Parents did not share the passions of their son. My father, the director of the Tbilisi market, and my grandfather, a professor of neuropathology, were especially against it. They dreamed that Gia would become a great dentist. And here?! The heir of the Eradze-Manjigaladze clan disappears in the arena, earns money there as a groom, trains birds and, without the consent of his relatives, goes on tour with the circus to Yerevan. Unheard of!
The boy was brought back with a scandal. And how many ups and downs Gia had to endure, the father reconciled with his circus present only when in 2006 the entire Georgian capital came to congratulate his 27-year-old son on being awarded the title of Honored Artist. July 2015, Tsvetnoy Boulevard. Together with the winner of the recent circus festival in Sochi, the Italian clown David Larible and the children of Soso Pavliashvili, I beat palms at the show “Royal Circus” by Gia Eradze. The amount of beauty (suffice it to say that the dancers change their mind-blowing costumes 11 times during the performance) and risky tricks per square meter of the arena rolls over. Snakes, camels, donkeys, llamas, ponies, ostriches, horses, kangaroos, porcupines, peacocks, roosters, geese, parrots, leopard. And also storks, cranes, dogs, pelicans, lions, African horned raven. The largest representative of the cat family, the liger (a cub of a white tigress and a lion), who was recently born in the Eradze circus, will soon enter the arena. And in the center of this huge artistic and animal-bird family Gia is wearing a crown (he also has several of them) and on a white horse. As befits a king, he is handsome and successful (the largest contributions to the Russian State Circus). After the performance, the king gives me a backstage tour and introduces me to the star of the troupe, 12-year-old chimpanzee Richik, allows me to tickle the soft belly of Dylan the lemur and tells that his show was recognized as the best at the international festival in Sochi. He is happy to say that tickets for the performance of the "Royal Circus" (the show is also running in Voronezh at the same time) are selling like hot cakes. “But we, an unprecedented case in history, have extended the contract until September 3, so that everyone can get in.” And then he admits that he is very worried about the heart of his mother Marina. “She is there, in Tbilisi, every time she feels when I enter the arena, and she always prays. He cannot forget how one day I turned away and the lion “patted” me. And at a meeting, Andrey, he always sadly recalls the times when I started training harmless pigeons, bought with money saved from school breakfasts.
// Photo: From the personal archive of Gia Eradze
// Photo: From the personal archive of Gia Eradze
// Photo: From the personal archive of Gia Eradze
// Photo: From the personal archive of Gia Eradze
// Photo: From the personal archive of Gia Eradze
// Photo: From the personal archive of Gia Eradze
The audience could already appreciate such programs of the production center of Gia Eradze as “Five Continents”, “Baronets” and “Hippopotamus”, therefore, there is no doubt that it will be “Soviet-style” high-quality and at the same time royally chic. had to.
In the program, which is a synthesis of circus and variety art, Voronezh residents saw trapeze artists in crystal chandeliers, numbers with a black and white Pegasus, an illusion number "Gladiators", during which the girl suddenly disappeared, and a lion appeared in her place... the spectators were literally breathtaking when they watched the acrobats on the opposite swing led by Mikhail Filinov. By the way, this number with the most difficult tricks recently won a gold award at an international circus competition in China. The imagination of the ladies was stunned by a handsome equilibrist who performed intricate tricks on the piano, from which a fountain beats, and the men, secretly from their women, looked at the graceful ballerina with angel wings soaring in the air.
The audience also saw stunning animal rides - "Lions and Tigers", which is run by the owner of the international award "Princess of the Circus" Lyudmila Surkova, and the incendiary "Africa", where they gathered a great variety of exotic animals.
“Due to the dishonesty of the producers, people stop going to the circus”
During my childhood, you could go to the circus on weekdays, and there were always several performances on weekends. Now it is unprofitable to give many performances, because people do not go to the circus so actively. What do you think, what is it connected with? Maybe with the fact that sometimes not very high-quality shows are brought in and people are disappointed?
And with this too. Most of the time, people are just scammed. It happens that unknown bands come to provincial cities and put up posters with a loud name. I remember that I spoke with one distributor who carried the Monte Carlo Stars program. He assured that the winners of the gold awards of the international circus competition in Monte Carlo were performing there, although I did not see a single star in the program. It turned out that this person does not even know that Monte Carlo is located in the kingdom of Monaco, located in France. He assured me that it was in Germany. What can be said here? Because of such unscrupulous producers, people stop going to the circus.
