely Russian circus in the Russian Empire. [6]
On Ukrainian territory, the brothers opened buildings in Kyiv, Odessa and Kharkiv. They created employment opportunities for Ukrainian artists and took care of their professional training. They brought Ukrainian music and folklore elements into the circus performances and thus contributed to the development of an original Ukrainian style and the competitiveness of Ukrainian artists.
The Soviet period
In her dissertation on the development of the circus in Ukraine, Olena Pozharska describes the second half of the 19th and the early 20th century as a "phase of the organization of circus operations." Circus was organized entirely on a private basis at that time. This was to change with the revolution of 1917. The beginning of Ukraine's era as part of the Soviet Union brought with it various consequences for the circus. On the one hand, the popularity of circus art grew. On the other hand, however, politics and ideology entered the circus ring. Pantomimes were not only meant to entertain Soviet citizens, but also to educate them. Soviet authorities took control of the circus business. The suddenly increasing social importance was a double-edged sword. "The ability inherent in the circus to praise the limitless possibilities of man and to ridicule the outdated and reactionary gained agitational and propaganda significance in the first staging experiments of the Soviet state circus. At the same time, the level of circus performances increased thanks to the attention that writers, artists and directors (D. Bydny, B. Erdman, K. Golezovsky, M. Forreger, etc.) paid to the circus.”
In the decades after the Second World War, folk traditions and national folklore increasingly found their way into the Ukrainian circus. During this period, the system of circus studios emerged as a form of training. “The future members of the ensembles studied for two years in a special studio. Under the supervision of experienced teachers and trainers, young artists understood the basics of circus genres, practiced new numbers; they received lectures on the history of circus, theater and music; they attended courses in acting, make-up, dance and other disciplines.” [7] In 1961, the Academy of Circus and Performing Arts was founded in Kyiv. Since then, aspiring artists have been able to obtain academic degrees in circus arts here. [8]
At that time, circuses in the Soviet Union were all centrally organized and subordinate to the State Circus. From the 1960s, stationary circus buildings were built in various cities of the USSR, including in the Ukrainian Soviet Republic. "In 1959, the first stationary circus was built in the city of Simferopol according to the project of O. V. Smolsky (...). In 1960, new buildings of the Kiev and Dipropetrovsk State Circuses were opened. On the eve of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the city of Donetsk, on August 26, 1969, the Donetsk State Circus "Kosmos" was opened. In the early 1970s, the Kryvyi Rih State Circus, the Lviv State Circus, the Luhansk State Circus and the Zaporizhia State Circus were opened in Ukraine." [7]
Times of upheaval
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, numerous artistically high-quality performances were lost due to a lack of state support. The multitude of new entertainment options that the social and economic upheaval brought with it made it difficult for the circus to compete.
But the newly gained independence of Ukraine and the development of an independent Ukrainian cultural landscape simultaneously opened up opportunities for the circus. It opened itself up to influences from all over the world and modernized. Unlike in the former GDR, for example, the circus industry was not privatized. "After Ukraine declared independence, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine took over circus companies, institutions and organizations located on Ukrainian territory, and so in 1993 the creative association "Ukrderzhtsirk" was founded - the only powerful Ukrainian creative circus production complex. "Ukrderzhtsirk" was assigned the following priority tasks: preservation and further development of the national circus art, coordination and implementation of organizational and creative activities of the circus industry of Ukraine." Then in 1997. In March 1997, "Ukrderzhtsirk" became the "State Circus Company of Ukraine". [7]
At the same time, the economic crisis of 1989/90 and the declining social status worsened the financial situation of artists in Ukraine in the 1990s. The combination of creative renewal and maintenance of structures on the one hand and a lack of job and advancement opportunities on the other hand perhaps explains the strong focus of the Ukrainian circus scene on working abroad, which continues to this day.
Oleksiy Zhitnytskyi has followed and shaped this time of upheaval for many years in a leading role. He has been director of the State Circus in Kharkiv since 1995. He sees himself as the keeper of a great history, and in our online meeting he proudly points to portraits of his predecessors. He is skeptical about developments in recent years, however. "My biggest disappointment is that we have lost focus," he explains, "putting on a show in a building for 2000 spectators is something completely different to putting on a show in a tent circus; you need something massive and impressive." He is referring in particular to the large wild animal shows, which are now banned in Ukraine under pressure from the animal rights movement. For the past 50 years, the shows in the state circus buildings have been primarily aimed at children, and clowning, animals and acrobatics were simply part of the show. Doing something completely new for a new target group means huge investments and risks, he fears. Some of the circus world’s debates and challenges are obviously international.
Recent developments
After the turn of the millennium, the importance of culture in general and the circus in particular increased again in Ukraine. The state circus institutions are subordinate to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. In addition to the National Circus of Ukraine, these include the state circuses in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Kryvyi Rih, Lviv, Odessa and Kharkiv. A turning point was the year 2014, when the war of aggression against Ukraine led by Russia began and the state circuses of Donetsk, Luhansk, Simferopol, Sevastopol and Yalta were from then on located in occupied territory.
