The circus building can always be recognized from afar. Highly raised round dome. Huge display windows and bright, visible at a great distance advertising. Fun music and a sense of celebration, which begins long before you enter the main, ceremonial circus entrance.
But you don’t recognize circus performers on the street. In a hurrying, bustling crowd of passers-by, it’s difficult to distinguish a person who will wear a bright suit tonight and enter the arena. Acrobats and trainers, jugglers, illusionists and clowns. Especially clowns - they always cause keen interest in the audience. What should be a person who can make laugh or make a whole hall sad?
Meet Anatoly Marchevsky! Circus artist, whose life from childhood until today has been completely devoted to circus art and the audience.
Childhood
He was born on April 9, 1948 in Ukraine, in the city of Sverdlovsk. It was a small mining town in which all life was subordinated to one goal - coal mining. Anatoly Marchevsky does not remember his father. Mom and older brother - that's the whole family. Lived hard. In order to raise two sons, mother had to work hard.
She was returning from work when her sons were already sleeping. She left early - the boys were still sleeping. Such a load undermined her health - her mother began to hurt. At the age of 14, Anatoly got a job at the mine - to clean the carts from coal dust.
What to do for a teenager in a mining town? One cinema, dance floor in the park, House of Culture. He was fond of radio engineering, was thinking about getting a technical education. And rehearsed in amateur circus. It was unlikely that he expected the circus to become a matter of his life for him. Only it was in the circus collective that he was noticed and invited to work in the Kiev Directorate of “Circus on the Stage”. The young man did not think long - in the circus it will not be harder than in the coal face. The first step to the grand arena was made. Fourteen-year-old Anatoly Marchevsky became an artist in the group “Circus on the Stage”.
"Circus on stage": the first steps in clowning
You need to understand what a circus band that works on stage is. Daily transfers, loading and unloading of props, performances ... An artist in such a team quickly becomes a universal. Juggle, perform in acrobatic numbers, go on a replacement, and help teammates. Anatoly had a good physical training and already owned several circus genres. But when he needed to replace the clown, he realized that this was a completely different level of artistry.
The first performance was chaotic. Marchevsky, no longer new to the stage, was confused and did not even remember how he worked out his reprise. But the laughter in the audience remembered. The verdict of experienced artists was categorical - the clowning, Tolya, is not yours. But he was already sick with "laughter." I decided firmly - I will be a clown. And Anatoly Marchevsky goes to Moscow. His goal is a circus school.
Profession step
The State School of Circus and Pop Art is an educational institution that occupied a special position in the Soviet Union. Competition of 150 people per place - any prestigious university in the country could envy such an influx of applicants. A provincial with Ukrainian dialect and mediocre knowledge passed the exams the first time had practically no chance. But the good preparation, mastery of several genres and the experience that Anatoly Marchevsky gained in the Circus on Stage team were noticed by the examination committee. He entered the school.
It can be said that Anatoly was lucky twice that year. He acted, and Yuri Pavlovich Belov, the director who worked with the legendary clown Leonid Yengibarov, became its leader . He taught the young artist the main thing - in clown reprise there should be meaning. It is not enough to make the audience laugh, filling in the pauses between the numbers. Laughter in the audience is not an end in itself for the carpet. The advice of an experienced teacher Marchevsky remembered. All his reprises carried a semantic load that made the audience not only laugh, but also think. In 1970, the young artist graduated from the circus school. Now it’s not “Circus on the Stage”, but the All-Union Union “Soyuzgoszirk” that has hired carpet clown Anatoly Marchevsky.
All night in the arena
And now, posters with a new name - Anatoly Marchevsky - are already beginning to appear in different cities of the big country. The clown, whose biography was just beginning in this profession, traveled around the Soviet Union. No wonder the circus system is called the "conveyor". Constant movement is a constant state of a circus performer.
It is not known how an artistic fate would have developed, but then an incident entered into the matter. The famous Yuri Nikulin, who was on tour in Kiev, was forced to urgently leave for Moscow. They replaced him with an unknown young clown. Anatoly Marchevsky was in a difficult situation. The audience came “to Nikulin” and learned that there would be no famous clown only in the circus. The first branch of the young carpet acted in complete silence. The audience did not perceive it. But youth, charm and talent were able to melt hostility. After the intermission, the audience gave up - laughter and applause accompanied each reprise.
And Nikulin did not forget about the young carpet man who replaced him in Kiev. After a while, he called Marchevsky and offered to come to Moscow. Such an invitation from a great clown meant recognition. In the capital’s arenas, only the best artists performed. From now on, Anatoly Marchevsky entered this circle.
Whole life in the circus
If you do not know Anatoly Pavlovich at all, we can say that his life spoiled him. Awards at prestigious circus festivals in France, Belgium, Monte Carlo. At 36, he was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Russian Federation. Awarded with government awards and prizes. It would seem that life was a success. In his profession, Anatoly Marchevsky conquered almost all the peaks. But in 1994, he accepts an unexpected offer - to become the director of the circus in Yekaterinburg.
From this moment, a popular and recognized artist becomes a business executive. He restores the circus and the hotel for artists, is engaged in the construction and improvement of the territory. The problems of the director of the circus are completely different from the concerns of the artist. From now on, it bears responsibility for a large team. For several years, Anatoly Marchevsky, whose biography has now firmly grown together with the Urals, was able to make his circus the best circus arena in Russia. As recognition of director's merits - the election of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of circuses included in the system of the Russian State Circus Company.
Creativity Doesn't End: A New Stage
No wonder it is believed that the circus is not a profession, but a way of life. Household concerns could not distract the director from the art itself, for which the circus lives. Only now, Anatoly Marchevsky does not go to the arena every evening. His work has become wider, wider. And the position is obliged - the director - the art director. The Yekaterinburg circus has become a stage where performances and festivals are born.
For the first time in Russia - the World Clown Festival. Since 2008, the best clowns of the planet are found at the circus ring in Yekaterinburg. Now Anatoly Pavlovich invites artists. Touring in his circus is a recognition of a high level of skill. For the sake of such an invitation, the most famous circus artists are ready to revise the schedule of their tours. Because the invitation to work in the Marchevsky circus means conquering a new professional height.
Not only in the arena
In Yekaterinburg, the work of the director of the circus did not go unnoticed. Interesting circus programs, new performances, the International Festival - all this increased the popularity of the circus in the city. And also a museum, a children's circus studio, television programs. Marchevsky became a symbolic figure in the cultural life of not only the millionth city, but also Russia. Since 2000, Anatoly Pavlovich is a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the region. And in 2008, another honorary resident, Anatoly Marchevsky, appeared in Yekaterinburg. Personal life, previously divided between the circus and the family, now also took on a social burden. Although for a person who is keen on his business, the appearance of new responsibilities is an opportunity to improve life around him.
About personal
Marchevsky was married only once. He has a son Ruslan and three daughters: Veronika, Olesya and Alena. The youngest is now only 13 years old. And Ruslan followed in his father's footsteps and became a circus artist. Now holds the post of deputy director of the State Circus. Filatov in Yekaterinburg.
Whole life in the circus
Whatever Anatoly Pavlovich does, he does it with his soul. His authority in the circus world is indisputable. His opinion can become the ultimate truth. It seems that time has no power over this person. And the stormy, hasty, informative 21st century remains somewhere beyond the threshold of the circus, in which one person firmly and confidently rules - Anatoly Marchevsky. His family, colleagues in the circus, artists and just spectators expect new ideas and interesting performances from him. They are sure that as long as Marchevsky is in the circus, the circus will live.