THE WORLD OF FRANKNESS

They say that the circus remains with us forever! Allahverdi Israfilov is a bright example of this saying. He comes from a dynasty of circus athletes, is a former virtuoso rider and aerial gymnast. He is a recipient of several prestigious awards in circus arts, including the awards of the Golden Buff Festival (Moscow, Russia), the International Festival of Capital Circus (St. Petersburg, Russia), the World Festival (China), the gold medal of the Latino Festival (Italy) and others. He also received one of the major awards in the field, the prize of the prestigious Monte Carlo Festival.

Above all, circus is a small universe where everything is a game. But this is where everyone is playing honestly. It's the world of frankness. One does not leave the circus, rather he simply changes his line of character. Everyone is honestly serving the path he or she has once chosen. Allahverdi Israfilov is one of such people. After completing his artistic career, he became the artistic director of the Baku State Circus, as well as the organiser of circus programs. One of these programs, International Circus: Winners of Festivals, successfully finished at the end of November.

"What is the circus about?"

"It is about courage, love, heroism, beauty, charisma, choreography, music... The list is almost endless. It's about being able to laugh both at yourself and at others. The content of a circus performance contains a lot of important things. It encompasses the widest range of human feelings, from laughter to fear. By the way, the latter is inherent to everyone. As they say, he who is not afraid of heights might be a fool."

"You know everything about the circus. Have you ever wanted to leave it to change your life?"

"Initially, I had no other option that to grow up in the circus. Afterwards, with the emergence of some other possibilities, I absolutely fell in love with circus. As my career path went up, it turned out that circus became part of my lifestyle. Frankly, I never wanted to give it up. By the way, running a circus business and being a performer in the circus are diametrically opposed things. When I was a performer, I have never thought of what our administration did. Today, however, I realise that administering the circus is no less demanding in terms of energy than the life of a circus performer. By the way, I’m saying this with absolutely no intention to play down the complexity of artists’ performance. Believe me, I have been through all aspects of this work, practising all the time, perfecting my performance, working on my own body, and so on. And I know how hard it is. In fact, it was the administration business I wanted to give up. There were moments when we had no investments, sources of income. But the Almighty, and I have never doubted His existence, decided differently. I have worked in various countries and today I have an opportunity to use my international experience, both my artistic and administrative skills for the Baku State Circus. Indeed, there is no place like home. As if it was a heavenly decision to make me come back and to finish what I started here earlier. That's how I see it..."

"Your destiny?"

"You can do nothing about it. To live in Russia for a quarter of a century and then decide to return to Baku overnight. Such things happen when the stars align. Although I have never left Azerbaijan personally. I have never even thought about leaving my homeland. It is my country which I love immensely. And I try to the best of my abilities, experience and aspirations to prove its importance in my life with pleasure and without asking something in return."

"?"

"Really, I mean it. My personal position to the circus business is based on doing quality work. Strange as it may sound, I am happy even when our profits fall far short of expectations. Some of my friends often say that my position on making money is not quite right. After all, I spend almost everything I earn for the circus. It is this aspect of my business that I define as doing it without asking something in return. I think it's important to show how great the circus art is and to make sure the performers are paid properly. I am not going to build my well-being on some personal ambition put above the sense of responsibility for others. I'm doing what I love, which gives me, among other things, inner satisfaction. And if it is backed up by financial success, it means that I will be able to realise even more ambitious plans."

"Bold assertions must rest on the confidence of those standing by."

"Admittedly, the Baku State Circus is exactly this kind of association of people. I have never been part of a team like we have here today. Like-minded people. This is the strongest and most united team I have ever worked with. They have given me the chance to do exactly what relates to my professional goals at all levels: finances, advertising, economic issues, etc. Previously, everything depended on me alone, despite the staff that was available. The current team has people who are responsible for their own area, their own duties. All we have to do is outline the overall plan, develop together a roadmap, each section of which is then followed up by respective team members. And I know that the decisions will be implemented on time and will not require my direct involvement, putting me away from what is within my area of responsibility."

"Do you have that much faith in people?"

"I cannot imagine leaving without faith. The main thing is not to lose the ability to empathise. If I can help, I will. What if they cheat me? It’s on their head. They will accountable for what they did. Today my ego, which is based upon my status, emotional and moral state, is healthy only because I always believe in the best. Never doubt it for a moment! One must always look at the world with open eyes. After all, the Almighty can respond to your deepest desires at any moment."

"But things don't always go smoothly in the world of creative ambitions..."

"Artists are prone to vivid emotions, which may be both positive and negative. The circus is no exception. After all, we are human beings, and nothing human is alien to us. Everyone has his own character, vision and outlook. Our reactions to certain situations is different. Accordingly, it is up to us to perceive them internally. For example, I do not like wasting my time, effort and energy on mandatory negative confrontations, because I might suffer from them in the future. The best reaction to this kind of situations would be to separate your professional duties from your inner feelings. It's a kind of nurturing process. After all, it would be impossible not to try to rethink negative situations. Just to thank for the good. There is nothing more touchy than making an unkind person feel bad."

"It’s an interesting way of building relationships with people and the world around you..."

"Revenge is not my thing! Making enemies?! Why? Do I need this at all? Will it satisfy my ego? Should I transform the event into something more practical? It is clear that we, Azerbaijanis, are inherently emotional, hot-tempered people. I am no exception. After all, I used to show my best results in the sport when I was exploding of emotions. That's what was supposed to keep me going! When I joined the circus, I found a way to use emotional content in the creation of our shows. I prefer hearing something that’s bursting the circus arena instead of those weak and feeble clapping of spectators!"

