Kristov Carries On Hungarian Tradition In America

BY MARIAH SKINNER

 

With the democratization of the former Eastern Bloc countries and the loosening of travel restrictions on their citizens, we are likely to see more of the talented performers from that part of the world. One of these is Kristian Kristov, an engaging young man who toured this country last year with the Tarzan Zerbini Circus. His show-stopping act includes balls, hats and cigar boxes, presented with a skill and panache that belie his 22 years.

 

Born in Budapest, Hungary, to circus parents, Kristov lived a life of relative privilege, traveling the world with his family to present an award-winning teeterboard act. Kristov began juggling when he was seven, and entered the Hungarian State Circus School (which his father now directs) when he was ten. There he studied all circus skills, ballet and jazz dance and pantomime. The movement training became a real asset, and is evident in his juggling act.

 

He gained some of his best early training through exposure to other professionals while on tour with his family. Rudy Schweitzer became his idol as a child. Schweitzer, a very private person, permitted young Kristov to watch his practice sessions and even retrieve dropped balls. Kristov met Ignatov while working in Moscow, and has patterned his ball routine after the Russian's. He has known Karl-Heinz Ziethen all his life, and learned from the archivist's vast juggling resources.

 

While Kristov has never met Kris Kremo, he admires his work, particularly with cigar boxes. Kristov points out that Bela Kremo was half Hungarian. In Hungary there is a tradition of hat and cigar box juggling, so this choice of props was a natural for the young man. He recalls spending the first $1,000 he ever earned on a set of collapsible top hats. He now employs a hat maker in Hungary to furnish him with a new set every three months. The large stage balls he uses come from Australia, and he buys stock cigar boxes from established dealers.

 

Kristov exudes a natural warmth in his act. He opens with a few turns with a bowler hat, kicking it up to a balance on his nose. Then he does a virtuoso run of up to five balls, dancing about the ring as he juggles. He follows that by juggling top hats, and ends his act with cigar boxes. His signature trick is a tossup of all three boxes, catching them after completing a triple pirouette. When conditions permit, he does a quadruple, a trick that has earned him a note in one of Ziethen's books. A perfectionist by nature, Kristov practices every day, and hopes one day to complete a quintuple pirouette in performance.

 

His act has won awards at the Festival du Cirque de Demain in Paris, and at festivals in Cuba and North Korea. He has performed all over the world. As much as he enjoys the travel, his eventual goal is to return permanently to Hungary to help promote the performing arts, particularly the variety arts.

 

Jugglers Enliven Halifax BuskerFest Again

BY CHRIS MAJKA

 

Back for its seventh year, "Buskers, The Halifax International BuskerFest" is now

one of the longest running street festivals anywhere. With fewer acts (some 33 this year) and centrally located along the waterfront, this year's festival was one of the best. There were many high-caliber performers, a good international mix of music, magic, dance, juggling and variety acts (even an origami paper-folder as a "performing" act), good audiences and good hats.

 

A few notes on juggling acts:

"He's here, he's there, he's everywhere! Halifax's own undauntable, irrepressible, ever­patient Joe Baker," said the program. Unfortunately Joe was never where I was, so except for a segment of his diabolo routine I never caught Joe's act. He assures me he does some "very special" things with fire.

 

Master showman and gentleman of the streets Alex Elixer was back from Vancouver to his native Nova Scotia. With a sizzling five-torch routine and a new slack wire act (on which he juggles three machetes), Alex's presentation was funny and professional. He did a busker's festival tour during the sum­mer after a winter of festivals in Japan and cruise ships on the Caribbean. Alex is one of the few street performers who is also a very fine technical juggler.

 

Aileen Wilkie,.a lovely colleen from Edinburgh, Scotland, with the sweet charm of Drambuie and the leather voice of a sheep, performed an outlandishly funny routine which involved juggling torches on a giraffe "in a kilt, red stilettos and lipstick." A fine juggler, Aileen also does a snappy three club routine in her show. After several years of honing her art on the streets of Covent Garden and Amsterdam, she wants to get serious about performing. Starting this fall she will be enrolled at the world famous Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris. Bonne chance Aileen!

 

Halifax's own "Just Us" (Jeff Collins & Don Estabrook) are familiar to IJAers from the last three IJA Festivals. They also present a high-energy street act with some sophisticated five and seven ball juggling, fire eating and a staight-jacket routine. They are also fine six, seven and eight club-passers, but I didn't see them throwing the sticks at this year's festival - but maybe that was just me.

 

Matt, Graeme & Paul are three Glaswegian chaps from Scotland who've been throwing clubs at one another for some time. As "Flip­side" they showed some sophisticated two and three person passing with a lot of clever, well-choreographed pattern changes be­tween lines, triangles and feeds.

 

Jeff Bradley was back at the festival with his own personal blend of magic, clowning, juggling and audience participation. Rather long on the laughter and short on the juggling, Jeff finally does get up on a three-high, stacked rola-bola to juggle three clubs - invariably to great applause.

 

Alexander, Elena and son Semien Aristov are among former members of the Moscow Circus who defected to Canada in 1992. As "The Little Russian Circus" they were in Halifax with a superb show featuring acrobatics, clowning, contortion, magic and juggling. They did some fine club passing in formations and creative hoop-spinning - always in the grand tradition of the Russian Circus.

 

Ottawa native and periodic Haligonian (enrolled at university pursuing a theatre degree) Jason Billows hit the Halifax streets for the first time with a juggling routine that involved comedy and a certain amount of ersatz danger. Jason is a fine technical juggler, throwing up to seven balls and rings, an excellent club passer and has a great sense of the theatrical. He is taking a year away from studies to do some traveling around Europe and North America to broaden his performing skills.

 

Robert Heart, the Ohio boy who now makes Manhattan Beach, Calif., his home, was back with his fire baton swinging routine. He does an impressive spinning routine working with one or two long batons burning at both ends. It's hot, it cooks, but it's also pretty much the same as it has been for years.

 

Even Halifax's own Joey Cobden, back from a year in Toronto, put together a quick routine which he tried out on the fringe of the festival (He was not an official performer, so grabbed audiences where he could). A fine technical juggler and natural ham, Joey tells me he's making plans for an "official entry" next year. Good luck Joey, I hope to see him and all of you on the Waterfront in 1994!