Yes, times are different! When I got to the circus, we went on tour in mail cars. Then, just like in my case now, 120-130 people worked in each program, a large number of animals ... And this did not frighten anyone. And today it is already perceived as know-how! I am a Soviet child, and the energy of that generation, the mentality, remained in me. I remember very well my teachers, with whom I once went to the arena, - Oleg Popov, Zapashny ... And I don’t want to deviate from those circus traditions that I absorbed when I got into the circus in my deep childhood. I want the circus to always remain as large as it was before. But, to my deep regret, it is now customary to do solo tiny numbers, as they say, “on the knee”. With a minimum of props. And if the group number - then with a small number of people.
- Why, there are large teams. Acrobats on flip boards Chernievsky are frequent guests in our city ...
Of course I have. And it's good when such groups are financially supported by the Rosgostsirk company, because there are few producers like me who do not spare money for this in the name of the quality of the program. It is simply unprofitable for rental companies to carry them, it is too big an expense item. The number of the same Chernievsky is very expensive, which significantly increases the cost of the program. Imagine - 15 acrobats, 15 wives, and someone also has children ... That is, up to 40 people need to be accommodated in a hotel, fed, and all transportation costs paid. And the number lasts only 10 minutes. Yes, their attraction is amazing, the stunts are crazy, but from a financial point of view, it is unprofitable. For me, quality has always been in the first place, which is why there are five big attractions in my program. For example, in the attraction "Counter Swing" - 9 people, in "Africa", where a huge number of exotic animals are involved, - 24.
Your ideas, of course, are royal and cost crazy money. Now you already have the opportunity to implement them by investing money from the fees in the program. And when you first started, where did you get the initial capital?
I was 11 years old when I ran away from home to the circus, and of course I had no money. And I never cease to thank the legendary producer Gennady Gordienko in every interview, who believed in me and helped me. We met in Moscow, where I left Georgia. He took me under his wing, and together with him on January 20, 2000 we released the Five Continents show in Vladivostok. It is a pity that Gennady Georgievich is no longer there, but I will always remember him with warmth.
“When I ran away from home to the circus, it was a shock for my parents”
Your mother said that when you ran away from home, you never asked your father for money and ate only breadcrumbs to buy your first horse.
Well, it's my mom! She won't tell! In fact, my parents were initially opposed to me becoming a circus performer. I am not a dynastic artist, I was not born in sawdust. My father was the director of the Central Market of Tbilisi, my mother taught political economy at the institute. And you can imagine their "delight" when I came home every day, all smelling of the stable - I became interested in horses and went there to clean them. For parents it was a shock! My father wanted me to follow in his footsteps, my mother “saw” me as a doctor. At first, they thought that the circus was my childhood hobby, which would soon pass. And I took it and ran away from home! Only after a while, my parents realized that my escapes to the circus are not childish whims, this is my life.
As for money, they really were not always there. I had a pony Odysseus, now deceased, who worked with me for 18 years! And during periods of lack of money, I rolled the kids on it. I invested what I earned in new numbers, leaving a little for myself to eat. Sometimes there was nowhere to live, and we lived in circus dressing rooms. I went through all this, and therefore it’s easier for me to create numbers today, the artists believe me. I don't need to explain anything - I know what muzzle a bear should wear, what stall a camel should put in, and what enclosure a tiger needs. All the problems of artists are clear to me, so I do not skimp on fees.
But do you also have some requirements for artists? In addition to professionalism, you probably demand that they look good?
Certainly! Is it invisible? I have such a fad - all artists must be beautiful! There is a certain format of people who can get into my team. There will never be another format, because I have the best show in the country. This status must be maintained. For my show, I'm not ashamed to look people in the eye.
- And if suddenly the artist is good, with a strong number, but his appearance did not come out ...
If this is a very talented artist, then I will adapt it for our show. This is my task as a director. We have our own stylists in the team, our own make-up artists who make up the artists. I understand that it is impossible to find all unrealistically beautiful people, so that they are also masters of their craft. Therefore, it is important here to create an image based on the nature of the show.
You were the Deputy General Director of the Russian State Circus for the artistic part. Why did you leave this high position?
I lasted a year and realized that it was not mine. All these cabinet-paper stories are not my play at all. I’d rather create, put on new programs and bring the next awards to the Rosgostsirk company ... This will be much more sense!
