Ten minutes before show time, Victoria Bilyauer, 32, bent and twisted as she warmed up for a very special love story on stage with her partner Konstantin. She was in town to perform in ‘The Extra Terrestrials’. Victoria and Konstantin fired the stage with their opening act. They slithered up and down a pole, performing impossible movements, that left the audience open-mouthed.
Zhora Oganisyan, the crazy goalkeeper, was up next and he kept the viewers on the edge of their seat as he juggled five balls and moves around on stage on a giant ball. He’s been a part of the circus since the age of seven and this particular act, he said, was perfected over 21 years. Like him, the Duo Valeri have embraced the circus way of life early. In fact they passed out of the Circus school in Kiev, Ukraine, in 2003. Since then, they have entertained people with their zero gravity act that is all about fluid grace and synchrony. The Duo Brise have worked together for more than a decade now. Olga and Oleg Miekhova Kolesnichenko, masters in handstand acrobatics, showed off their spectacular skills as they balanced each other and performed stunts, all on their hands.
Wang Fei, 26, a wizard in balance acts, reclined on a chair and practised with umbrellas and embroidered cloth, backstage. On stage she reclined on a tiny bench, juggling four umbrellas with her hands and feet. More juggling followed, this time by Strahelman and Sohne, who have 3,500 performances behind them. They juggled four clubs, even as they got out of their suits and back into them! They received the loudest applause. The audience gasped at Vik and Fabrini as they performed tricks involving sleight-of-hand. And Konstantin was greeted with laughs as he impersonated a man with an enormous tummy on a German wheel. He did things with himself and the wheel and bingo, emerged with a flat stomach. If only losing weight was that easy!
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The Extra Terrestrials was a world class act. And the audience, both the kids and the grown ups acknowledged that with whoops, squeals and laughter.