LADDERMAN

The Novruzov brothers are master circus performers who have won over audiences in many circus rings in the world. Oqtay and Telman go on guest tours together around Europe, and Uzeyir takes his programme around the USA. Regionplus presented readers with an interview with Oqtay at the beginning of October. Immediately after that we managed to talk to the younger brother, Uzeyir, as well. 

Uzeyir Novruzov is an extremely talented circus performer who has taken part in the "America's Got Talent" show. He amazed not only the audience, but also the jury with his brilliant free-ladder acrobatic act. 

- Uzeyir, let's begin by talking about your participation in the extremely well-known show "America's Got Talent". What made you think of joining that project?

- The decision to take part in this television project just happened all on its own. When they saw my video online, the producers invited me to take part. Naturally, I couldn't turn down such a flattering proposal offering the opportunity to display my skills and open new doors to myself in my work.

- As far as I know, the show took place in several stages, and the fate of the participants depended precisely on the text-message votes…

-The talent of the participants in the competition knock-out rounds is assessed by members of a four-person jury. But the TV viewers have the last word, choosing the winner by text-message votes. They are the ones who have to vote for the participant they like best, and the latter gets the prize. 

- What is the top prize?

- The top prize is 1m dollars.

- You were only a step away from winning…

- Yes, I got through to the finals and that's really cool (smiles). To come in the top ten best performers is a good result. All of them are different and the best in their chosen field. I'm not at all upset that I didn't win the competition, because I was still the winner all the same in my own chosen field before an audience of millions and before myself.

- Your unsupported ladder act is rather complicated. It would be interesting to learn why you chose the free-standing ladder for you act. 

 - In the children's club that I used to go to when I was at school, I discovered that I was good at balancing on my legs when I was doing somersaults. When I entered Moscow's M. N. Rumyantsev Circus School, they advised me to stop doing somersaults, since a lot of people were able to do that. But the free-standing ladder act was a genre that had gone out of fashion and could be revived. So I worked on that throughout my time at the school and it came easy to me.

- Do you have circus training?

-Yes, I graduated from the Moscow school of circus and variety arts. As it turned out, it took me two attempts to get into this circus institution. I wasn't accepted in 1955, since I was not able to do acrobatics, although I performed an act with somersaults and on the free-standing ladder. After that, I did a course in acrobatics under the supervision of the pedagogue Igor Vladimirovich. Since I was not very good at acrobatics, he always trained me separately and not in the group. During the 40-minute lesson I only managed to jump two saltos (acrobatic element) and the rest of the time, he jokingly explained the A to Z of acrobatics to me. He demonstrated laughable examples to me, comparing me to cheap jam made from the wrong sorts of apples because I don't jump well and I am like "an old crock", whereas acrobats who performed well he compared to new models of BMWs and "Mercedes" cars.

- When did you start performing in the big ring?

- That happened while I was in the children's collective at the Krasnodar circus, when I was seventeen, I performed a balancing act on drums. I managed to do a very good stunt. The local clown even came up to me and offered me the opportunity to work with him in the programme.

- How did that make you feel?

- It's hard to say how I felt, but I will try to put it in a word or two. You experience a frisson, get a lump in your throat and your whole body gets the jitters. It's an anxious moment, but a pleasant one.

- Uzeyir, how long do you work on your stunts?

- It depends on how complicated the act is. I manage to do some things quite easily, whereas I have to spend a long time and work really hard on others and sometimes even get injured.

- How long does it take you to prepare for a single act?

- You can spend a whole lifetime on a good act, because you have to keep working on it and updating it and to make sure you're fit for it. Sometimes, you can put an easy act together in a year or two.

- In the circus world some people think up stage names for themselves. What is yours?

- Ladderman, which means man on a ladder.

- You have chosen to imitate Charlie Chaplin. Why him?

- Well, who else is there besides him? I'm not Alain Delon, you see (smiles). I'm only 1.6 metres tall. When all's said and done, this is a great man among the greatest, from whom all artistes have derived ideas and continue to do so.

- You are amazing in your imitation of Charlie Chaplin's style and manner. How do you manage to achieve that?

- You may not believe it, but I have not particularly studied it at all nor have I taken any classes in acting. I have simply watched his films, admired him and been inspired by him. This is just the outcome of transforming myself.

- Only you don't have a moustache like Chaplin?

- Anyone can stick on a moustache and look like him. I do that sometimes. But of late I have tried to keep my own face, which the audience do, you see, find just as interesting. What do you think?

- I agree. Uzeyir, what is your favourite Chaplin film?

- There are plenty of them, but some are the best of the best. "City Lights", "Gold Rush", "The Kid", "The Great Dictator" and "The Circus".

- Can you recall any Chaplin sayings that you like?

-"I like the rain because you can hide your tears in it", "I have never been an angel, but have always wanted to be a man" and he also said that who had never been a child would never be an adult.

- Uzeyir, how did you come to be in America? 

- After a regular performance at the Big Moscow Circus on Vernadsky Avenue the impresario of the American Big Apple Circus came to me and offered me a contract, which I was pleased to accept. In America I received offers to join other circuses as well. And so I climbed the career ladder "step by step" as they say in local slang. Over a 10-year period I went on guest tours around America from time to time. I have been permanently resident in the USA for a year now. 

- What attracted you to the USA?

- Probably the great attention paid to my art, the numerous offers and contracts. After I had travelled around half the world, I understood that my family and I felt comfortable here in America. 

- Do you have a big family?

- I have nine-year-old twin daughters called Zarina and Sabrina. They are good pupils at school and are helping their daddy with his English. They are very diligent, just like their father. We play proper tennis together.

- Did the children watch you taking part in the "America's Got Talent" show?

- Of course. They were very excited about their father participating and happy for him.

- Would you like to see them in the circus ring in the future?

- I would just like to see that they are happy, that they are doing something they enjoy. What they become will depend on life.

- Is your wife involved in the world of the circus too?

- No, she doesn't work in the circus. She is busy bringing up the children.

- Uzeyir, I know that your brothers are also circus performers.

- That's quite true. I have two brothers, Oqtay and Telman, who also finished the Moscow school of circus and variety art. They are both older than me, one two years older and the other one year older. They are taking the act they do together on guest tours around Europe.

- How often do you see them?

- Not very often of late, unfortunately, since we are on guest tours on different continents. Our paths hardly ever cross. It is two years since we saw each other last. We generally ring each other on Skype from time to time.

- Are you going to do an act together?

- For the moment there are no definite plans to do an act together, but in the future we would like to work together, especially if we manage to do that in Azerbaijan.

- How often do you visit your homeland?

- I was there three years ago the last time, but I would like to go there more often.

- Would you like to go on a guest tour in your republic?

- I would very much like to do that. I have performed for the public in different countries, but have never had the opportunity to perform in Azerbaijan. I would like to put on a small show in my republic comprised of all my acts.

- Do you have a hobby?

- I like making amateur short-length films, in which I myself act and am involved in the montage. I have another little hobby too. I collect little clown statues and souvenir spoons from all the countries and cities I have visited.

- If you weren't a circus performer, what would you like to have been? 

- The circus is my calling. I think I would have been very unhappy if I had not been engaged in this art form. The circus demands a lot of work, a good mood and everlasting childhood. It is precisely there that I constantly feel young, if I were not a circus performer, I probably would have been a sportsman, since I was hard-working and did judo as a child.

- What do you dream of doing? What are your plans?

- I dream of having my own show in which I can reveal all my skills. I also dream of acting in a film. But I try not to make too many plans when it comes to life.