But during the 1960's the pace seemed to quicken. In a short period of time a person could receive, absorb and comprehend a wide spectrum of information. During that time there appeared the first harbingers of a new generation - the clowns Gennadi Rotman and Gennadi Makovski, the aerialist Oleg Lozovik, the juggler Maya Rubtsova, the pole acrobats under the direction of Leonid Koctyuka and the gymnast Ludmilla Kanagina. But everyone was waiting for something special, and then Leonid Yengibarov appeared.

 

Looking back at the times I would say he jumped across the bridges between the two generations. And then new stars began to shine: the flight of 'Galactica', the equestrian Nugzarov, the acrobats Shemshur and Kuzyakov, the animal trainers Lev and Vladimir Shevchenko, the gymnasts Yuri Alexandrov and the Panteleenko brothers. They blew like a hurricane across our art. Looking at their work I think more about them personally than I do about their acts. With their artistry they looked to the future. Their work says: "Look what we can do and who we should be." Their theme was humanity - their ideal was harmony!

 

And when in many acts the performers test the limits of gravity, I want to shout: "That was done yesterday." And I think that it won't be to the credit of the circus, if those who are watching, who might be specialists in atomic physics, give us as an answer an elementary exercise in physics.

 

I'm for a contemporary circus - an esthetic and romantic circus. A mature circus of taste and tact. And it is no accident that on the stages of our country and abroad there shine the names of those performers who I love so well! They have talent and unique acts, but they're not an end in themselves. Their essence is in the expression of something higher, something possible. That which the karate expert from Nagoya was unable to say in mere words.

 

It's seven o'clock in the evening. The performance is beginning. Lightly, without 'pressure,' I warm up my muscles, trying to get a feel for my whole body. About forty minutes before coming on stage I start to juggle, not giving particular emphasis to difficult moves. I continually return to the correct placement of my entire body. My concentration becomes focused. I pay attention to getting an exact rhythm to my throws. With the mental attitude and correct body placement the rhythm of the throws become very even, and with them appears an inner confidence.

 

I've found the right frame of mind!

The curtain is opening!

 

The music of Chopin, filling the entire

expanse of the building, gives me

composure. And if all of these components

blend together into one there appears

the most important thing of all

- inspiration!

 

And it must be said, that you know,

And it must be said, that you must,

And it must be said, that you can.

In the circus and in life.

 

And the orchestra sounds,

And the audience awaits,

and the rings fly,

And time flows, and your nerves

are on edge,

And your heart pounds in your chest.

And you're on stage!

 

And something close-by whispers.

While performing your act you hear:

You know, you know, you know,

You must, you must, you must,

You can, you can, you can, You can...

 

-S.I.

 

(Christopher Majka, the translator of this article, is a writer, biologist and juggler who throws objects in the air - and sometimes catches them - in Halifax, N.S., Canada. He will serve as translator for Ignatov at this summer's IJA festival in St.Louis.)

NOTES ON THE TEXT

 

1  The clown and circus teacher, Mikhail Nikalaevich Karandash.

2  Ivan Shilhkin was a nineteenth century Russian landscape painter.

3  The nineteenth century expressianist Dutch painter, Vincent Willem Van Gogh.

4  Bartolome Esteban Murillofrom Spanilh Seville was a seventeenth century

       religious painter.

5 The nineteenth century French realilt portrait and landscape painter, Gustave Courbet.

6  The fifteenth century Andrei Rubldv iI considered to be the preeminent Russian iconographer.

7  Dimitri Grigorievich Levitski was a famous eighteenth century portraitist.

8  Pavel Andreevich Fedotav was a nineteenth century painter and satirist.