We are entering the circus school...

For most of us, the circus is a holiday. Bright lights, cheerful music, smart animals, laughing clowns... Looking at the ease with which jugglers, acrobats, trainers perform tricks, many have no idea how much effort, pain and nerves all this costs. However, those who are not afraid of work, who cannot imagine their life without the arena, should seriously think about entering a circus school.

People who are directly related to circus art say that the circus is a calling. It is not for nothing that so much has already been said about the dynasties of artists, about the skills that were passed on from generation to generation, about children and grandchildren who grew up behind the scenes... If your family does not have such experience, and you or your child passionately want to join the circus art, then for First, it’s worth clarifying a few details.

In Russia today there is only one educational institution of secondary vocational education, whose graduates are directly related to the circus - the State School of Circus and Variety Arts named after. M. N. Rumyantseva. This is the oldest educational institution in Moscow, which has trained more than one generation of circus and pop professionals. Their names became household names: M. Rumyantsev (Pencil), O. Popov, L. Engibarov, A. Marchevsky, G. Khazanov, E. Shifrin, Zh. Bichevskaya, E. Kamburova and many others. Over the years of the school's existence, more than five thousand certified specialists in all genres of circus and a number of genres of pop art have graduated from its walls. Entering GUTSEI has always been considered very prestigious, so to this day it is quite difficult to be among its students.
From early childhood
Many people begin preparing to enter a circus school long before submitting documents to the admissions committee. Children often study in studios and highly specialized courses from the age of five. This is due to the need for frequent and systematic physical activity, which is much more difficult to get used to in adolescence than in early childhood. It was for this kind of classes that a preparatory department was created at the school, where, in addition to the course, paid children's groups were organized for applicants. There, professional, highly qualified teachers teach the children. In addition to specialized subjects, students master acting and plastic arts. The cost of preparation is from 800 rubles. per month. Classes in such groups allow children not only to begin studying any of the major areas from the basics (acrobatics, gymnastics, juggling, balancing act (on hands and wire), choreography), but also to feel involved in the life of the educational institution, to immerse themselves in the life of the circus entirely, fully devote yourself to what you love.

Future pop artists study subjects such as choreography, acting skills, speech technique, and step. Classes are held three times a week in all major disciplines. The advantages of training at the school also include the fact that the children here are not just students, and the teacher is not just a teacher. The latter is responsible for the life and health of his charges. Circus school is experience proven over the years, responsibility trained by hard work, and professionalism based on the education of many students. However, not everything always depends on the teacher, and parents should prepare in advance for the fact that injuries during such activities can be very serious. Unfortunately, due to the high workload with more than intense classes, studying at a comprehensive school recedes into the background, and here parents need to make a fairly serious decision about whether a child who does not connect his future with the circus should devote such a large amount of his time to it. time. Unfortunately, at an early stage, it is the parents who have to make the decision - the future of their child depends on it.
Documents
To the application for admission to the State School of Circus and Variety Arts named after. M. N. Rumyantsev attaches the following documents:

* six 3x4 photo cards without headdress;
* medical certificate;
* pictures of the spine (thoracic and lumbar);
* document on secondary (incomplete secondary) education in the original;
* certificates from tuberculosis and psychoneurological dispensaries stating that the applicant is not registered there.

In addition to the above documents, applicants must present: passport, birth certificate, registration certificate or military ID, work book or an extract from it (copy), medical insurance.
Exams
Experts advise everyone who wants to enter a circus school to come at least a few months before the entrance exams. Applicants will be scheduled for an interview with the management of the educational institution in order to clarify the selection requirements. Two months before admission, you can take additional preparatory courses, the cost of which is 1,500 rubles. In addition to the main subjects, the lesson plan includes lectures on the work of major Russian, Russian circus and pop figures. Preliminary consultations with teachers will not only allow you to adjust the prepared program, but will also give advice on the choice of repertoire and its performance. You should decide in advance what genre you would like to work in: acrobatics, gymnastics, juggling, tightrope walking, trickery and buffoonery, musical eccentricity or the original variety genre. Training at the school will take three years and ten months.

