White bears appear in Kyiv

The latest attraction, called Skating Polar Bears, is a bright, dynamic show featuring somersaults, pirouettes, a ballgame, sliding down a slope, a waltzing polar bear, a quartet of bears, performances by tightrope-walkers, acrobats, gymnasts, clowns, numbers on stilts, jumps through a ring of fire, unicycles, skipping ropes, with many of these numbers performed on ice.

“We have a fine tradition of acquainting Kyiv residents and visitors to the capital city with the finest things from the circus repertoire,” The Day was told by Volodymyr Shevchenko, the director general and artistic director of the National Circus of Ukraine. “The public loved our past programs. Our arena has hosted performances by the brilliant group of the Water Circus as well as a show called People and Animals, featuring elephants, puma, lynx, and other predators. We dedicated an interesting show to the New Year and Christmas holidays, including a pantomime act based on Gogol’s works. This time we invited our colleagues from the Moscow Circus on Ice to present their program, Skating Polar Bears. The Kyiv audience has not seen anything like this for the last 15 or 20 years. It is the world’s only show featuring eight bears on figure skates, performing under Yulia Denysenko’s direction. Their performance is the heart of the program, and besides animals - polar bears, cats, and birds (pigeons) - 45 people perform a variety of numbers on ice. Audiences especially like numbers, like skating on stilts, geometrical figures, and skipping with ropes.”

FOUR-LEGGED FIGURE SKATERS

The day before the show we saw how the predators familiarized themselves with the arena. Their appearance was very showy: the she- bear dove onto the ice, moving on her belly diagonally across the stage. Then she sniffed around the perimeter of the screen dividing the audience from the arena and began rubbing herself on the ice, polishing the glossy surface. Then two bears took the trainers for a drive on a carousel; they conducted a drill with a ball. Then the conductor led the quartet of bears in a masterful drum, harp, and trumpet performance, during which the bears also sang. A female singer performed a solo, “Byla mene maty berezovym prutom” (My mother beat me with a birch switch) while the she-bear accompanied her by whooping in the arena. Graham waltzed gracefully with trainer Denysenko and afterwards, like a gallant partner, gave his partner a ride on a Hutsul sled.

After the performance The Day talked with Denysenko, who told us about the performers in her charge and how this unique circus number was conceived. Thanks to the Skating Polar Bears program, the statement that these animals cannot be trained has ultimately been disproved. Denysenko’s performing bears also prove that they are extraordinary figure skaters.

“We are a single team (four bears were born in 2001, three in 1985, and one is a veteran: he is nearly 23). But before entering the arena, we had to have a lot of rehearsals,” Denysenko said. “First, the animals have to become stronger and get in shape. We put vitamins in their food, make them move a lot, but we do this in a playful way. Training a performer is monotonous, everyday work. I observe all the animals, because each of them requires an individual approach. There are no ready- made formulas; you simply have to find the right key to each of the bears. The simple reason is that there are more or less talented animals. At first we teach them tricks without skates. We invent numbers that are not difficult to perform. For example, the she-bear crawls on her belly like a scout: that is her own invention, not mine. Audiences like the somersaults on ice. The children laugh, and the other bears have taken up this trick, so we included it in the program. I have close contact with the bears; I don’t use chairs, which are used by my fellow trainers during their performances with different predators. I don’t have favorites. I love all the bears equally. Graham, who is the only male, and the biggest and oldest bear, and I have been performing in circuses the longest. We became partners a long time ago. Each of the seven bears has its own temperament: one is better-natured than another; one waits for me to look away and then does things its own way or starts fooling around.”

Denysenko only has to switch to a harsher intonation for the animals to stop their tomfoolery. The bears glide on special skates, like soft felt shoes with double blades. This footwear was invented by Denysenko’s father Oleksandr, who comes from Vasylkiv in Kyiv oblast. He is a specialist in training polar bears, and he is the one who invented and constructed these “bear skates.” Yulia’s artistic dynasty began with her grandparents, who were circus performers, but did not work with animals. Then her parents, who met each other at the Circus School, began working in circuses as acrobats and later as aerial gymnasts. After sustaining an injury, her father became the assistant of the well-known trainer Filatov. On his recommendation he created a number using brown bears, but because many trainers perform with these animals, Denysenko Sr. created the first number in the former Soviet Union featuring polar bears. Initially, for safety reasons, he used Himalayan bears (at that time they were performing on ice, not in the arena). This was a mixed attraction, and the brown bears performed many complicated tricks. Then, 20 years ago, Denysenko’s father, after observing the way figure skaters perform, decided to try to make his four- legged trainees skate.

“I remember the white bears familiarizing themselves with the circus skating rink,” Yulia reminisced. “The bears flopped down on the ice and, lying flat, started somersaulting. They liked to skate so much that my father decided to create a entire program called Skating Polar Bears. They performed with my mother, and when I grew up, I continued doing this number. We use other animals today. Besides Graham, we have Dora, Motia, Puma, Aila, Lota, Knopa, and Umka. Audiences in the US, France, Tunisia, India, China, Hungary, Romania, and the Baltic countries have applauded these four-legged performers, and now Ukrainians will have an opportunity to assess their mastery.”

The bears are given pastry or pieces of meat to encourage their good performance. Polar bears prefer beef, not fish, but they adore cod-liver oil. According to Yulia Denysenko, each animal is talented. “With one animal you have to spend a lot of time, but another may be quick on the uptake. As a rule, you have to start training the animals when they are eight or twelve months old.” Bears are taught to wear special bear skates. At first they walk on skates without blades; then they are taught the tricks. A polar bear becomes a circus performer after three years. They can perform for a long time, but this also depends on many factors. According to scientists’ observations, polar bears live in the wild for 20 or 25 years and up to 40 years in captivity (in a circus or zoo).

The pigeon-toed beasts are transported in special vans, and if a tour takes place in summer, the bears have to travel in refrigerated trucks. The skating bears quickly adapted to Kyiv and treat the Ukrainian ice arena like their native Moscow stage. The Russians will perform in our capital until March 30. The circus baton will then be taken up by Ukrainian performers. Shevchenko has promised a fine show. Kyiv’s circus performers recently came back from a tour of Kuwait, where their meticulous mastery won the audience’s admiration. Shevchenko won’t reveal any secrets, but he piqued our interest when he mentioned that the Illusion number is very interestingly staged, and the camel show will be a surprise for our audiences. Together with his colleagues, the legendary trainer will present a show with predators in Kharkiv on Feb. 2.