The “Royal Circus” of the Honored Artist of the Russian Federation and Georgia Gia Eradze is a grandiose project in which artists of various genres and exotic animals participate: llamas, zebras, noses, lemurs, porcupines, gibbons.
This fabulous show opened the 55th anniversary season at the Tula State Circus. Last year, the season here also began with Gia Eradze's show "Baronets", but what the audience saw this time is amazing! The program employs 120 artists, uses more than 2000 exclusive costumes, author's scenery and props, 19 trucks are used for transportation.
"Royal Circus" is a performance of a new generation that breaks stereotypes and excites the imagination. In addition to the fact that a constellation of numbers has been collected here, experienced directors, choreographers, lighting designers and production designers have worked on each of them, it synthesizes all genres of circus art: training, aerialists on canvases and chains, illusion, equilibrium, variety ballet and much more.
For the performance, a huge Golden Castle was designed, decorated with velvet and shimmering with lights, a three-level curtain, sometimes hiding the entire arena, and crystal chandeliers.
The spectacle of the action is fascinating: in the three hours that it lasts, the audience seems to be making a journey through different continents and eras. Indians and Roman gladiators on chariots rush before them, incredible aliens, the mythical Pegasus, white-winged angels, jesters, inhabitants of Swan Lake and other fantasy characters appear.
A grand piano, sprinkled with Swarovski crystals, appears in a fabulous way in the arena, fountains splash from it, and an equilibrist surrounded by ballerinas performs unthinkable tricks.
Bears dance an incendiary Russian quadrille together with a corps de ballet, and acrobats perform dizzying stunts on opposite swings, as if refuting the law of universal gravitation.
The virtuoso dexterity of the jugglers on the "arrows" is impressive - a unique rotating apparatus that has no analogues in the world.
The Wild Jungle World attraction is a performance full of passion, in which African lions, Sumatran tigers and rare representatives of this species, white tigers, act. But it all starts with the appearance of corps de ballet dancers dressed in fantasy costumes of werewolf people who, in their dance, seem to transform into wild animals.
The viewing experience can be summed up in one word - “amazing”. After the end of the performance, the audience did not want to leave the hall, but gave the artists a long standing ovation.
A large tour, in which the "Royal Circus" arrived in Tula, began at the Moscow Circus of Yuri Nikulin on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, where more than half a million people watched the show in eight months.
After the premiere in Tula, the producer, artistic director of the group, Georgy Eradze, was presented with the coat of arms of the Royal Circus, created by Moscow designer Evgeny Lebedev. This is a genuine work of art, inlaid with gold leaf, where all the symbols that characterize this project are intertwined, decorated with a crown on top.
- We received the biggest gift today from the audience, - Georgy Giulevich noted. - The Tula audience is sophisticated, they have seen many different programs, and their reaction today to our performance, their standing ovation is the highest mark. Of course, we were all worried today: despite many years of work, the premiere always excites - like the first exit to the arena. The circus is a living art, complex, but this is the professionalism of the artist, the measure of his responsibility to the public ...
All genres of circus art are dangerous - for example, the number "Oncoming Swing" is very complex, every movement is verified there. No wonder its performers are the owners of many gold awards at various world festivals. This year they are going to China, which is famous for its acrobatic school, and let's hope for their next triumph, then they will go on New Year's tour to Germany, to Stuttgart. And in a few months, 59 artists of the Royal Circus will represent Russia at the most prestigious festival of circus art in Monte Carlo. There will go a swing, "air", a white block, which is like our visiting card ...
Admirers of Gia Eradze's creativity are well aware of his inexhaustible creative potential. For the past 14 years, he has been creating and improving grandiose circus performances, attractions and blocks. And finally, the moment has come when all the masterpieces he created can no longer fit into one program. This is how the Baronets team appeared - a project of the production center of the Royal Circus Gia Eradze. This is a real parade of star rides that have won many top awards at international festivals. The largest circus show in terms of animal composition: there are tigers, leopards, black panthers, bears, camels, horses, deer, white foxes, parrots, pythons, peacocks, dogs of various breeds and many other four-legged, fluffy and feathered artists. This is the quintessence of modern circus art: filigree animal training, luxurious show ballet, trick riding - not only on horses, but also on camels, and the most difficult acrobatic stunts, aerial canvases, ultra-modern stage, lighting equipment and specially designed scenery!