The exam at GUTSEI for the department of circus arts takes place in three rounds, in each of which the applicant must prove himself to the maximum. At the first stage of the entrance tests, the commission evaluates the external stage characteristics of the future artist (face, figure, physical build, etc.), as well as professional abilities (coordination of movements, reaction acuity, jumping ability, plasticity, endurance, ear for music, rhythm). In the second round, the guys undergo a medical commission, where special attention is paid to the structure of the applicant’s skeleton and muscles, the state of the nervous system, heart, lungs, vestibular system and vision. As confirmation that the school teachers who work with your child bear special responsibility for the life and health of their student, it is worth paying attention to the fact that the main contraindications for admission to GUTSEI are precisely the consequences of injuries. Next, we should consider dysfunction of the vestibular apparatus, persistent hearing loss, a decrease in ipentui acuity to 0.5, skin lesions that prevent significant physical exertion, etc. In the third round, the artistic commission evaluates acting skills, imagination, ability for creative improvisation, and mastery of primary skills. elements of acrobatics and artistic gymnastics, as well as musical instruments.

The examination for the variety arts department also takes place in three rounds. At the first stage of the test, the applicant must read a poem (a fable or an excerpt from a prose work), demonstrate dance and rhythmic abilities, a level of proficiency in the initial elements of gymnastics and acrobatics, as well as a musical instrument. The task of the second round includes performing tests that reveal fantasy, imagination, as well as showing independent sketches including pantomime, dance and vocals. The third round is a test of the applicant’s ability to improvise on a given topic, as well as an interview on the topic of pop art genres.

Applicants who have successfully passed three rounds of the entrance exam will be tested in general education subjects. Those who complete nine classes write a dictation (Russian language in writing), and also take Russian language and literature (orally). School graduates who have completed secondary education write an essay on a given topic.

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Many of us, as children, stood on a chair and read poetry to guests. Some in their youth dreamed of applause and spotlights. But out of millions, only hundreds think seriously about a career as an artist. And only dozens manage to take at least the first step towards this dream - to start learning to be artists. And the rest often dream of looking behind the scenes all their lives. It’s not for nothing that we love reading interviews with actors and directors, listening to theater tales and stories about how our favorite films were made.

TASS made a report “from behind the scenes” of universities that train artists. Our heroes pass creative exams. Some of them will not pass the competition, will resign themselves and choose another profession. And someone will learn and get on stage to take exams in front of the public all their lives.

"Parents said: 'Clown family

not needed"

State School of Circus and Variety Arts named after. M.N. Rumyantseva (Pencil)

Anya hangs from a hoop near the ceiling - it's called an "air ring". He does the splits in the air, bends, and turns upside down. "Enough!" - the examiners tell her. "Can I have more?" - “We already see what you can do.”

Anya has a bandage on her leg: she miscalculated in the first round and sprained her leg. “I was very worried! My knees were shaking. But in the end, on adrenaline, I did something that I didn’t even expect from myself,” she says. “Now, of course, it was scary to perform with an injury. What to do?”

Anna studied sports and ballroom dancing, went to a drama studio, but decided to become a circus performer

This is the third stage of a creative competition at the circus school. During the first two, the guys demonstrated physical fitness and improvised to music. Of the 93 applicants, 40 remained. Today they must show a full number. Some hang upside down on a rope, some juggle, some stand on their hands. The main thing is to show acrobatic training. “Acrobatics is the basis of all circus art,” explains the director of the school, Valentina Savina. “In the first year, our guys try out in all genres. Sometimes they come and say, “I want this,” but in the process of training it turns out that he is better at something else.” .

Most of the applicants are from the regions, and Valentina Mikhailovna already knows 90% of them: they have traveled a lot to festivals and competitions. Children from both the 9th and 11th grades are admitted to the school on equal terms: acrobatic acts require artists of different heights and builds.