In addition to the state circuses, private tent circuses emerged. In 2020, Ukraine had around 50 such companies. They are said to have a rather low artistic quality and often work in a chaotic manner. [7] The circuses of Mykola Kobzov however, who also organized the international circus festival "Golden Trick of Kobzov" from 2011 to 2018, had a prominent position. His organization "Kobzov's Circus Union", founded in 2002, maintained 14 circus tents in its best times and employed more than 500 artists and workers. [9] However, during to the war, Kobzov had to cease operations.
But there are also traveling circus groups from the state side. Since 2007, they have been subordinate to the Ministry of Culture under the "Directorate of Mobile Circus Ensembles of Ukraine". Their task is to bring circus art to small towns and rural regions of Ukraine. Groups like "Vogni Kieva" (Lights of Kiev) are fulfilling this task even under the current circumstances. The show is was touring western Ukraine in 2023, and the advertisements read: "The event will take place under wartime conditions in compliance with the necessary security requirements."
Among the stationary state circus locations in Ukraine, the National Circus of Ukraine in Kyiv and the Kharkiv State Circus are the most renowned. In contrast to the other state circus locations, which only rent out their venues, the National Circus also employs artists. In addition to artists from a wide variety of circus genres, they also employ ballet groups and orchestras.
The Kyiv Circus was granted national circus status in 1998. In 2018, the "Golden Kashtan" (Golden Chestnut) youth circus festival was held here for the first time in cooperation with the Kyiv Academy of Circus and Performing Arts. Gold winners in their respective age groups were Anna Levina (handstand) and Ameli Bilik (slack rope), who would later also celebrate success at the European Youth Circus Wiesbaden. The festival was held again in 2019. After that, first the corona pandemic and then the war stood in the way of a continuation.
Vladyslav Viktorovych Kornienko has been in charge of the National Circus since 2019. The cultural scientist with a doctorate was previously director of the Kyiv Academy of Circus and Performing Arts, which shows and solidifies the traditionally close relationship between the two institutions. Under Kornienko's leadership, a modern lighting and sound system was installed - before the pandemic paralyzed performances for seven months. Nevertheless, the activity report for 2020 lists a total of six new circus programs. [10] The National Circus produces classic circus programs with animal performances, enriched with theme-related ballet images and singing.
Circus in times of war
Even the war does not diminish the creative power of the circus. Under the combative title "Spirit. Strength. Will. Ukrainian Circus", the Kyiv circus building continued to give regular performances. There is no intermission in order to shorten the audience's stay to 1:30 of the show time. The safety notice to the audience reminds them of the ever-present danger: "In the event of an air raid during the performance, everyone leaves the auditorium through the nearest exit and follows the signs to the shelter (...). The show will continue within 20 to 30 minutes after the air raid has ended." Dealing with the critical situation already seems to be routine.
In the Kharkiv State Circus, on the other hand, all performances have been cancelled: "In connection with the introduction of martial law, the performance was forcibly cancelled! The question of refunding purchased tickets will be clarified after martial law is lifted.” The front is too close, the danger of Russian shelling of the eastern Ukrainian city is too immediate.
As early as 2020, Olena Pozharska analyzed that under the current conditions, the best circus performances are being pushed into the market of private circus companies, primarily abroad. [7] After numerous artists have moved their lives abroad where possible in view of the consequences of the war and the home market currently offers even fewer job opportunities, this trend is likely to intensify.
So, it is a pity that although all Western European circus lovers probably know Ukrainian artists, hardly anyone has an image of the Ukrainian circus. Perhaps the current situation offers a chance to change this. Awareness of an independent Ukrainian culture has noticeably increased in the West this year. In the circus world, productions with Ukrainian casts have captivated a wide audience at venues such as the Hungarian National Theater and the Capital Circus in Budapest, the Princess Grace Theater Monte-Carlo or at the Berlin Circus Festival. The Ukrainian production Waterland is now touring Germany as a tent production after Poland - first as a water show, then with an ice circus production.
We should however not forget the resilience that also the circus in Ukraine continues to show. This is highlighted by the photo exhibition "Ukrainian Circus during the War" by the Ukrainian circus magazine CircusLife, which opened in Berlin in November in cooperation with Scenic Circus and is to be shown in other locations in the future. It remains to be hoped that the Ukrainian circus, with all its facets and the many top artists it produces, will receive the recognition it deserves.
Quellen:
[1] Saint Petersburg Encyclopedia, http://www.encspb.ru/object/2855700181?lc=en
[2] zirkus-ua.com/
[3] Shukach-Projekt, https://www.shukach.com/ru/node/8866
[5] Saponov M.A. Minnesänger. Ein Buch über die Musik des mittelalterlichen Europas. Moskau: Klassika–XX1, 2004
[6] “The Nikitin Brothers and the 19th-Century Russia Zirkus”, publiziert auf Circopedia 2017
[7] Olene Yuriivna Pozharska, Zirkus im Kulturraum der Ukraine – Institutionelle Aspekte, Dissertation, Kyiv 2020
[8] Akademie für Zirkus und Darstellende Künste Kyiv, kmaecm.edu.ua
[10] Öffentlicher Bericht für 2020 über die Aktivitäten des Staatsunternehmens „Nationalzirkus der Ukraine“, publiziert auf www.zirkus.kiev.ua
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