The attraction "Visiting the Sheikh" is a real oriental fairy tale, which won the Gold of the V International Festival of Circus Arts. Bear attraction "Gypsy camp Roma" with a wagon, dancing bears and gypsies with guitars - the owners of the "Silver Elephant" at the XIII Moscow International Festival of Circus Art. Equestrian attraction dzhigits "Apache" - the owners of the Gold Award of the VII International Festival of Circus Art in Izhevsk. Charming huskies and Dalmatians, luxurious trained parrots, aerialists, hula hoop on a mirror ball, power acrobats, sparkling clown duet "Nep" and much more, no less exciting and spectacular, await the audience of the show "Baronets".
The highlight of the new program of Gia Eradze was the unique attraction of Natalia and Andrey Shirokalov, where tigers, panthers and leopards appear on the same arena.
Trainers have already gained worldwide fame, becoming the owners of a huge number of awards at international circus festivals. Among the many awards in the piggy bank of Natalia and Andrey are the Grand Prix of the IV World Festival of Circus Arts in Moscow, the Golden Elephant of the Nikulin International Festival of the Moscow Circus, the Golden Bear of the International Festival in Izhevsk, the Golden Globe of the International Festival in Romania, the Golden Ring » Massy International Festival. In terms of entertainment, the show "Baronets" is in no way inferior to the legendary "Royal Circus", because in everything that Gia Eradze creates, his grandiose accent of beauty, luxury and impeccable style is invariably read!
Description
From October 27 to December 2, 2018 at the arena of the Nizhny Novgorod State Circus there will be shows of the Grand show "Royal Circus" performed by artists of the circus troupe Gia Eradze.
Honored Artist of Russia Gia Eradze will present his new grandiose circus show "Royal Circus"! A fascinating journey into the world of beauty, luxury and grace, courage and dexterity, incredible human capabilities and exquisite style awaits you.
Honored Artist of Russia Gia Eradze is famous for her extraordinary approach to circus art. His performances are always a synthesis of stage, circus and musical. Each action on the arena is a mini-performance, which harmoniously combines the most complex tricks, animal training, incredible images of artists, author's music and scenery, professional lighting design and special. effects, unusual props and exclusive luxurious costumes!
In the new grand show you will visit the real Royal Ball, in the enchanting Russian winter with deer, foxes and Russian greyhounds; in the rhythms of passionate Spain, you will meet a bullfighter with proud yaks, at the fountain in the Garden of Eden you will see unique pink pelicans and the brightest of exotic birds - Macaw parrots. You will be impressed by real Roman gladiators on chariots with mighty black horses, as well as formidable African lions, which will appear before you as if in a real Colosseum. You will go to the stars together with trapeze artists and the world's best tightrope walkers, immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the distant Middle Ages, accompanied by the mysterious "Histrions", representing such a rare and unusual genre of circus art as "Equilibrists on Perches". The intricate patterns of graceful Royal Friezes, the explosive energy of group jugglers, the touching love story of trapeze artists on canvases, the incredible charisma of the clown duet - all this and much more awaits you at the arena of the Novosibirsk Circus from March 9th.
The very idea of the show is striking, where everything is harmoniously woven together: more than 2000 exclusive costumes, crystal chandeliers, marble columns, rhinestones, feathers. For the performance, a huge golden Castle was designed, towering under the very dome of the circus, decorated with velvet and Swarovski crystals. In combination with author's music, professional stage lighting - all this helps to recreate the atmosphere of a real royal palace, where the main action takes place, in which 120 artists change their roles for almost 3 hours.
The creator of the "Royal Circus" Honored Artist of Russia Giya Eradze is the owner of many top awards in Russian, European and world circus competitions. In January 2020, together with his artists, he won the most important circus award in the world - the Golden Clown of the Monte Carlo International Festival.
Today, Gia Eradze's show is not just one circus program, but a whole creative plant for preparing the best circus shows. Residents of Novosibirsk are already familiar with the work of the Honored Artist of Russia - in 2015, he presented one of his projects at the arena of Novosibirsk - the show "Baronets". The audience received the performance so warmly that to this day letters are received on the official website of the Royal Circus with requests to come on tour again. And finally, from March 9, for the first time in the Novosibirsk Circus, viewers will see a new impressive show by Gia Eradze "Royal Circus"!
It is now possible to buy tickets for the new grandiose circus show "Royal Circus" online on the website iCity.life.