All guys must show acrobatic training: this is the basis of circus art

Alexandra is 16 years old, 13 of which she has been in the circus. She came to the arena very little, but remembers how it was. “In our city there is a House of Culture with different clubs, and my mother wanted to take me to dance,” she says. “But they didn’t take me anywhere. We walked in circles, I almost cried. And we saw the last door - there was a circus studio Mom says: “Well, let’s try.” I didn’t care where to go, I was in tears, if only they’d take me somewhere, and I see a girl with hoops.”

Now Sasha herself works with those hoops that once impressed her so much, and also juggles with her legs and works with an aerial ring. She practices every day for at least four hours. “An artist cannot and should not have days off,” she is sure. “One day off and you realize that you are lazy and don’t want to do anything.”

Olga and Alexandra came from different cities and became friends during the exams

"Mom has resigned herself"

"Don't sit with your back to the playpen!" - one of the guys tells me sternly. No one is performing at the arena now: here applicants are waiting to be called to an exam or relaxing, having already performed before the commission. But you still can’t turn your back on him - it’s considered disrespectful. You can’t call the guys “circus performer” or “circus performer”, only “circus performers”.

While waiting for a call, someone questions those who have already “shot”, someone sits on the splits to warm up, someone puts a warming compress on their lower back, and someone lies down on the floor and asks to walk on their back - they say it really relaxes the muscles . A hot shower or bath and sleep also help: you can sleep during the day and train all evening.

Some people are warming up before the performance, while others have already “shot” and are waiting for the results

All the guys wear similar uniforms: the boys wear white T-shirts and tight shorts, the girls wear black bodysuits. “Pull it up so the leg appears longer!” - says one of the teachers, running past the girls. In fact, the commission doesn’t care what the applicants look like: the circus doesn’t need long legs, but a smile and charm. Smiling while doing the splits or hanging upside down on a rope is not easy. But they explain to applicants: circus is joy. If you perform without emotion, you are not an artist, but an athlete.

It's hard to smile while doing pull-ups. But circus performers must do this, even while walking on a tightrope.

Applicants have spoken a lot in public, but they are still afraid of examiners: unlike spectators, the commission notices everything. “Her back is not very good,” “she is a candidate for master of sports, but not artistic,” the teachers talk among themselves.

Sasha and Sveta are worried, although they are taking this exam for the second time. They are twins and juggle as a pair. Last year we graduated from 9th grade and entered college, but in the end they took away their documents: their mother wanted them to complete their studies and go to university.

Everyone here understands that they have chosen a dangerous job. But they take it calmly: they say you can go out into the street and get hit by a car, or you can walk a tightrope for many years and never fall off. One of the twins had a bandaged leg and was limping during the performance. Only training had nothing to do with it: she simply tripped and fell in the middle of the sidewalk, requiring four stitches. “By the fall I’ll be as good as new,” she says.

Sasha and Sveta are twins and love to juggle as a couple

Almost all applicants to the circus were once brought by their parents. They didn't think the kids would get so carried away - they just wanted the kids not to hang around idle after school. Someone, like Veronica, went with a friend for company. “My friend ended up leaving, and I’m here,” she laughs.

Nikita and Arina from the Saratov region live in neighboring entrances, and soon, perhaps, they will live in the same hostel. We went to the circus studio only because the whole yard went to it, and there was no one to go out with. “There were moments when I wanted to give up everything,” says Nikita. “And at first my parents said: “This is not serious, the family doesn’t need a clown.”

But this work is considered “frivolous” only by those who have never done it. Professionals know: even great abilities do not guarantee success.

Circus performers must be able to perform both solo and in pairs

“From the first round I see what can come out of an applicant,” says school director Valentina Savina. “But it’s not only what he came with that is important, but also how he will work. We expel many after the first year. But kids from all over the country are studying - Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Chelyabinsk... Sometimes they forget why they came to Moscow and start skipping classes.” Knowing how to do the splits and juggle with your legs is not enough. Circus performers are constantly on tour, and you need to learn to listen and help each other - just like in a family. And also - to cope with fear.

