KIRKOV Vladimir Biography

Vladimir Kozhevnikov: “I tried to declare the artists loudly” The main “Blog” Vladimir Kozhevnikov: “I tried to declare the artists loudly” Mom thought that his son would be an acrobat, he himself dreamed of a clowning, after the circus school he worked as an eccentric, and eventually became a sprechstalmaster - a brilliant and impressive leader of circus performances. Inspector of the Manege of the Moscow Circus Nikulin on Tsvetnoy Boulevard Vladimir Kozhevnikov Kazan Circus spectator knows well.

This summer, he acted in the role of “impresario” in the program “Everything will be fine”, and now he is in charge of the Baghdasarov program. About the circus. " And Vladimir is an enthusiastic collector of printed circus paraphernalia, a researcher of the history of the circus, he talks about this here. It was he who did a great research work in the archives of the Kazan circus and determined the outlocation of the current season.

We asked Vladimir to tell a little about his professional path. My parents are acrobats, and I went to the clowning: the family is not without a freak. Then there was an experiment: the clowning was accepted for the branch after the eighth grade. Before that, one could do either after the tenth grade, or after the army. Even preferably after the army, because it was believed that the clown should have a certain life experience.

In the year I just graduated from the eighth grade. And he entered the clowning. We had 12 people on the course - six people like me, after grade 8, and six people after the army. Mom almost thought until the end of my second year, then I am studying at the acrobatics department and I will be the successor of the dynasty. She always said: “Son, if you love me, just not a clown!

And since childhood I said: “I will be a clown! Vladimir Kozhevnikov in the circus school, beginning of the 19ths of the XX century. Photo from the website Ruscircus. I had to have a number - a musical eccentric on a monocycle. I remember rehearsing with my dad: I was sitting on a single -haired bicycle and playing a trombone with my foot. Dad says: “That's enough!

And I say: “Once again! And this time it was almost final. I had so much from the monocyl that for three whole days it was bad for me. They took him to the hospital, operated on - there was peritonitis with the gap of the intestine. In general, they returned from the other world. I spent three months in intensive care! When he returned to the circus school, the doctors “prescribed” the easy job for me for six months.

I could only sit. The master of the course, Firs Petrovich Zemtsov, says: “What, the Turks is stupid, is very bad? He really loved everyone to call "stupid Turks." I answer: "Firs Petrovich, very bad, I can’t download the press." He says: "Okay, I'll think about it." Then after some time he comes: “I came up with. You will lead the program. ” I conducted graduation performances in our school.

For some reason, I believed that the person who declares the numbers should be very direct as if he had swallowed a mop. I was given a beige tailcoat, some bright trousers. I tried to declare the artists loudly. Sometimes I did not have enough air, but I tried. Because at one time I had seen enough at the head of Martirosyan, at Alexander Bush - they were tall, beautiful to the arena of the arena ...

First, a uniform went out - all in the pose, very beautiful. Built in a row. Then the host went out and said: “Good evening! Photo by Sergey Barsukov from the Vomske website. With all my injuries. Of course, it was necessary to say that everything hurts me, but I somehow ... I felt me, asked: “It hurts? And I say: "No." Well, the conclusion was drawn: “Good! We traveled to the "zones" with concerts.

Six months in the "zones", six months!

I had a “eccentric with cubes”, with him I performed in the army. There is such a Sasha Frish, I think this is one of the largest showmen. He worked in Russia for a long time, then in America, in Australia ... And he had a “eccentric with cubes”-just a sip of something unusual, foreign. He is a chic actor, everyone adored him! It was such a surge of charisma that the people just went crazy.

Well, here: he gave me three cubes, with them I went into the army. When he returned, he showed this number of the Circus Directorate Commission. And immediately, literally a week later they sent me with this number to the "Christmas tree". Sixty "Christmas trees" that winter in Moscow was. I earned so much money that I did not know where to put it. In the year, I first ended up on tour in France.

In 40 days we have worked, it seems, 35 cities. We slept in buses, gave two performances a day in large sport palaces. They worked absolutely wear. I do not know how senior colleagues withstand it. It was very difficult. But we managed to run to the orbit, to buy some clothes. We were paid the Franks, as I remember now, this is $ 50. It was crazy money! ..

Then there were touring in America ... And then the nineties began, which I somehow successfully sat abroad. One contract ended, a new contract immediately appeared ... Photo from the Riamo website. Then I was invited to the Italian program Carnevale, it was put by the outstanding director Antonio Jarola. After the performances in Moscow, Seryozha Nesterov, who works wonderful with tigers, says to me: “Do you want to ride with us?And we went on tour to Izhevsk.

And there is a mini-pandemic. Almost all the audience had a flu and sat at home. Our program was wonderful, but we burned out. They didn’t lose heart for a long time - we went with a slightly converted program to Chechnya. A huge number of people lost their jobs. And these are not only circus artists. These are cooks, cleaners, croupier, cool professionals from the security service.

People with phenomenal visual memory worked in the casino! .. Vladimir Kozhevnikov in the Kazan circus when he worked in the program with Italian artists, noticed that the mentality of the Italians is completely different. They always smile, they are positive, they always have some kind of pleasant relaxation. I remember their tigress “walked”, and the trainer could not do anything about it.

The tigress lazily went out into the arena and just lay. Russian trainers with their mentality of animal tamers would definitely force the tigress to work out something on the arena. And the Italians are not the same, no. The Italian trainer approached his rolled tigress, smiled and scratched her abdomen ... Vladimir Kozhevnikov in the role of impresario in the program “Everything will be fine” in the summer of the year in the Kazan circus.

Photo by Catherine Kraeva. I used to be funny as the older generation of artists in detail remembers some old stories. I'm talking about that galaxy of old actors who have already left us. In the Kurilka circus, everyone loves to play backgammon, “short”, to tell some tales. They usually begin like this: “We work Kazan ...” And then there is some kind of story.

I was always surprised: how can I remember what was with you in a year or in m? And now I understand that the older I get, the more often I suddenly remember some episodes of youth, than what was two years ago.