"You mean when something makes the audience lose its breath..."

"That's what the circus is all about. Although there is a factor of trials and errors as well. The designed lifting speed of this winch, for example, is two metres per second. What a lift, huh! Once I went up as high as 19 metres in two jerks to make a break at 16 metres. The effect was incredible!"

"Adrenaline?"

"But it's a circus! It's all about height, speed, difficulty, hitting bars. That's what people come here for. I don’t like when performers fail to energise the audience with such emotions. I still remember the event that took place at the International China Circus Festival Zhuhai, the second festival in 2015. Three years before that we signed a contract to include our act "Air Gymnasts on Belts" to the festival's programme. Time passed, there was no news and somehow we forgot about our commitment. Then one day I received a phone call from the impresario who asked whether Galina, my wife, who’s also my partner in the act, and I were ready to fly to Zhuhai. Despite a long pause and the fact that I had to change my partner, we had no other choice but to to fulfil the terms of the contract. This festival is one of the largest and prestigious circus festivals in the world. I know that it has deeply impressed the Princess of Monaco, who oversees the circus events in her home country. Anyway, we had limited rehearsal time and all I managed to do with absolute precision was to mentally adjust the distances. Now, imagine the scene where I am just seconds away from performing the stunt. And I realise what I have to do at that moment... Again, it's been almost two and a half years since I've worked it. The height of the dome is different in circuses, which means the amplitude of the swing varies too. The technical component of the stunt requires constant adjustments through rehearsals and training, which I simply did not have time to do. I remember standing alone in the arena and my feelings at that moment. And suddenly I could literally feel my inner energy gradually engulfing the entire audience. I figured the swing-back moment on the spot. Honestly, I cannot describe what felt at that moment. With no emotions on my face, I let myself lifted, prepared to swing back and then suddenly realised that I was heading toward some lighting device, which I was going to smash into. In a split second I made a decision and finished the stunt just a metre before hitting the stuff. I've never performed that same stunt neither before nor since! I made as gently as possible without injuring my muscles... Then there was that explosion of applause from the audience. Seven thousand people sitting in the hall were knocked out. That’s how we got the silver medal of the festival. In other words, it is the ability to competently perform the act that demonstrates the professionalism of performer."

"What about the children watching your show?"

"I think circus performances are not produced for children audiences only. This is just a stereotype. We can still hear arguments like: "I’m here because I took my children with me.” For example, children make up just a quarter of the total audience at the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. Unfortunately, the development of the Baku Circus stopped after 1989. Today we are recreating its previous glory. Our circus was popular not only in Baku but also beyond Azerbaijan. There were many renowned people involved in its development and the creation of individual programmes! For example, the former administrative director of the circus Firuddin Abdullayev, chief director Ramiz Aliyev, famous composer Tofig Guliyev, who wrote music especially for circus performances. I still remember one of them. The great Toghrul Narimanbayov created the scenery! Can you imagine the scale?! In other words, the circus is for adult audiences. We need to teach them to visit the circus shows without hesitation. We can accommodate people from every age group. Everyone will find here something interesting. Since our views on many things change as we get older, the same is true for our perception of the circus art; it also transforms over the years."

"Are circuses in different countries different from each other?"

"The diameter of arena is the same. I see no need to compare the architecture. But the standard of living both of the circus and performers working there depends entirely on the management. Being a competent manager requires some special talent. It is his ability to properly determine the importance and sequence of financial allocations that creates the very atmosphere of festivity on the stage. A circus must be independent, but it also needs strict control. But in general, circuses have no boundaries. Because each member of the staff lives here according to his or her own worldview."

"What's running a circus like?"

"I found myself performing the role of a circus manager when I began producing in this field. Management is truly an art no less important than what you see on the stage. Making or voicing a decision also means justifying the need for it. It is not just declaring a popular opinion or trendy direction on a certain topic. To be responsible for the team and the institution entrusted to you means being responsible and disciplined."

"Have you drawn intermediate conclusions already?"

"I can confidently say that today our team has overcome an impressive barrier. Because we have no illusions or expectations that, as in the Soviet past, someone will solve our difficulties and problems. We are provided with high-class lighting and sound equipment, which are essetial components of any modern circus today. And I honestly admit that the ticket prices will to some extent reflect the cost of these components. I sometimes wonder if they would believe me if I told them the figures in the cost estimate. But then I realise that it is much more important for me not to prove something to anyone. The main thing is that the process is under way and is not slowing down. This means that a more complicated programme of performances in the future, artists of different level, large-scale projects... And there are large risks as well. There is no longer a senior organisation, but a single person taking care of all the stages from the rental to artists, from the promotion campaign to the animal management. And it's all about funding and financing. And what if my calculations were wrong and the attendance was low than expected? I am afraid to even tell you how many times we were in the red!"

"But today the circus enjoys state support..."

"This support encouraged us to believe in plans we were going to implement. That is incredibly valuable. It is thanks to the state support that we enjoy what we have today. Otherwise I wouldn't be in Baku either. There would be no team that we have today. You would have certain ‘managers’ ruling the business but far from the world of circus. Without the will of the state, the Baku State Circus would not be able to return and to reach out to people who demanded it. This was the first time the Baku State Circus enjoyed such a cooperation with the state. We hope for the real future. We are planning a gradual refurbishment. Currently we hold preliminary talks to launch programs on ice as well. There is a project with polar bears. We have also established contacts with the head office of the World Circus Federation currently overseen by Princess Stephanie of Monaco, who often attends the circus performances and is known for her passion for the circus. And at this level, no one can do without state support! The bar is set high and the interaction between the state and the circus is highly productive. So, our team will go on!"