“When you go out to the arena, the president could be sitting in the hall,” says applicant Olya. “You shouldn’t worry about it. You’re an artist. You should give smiles.”

Speaking in front of examiners is scary. But being able to cope with fear is one of the requirements of the profession.

"I wanted to be a surgeon, but I'm doing

in GITIS"

Russian Institute of Theater Arts, Faculty of Musical Theater, Department of Vocal Arts

“I’m very tired. I want to rehearse. I want to dance like Onegin,” is written on the wall of the small room. GITIS students sleep 4–6 hours a day, prepare sketches every day and learn a lot by heart. Applicants also know the value of sleep: most of them have already graduated from music schools, acted in theaters and understand that the life of an artist is not champagne under the spotlights. But they dream of coming here to get tired, rehearse and dance.

Saturday, one o'clock in the afternoon, girls in evening dresses and boys in bow ties are walking along the corridors. Nobody demands that you come to the exam “in parade”: it’s more convenient for the guys themselves. “When I look like this, the singing is completely different - I feel like I’m standing on stage in front of an audience,” says Lada, a girl in a long black dress with fur.

The dress for Lada’s performance (second from left) was sewn by her mother

Although much more important than a dress is to be “in your voice”. True, there are no special secrets here: you need to try to rest, not drink cold things and not eat nuts and seeds. But, contrary to popular belief, none of the future opera singers drinks raw eggs. Although Maria, for example, makes a “vocalist’s cocktail”, more like a mixture: you need to infuse anise grains in a water bath, and then add 50 grams of cognac and honey. “Cognac makes the ligaments soft. The next day the range expands, it’s easy to sing,” she says. “You just need to drink it at home, wrapped up, in greenhouse conditions, and under no circumstances sing immediately after.”

You can hear arias all over the floor: the guys are singing. It’s only quiet in the room where the applicants are waiting to take the exam - aka going on stage. It looks like the corridor of some clinic - about the same as waiting in line to see a doctor. “Where is the toilet here? Will I make it before I leave? It’s locked!” - one of the girls is worried. “Don’t panic,” the other one answers her melancholy.

“With the experience of Tamara Ilyinichna Sinyavskaya, it is enough to hear two or three sounds, two or three notes to understand whether a person has potential or not,” says Georgy Isaakyan

All applicants have performed at concerts more than once, but today they are more scared than ever: they have to sing in front of professionals. The workshop is recruited by director Georgy Isaakyan, artistic director of the Natalia Sats Theater, and the department is headed by opera singer, People's Artist of the USSR Tamara Sinyavskaya. “This is the person for whom singers pray,” says Isahakyan. “Of course, the young singer’s legs give way when he sees her.”

“The public listens differently,” applicant Maria is sure. “They perceive the person as a whole, acting skills are more important to her. And the examiners hear everything down to the smallest detail. The public can be charmed, and they will not pay attention to mistakes. But there is little that can be hidden from the examiner.” .

While waiting for the exam, the guys sing and question those who have already spoken before the commission.

“A lot of people lose their nerves”

Elizabeth goes on stage - a fluffy blue dress, heels. “I’m 20 years old, I’m from Simferopol, I graduated from a music school,” she introduces herself and lists what she’s ready to sing. Usually, applicants prepare several works: an aria, a romance, some kind of folk song - and the examiners choose one. That is, the guys don’t know until the very end what exactly they will perform. “You have a bold program,” says Tamara Sinyavskaya. Elizaveta sings Maria's aria from Tchaikovsky's opera "Mazeppa", and by the end it is no longer clear to the ordinary listener what this girl needs to be taught at all - it seems that she can be released on the opera stage right now.

“What are you talking about, I really, really have to study a lot!” Elizaveta laughs after the exam. “I’m now probably on the first step out of a hundred. And in general, I’ve only really been studying for the last year. Before that, I was unlucky with a teacher, there were The problems with my voice are very serious, I have lost almost my entire range."

