We are soon left to our own devices. At that moment it is essential to shake the hand of our older comrade. We've been lucky. Five people of the 1969 class went into the 'Karandash' collective!(1)  We felt not only that handshake but also its powerful strength thanks to which we could work peacefully and perfect our technique. Mikhail Molaevich Karandash liked to associate with youngsters. He dissolved into youth, warmed himself in its energy and gave of his wisdom, experience and knowledge. To learn doesn't mean you have to cram. It's enough to simply find yourself under the guidance of such an exceptional person. Everywhere - in life and on stage - he was an extraordinary comedian, so much so that we were unable to determine the line between his life and his art. He was fascinating in his illogicality, both in life and in art. And he loved to make presents of books!

In his conversations with us he gave the example of an extraordinary thinker. He discussed the simple with allegories while explaining the complex accessibly and straight-forwardly. Everywhere and in everything there presided in him elements of play, and we engaged in that game, which forced us to think and imagine. Karandash never approached anything at random or carelessly, but with foresight. He always saw a path - how to most easily accomplish something. And we, working and rehearsing, grew from day to day and from month to month. At that time we didn't suspect that he was teaching and imparting the knowledge of life. And only now do we realize how lucky we were. For a period of three years the subject of our involuntary studies was the great Karandash himself.

And how many new names did Mark Solomonovich Mestechkin open to us, seeing them in the programs of the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoi Boulevard! It gladdened me to work with him for four days. Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulkin, Irina Nikolaevna Bugrimova, Alexander Markianovich Voloshin. We could perceive within ourselves how good their talent was and how talented they were. If it hadn't been for them there wouldn't be a history of the soviet circus, and perhaps, not even of us. We compared ourselves with them, learned from them and continue to learn from them to this day.

I often recall the director, Sergei Andreevich Kashtelyan. He could be melancholy or ill but he was always youthful in his inexhaustible passion, his creative energy and his interest in whatever was new and experimental. I worked with Kashtelyan both during government concerts and as part of two festi­vals - in Berlin and Havana. In terms of tact, gentleness and hospitality it would be difficult to find his equal. And while work­ing with him we constantly heard his words: "Well, let's try it!" And he continually tried and created unique acts both for the stage and the circus.