“I like the image of Maria from the opera Mazeppa,” says Elizaveta. “She is very temperamental.”

The examiners explain: when applying, it is more important to show not what you can do, but that you can learn something. And the task of the commission is to see this potential. “When a person opens his mouth on stage, he should immediately attract attention to himself,” says Tamara Sinyavskaya. “You can hear that he doesn’t know how to sing yet. But God gave him the timbre and volume of his voice. And nerves are also important. many are cut down." But, according to Georgy Isaakyan, even the most experienced musicians cannot predict how their student will open up. And this is the main problem of creative universities.

Sometimes an applicant can open up in different ways within a few minutes - during one exam. Here is one of the girls singing an aria - purely and beautifully, but not captivating. She is interrupted and asked to sing a Ukrainian folk song - and she begins to sing so that after the first verse the entire commission dances and hums.

“I see myself only as an opera singer. Exclusively,” says Peter

From the audience you notice not only the voice, but also what is called texture - bright appearance, charm, ability to carry yourself. Peter, a young man about two meters tall, comes out from behind the scenes and stumbles at his first step. "Nice appearance!" - says one of the examiners.

The young man seems to immediately fill the entire stage, introduces himself in a thick, low voice, and names his repertoire. “So what should I sing? “Troika”?” he asks and, not hearing the answer, he himself says to the accompanist: “In my opinion, “Troika.” The Russian folk song suits him. “A textured singer!” - says Georgy Isaakyan when the young man leaves. “But it’s still small for a bass.”

“I didn’t understand why they chose this song - it was the simplest thing in the repertoire,” Peter tells me after the exam. One can easily imagine him as a popular actor or a rock star, but he himself only sees himself as an opera singer.

During the exam, Peter was asked to perform the folk song "Troika", although he is sure that this is the simplest composition in his repertoire

"Exams that never end"

Not everyone here has dreamed of being on stage since childhood. “I wanted to be a surgeon, and my friend dreamed of singing,” says Tatyana. “Now she is studying medicine in St. Petersburg, and I am entering GITIS... I don’t really understand how this happened and why I’m here now, and not in some kind of practice.” something!" During her school years, Tatyana played in the theater - she says it was her outlet. She was also a costume designer: the theater was completely “children’s”, schoolchildren did everything there.

THERE IS A SCHOOL IN THE CAPITAL where exams are taken to music, and applicants, preparing for creative tours, throw dumbbells, do a one-arm stand and somersault.
This is the State School of Circus and Variety Arts named after. M. N. Rumyantseva (Pencil).
A Vecherka correspondent observed the suffering of applicants at the creative competition.

We need faces to play
Pushing aside the red velvet curtain, I find myself in the rehearsal arena. Five guys in black knee-length shorts and white T-shirts take an improvisation class to music. The admissions committee at the long table manages to follow everyone's movements.
“We’re getting into the rhythm,” the teacher encourages. - Adding acrobatics! Try to let even your faces play. Artistic faces, not lean ones!
The music changes all the time, and the guys need to adapt to it. A second ago there was a step - and already a waltz. Some people easily move from one rhythm to another, managing to fit a headstand into the dance; others, glancing at their neighbor, “copy” his movements. But experienced examiners notice everything.
The boy on the far left holds himself masterfully. The complete impression is that he is waltzing with his partner. And he looks at her slyly, and even winks - except that he doesn’t say compliments. But rock and roll began to sound - and the partner was forgotten, the facial expressions were different, the movements were different.
The music died down, they bowed, the young men came out. In the ensuing silence, the examiners discuss the grades:
- I give it a “four”.
- I don’t like it, but it’s undoubtedly a “five”.
- It’s like I’ve never moved in my life. And what a face he made! This is "bad".

Traditions are already known
The boys and girls (they have competed before) are waiting for the results in the main arena and are worried. Before I had time to ask the question, the guys asked me to take a different place: they don’t sit with their backs to the arena. Well done, they already know the circus traditions.
Bashkiria, Yekaterinburg, Izhevsk, Lipetsk... Future gymnasts, acrobats, and clowns came from all over Russia.
Most of them have been training in circus studios since childhood, but there are also those who decided to try “from scratch.”
- We want to go to the arena. We are waiting for a standing ovation. And who besides us? - Applicants have enough ambitions.
- And you’re probably expecting big earnings? - I tease.
- All state circuses, according to rumors, are not financial. But if you get a lucrative contract in a private circus or abroad, you can live happily ever after.
- Aren’t you afraid of risk? - I don’t let up.
- It’s better to live happily and dangerously than to sweat in the office every day.
There are already two creative tours behind ( those who entered after the 11th grade still wrote an essay, and those who entered the 9th grade took Russian and literature. - M.G.).
During the first round, they look at physical data. Someone was asked to do stretches, bridges, and stand on their hands. In the second round, everyone showed their “home preparation” - their skills.
Dasha and Sasha Pasternak, twins from Bashkiria, showed a common acrobatic performance. Together, it’s not so scary to face the commission.
- Did they push you hard? - I ask.
- Whatever. We were interested in motivation. One girl replied: “ I just do it, I want to try it" They didn't take her.
In the first round, we looked at the texture to make sure they were lean.
Some were taken on conditional terms and told that they needed to “dry out” over the summer - eat less, run more. About 15 girls and boys have already been eliminated.
- How did your parents react to this choice of profession? - I’m interested.
“My mother is a director, she supported me,” one answers.
“And mine grabbed my head first,” laughs another. “Then she resigned herself: “Well, why,” he said, “Moscow is Moscow, the circus is a circus.” It's your choice."

Note
State School of Circus and Variety Arts named after. M. N. Rumyantsev (Karandash) graduated from such famous clowns as Karandash himself (Mikhail Rumyantsev), Yuri Kuklachev, Irina Asmus (Iriska).
Graduates of the “speech genre” - Gennady Khazanov, Efim Shifrin.
Singers - Zhanna Bichevskaya, Elena Kamburova.
You can only enroll in college until you are 21 years old.

Today in Russia there is only one educational institution that trains circus performers - the State Central Theater Institute named after M. Rumyantsev. It’s quite difficult to get into college, so it’s better to start preparing long before you graduate from school.

Instructions

If you want your child to connect his life with the circus or stage, take him to a circus studio or enroll him in courses at a circus school, which are accepted from the age of 5. Group classes will allow your child to acquire primary skills in any of the major areas (gymnastics, acrobatics, balancing act, juggling, choreography).

After graduating from high school or junior high school, your child, with sufficient preparation, can try to enter a variety and circus school. Collect and submit the following documents to the admissions committee of the educational institution:

Certificate of secondary (incomplete secondary) education;
- passport and birth certificate;
- medical certificate in form 086у;
- X-rays of the spine (lumbar and thoracic);
- certificates from the psychoneurological and tuberculosis dispensaries stating that the applicant is not registered there;
- compulsory medical insurance policy;
- 6 photos 3x4.

In addition to these documents, upon re-entry, the admissions committee may require you to present a military ID and work record.

Your child will need to apply to the circus school several months before the entrance exams in order to undergo a preliminary interview with the heads of the educational institution and find out the requirements for the selection of applicants. In addition, 2 months before the entrance exams, the school begins preparatory courses, where, under the guidance of experienced teachers, you can adjust the program for admission.

Entrance tests take place in three rounds. At the first stage, members of the selection committee evaluate the stage performance and professional abilities of the future artist. In the second round, the applicant undergoes a medical examination; in the third, he demonstrates his acting abilities, level of ability to improvise, and mastery of primary skills in gymnastics, acrobatics, and musical instruments.

Even if your child has successfully completed all three rounds of the competition for admission to the circus school, it is too early to relax, since he still has exams in general education subjects. Applicants who have completed 9 grades take the Russian language (written and oral) and literature (oral), 11 grades - write an essay.

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