Vlad Serov Biography

Today, Serov is in the prime of creative forces and the indisputable leader of the original genre on the stage. He toured in more than sixty countries of the world and everywhere the press and experts highly appreciated Serov’s skill. I met this gifted artist seventeen years ago, when he, together with the director Tamara Abramovna Poultry, was preparing the number “Monocycle on the Free Wire”, which soon brought the young artist a directly stunning success at the V All-Russian competition of pop artists.

Watching the rehearsals of Vladimir, I was amazed at his frantic hard work and perseverance. In the circus and on the stage there are many workers, people disinterestedly devoted to art, but I, perhaps, met such a “fan” for the first time. Serov came to the VTMEI sports hall early in the morning, fixed racks for free wire, laid out the juggler props, coils for equis and was taken to work.

Somewhere in the middle of the day Tamara Abramovna Bytsyna came to him. They honed the schoolchildren of individual tricks, clarified the compositional construction of the future number, selected and listened to the musical design. When, after another rehearsal, the director left the hall, Serov was in no hurry to remove the props. He continued to work. If his legs got tired of the wire, he took up the juggler balls, and when his hands flowed, he approached a large mirror and began to perform various pantomic movements.

And so Vladimir rehearsed every day. From morning to late evening, without a break for lunch. It seems that a person with such an insatiable thirst for knowledge in our time must have been studying in one of the special educational institutions, but this Serov could not. His life was not easy. He was born in a small Siberian town of Yurga Kemerovo region. In addition to him, in a friendly, the working family there were two more children.

After the sudden death of his father, Molody became an older man in the house. Mother worked a lot in the factory, and care about the economy on the boyish shoulders: to repair a broken chair, to paste the leaked pot. There was a good tool from the artisan father, and the boy gradually mastered the carpentry, carpentry, locksmith craft. In the future, these skills helped him in the manufacture of props.

In those years, Volodya did not think about the profession of artist, since in heart he was convinced that this, apparently, was some special people from some other world. And suddenly he saw the film “The Way to the Arena”, where Leonid Engibarov convincingly showed how ordinary, a simple guy becomes an artist of the circus. After all, I, like the hero of the picture, loved the circus very much and even knew how to juggle a little and walk in my arms.

” It should be noted that Serov was very peculiarly mastered by juggling and acrobatics. Even in Yurg, he enthusiastically played table tennis in a children's sports complex. And I did not like to mess around. I always had three or four balls in reserve. I hold them in my hands with a racket and shift from my palm into my palm, recalling how the circus artists throw and catch objects.

From boredom, he began to imitate them. First, I mastered a throw of two balls with my right hand, and then I thought if I learned to throw two balls with my left hand, I could juggle at once in four. Nobody told me this, he himself made such a discovery. In the breaks between the losses, he began to juggle four balls. Moreover, imitating Engibarov in the film “The Way to the Arena”, I learned to throw and catch three objects: a spoon, a saucer, a cup.

But, oddly enough, he could not juggle three balls, although this is considered a simple matter. Due to the same, table tennis was addicted to acrobatics. After each lost party, I came up with some cruel punishment for myself. For example, get around the table several times in hand.

He studied stubbornly and, in the end, is unsuccessfully. I once found out that the circus circle was opened in our sports complex and the director Vladimir Petrovich Belkin, a former artist of the circus, leads it. He was known as a demanding, strict person. Honestly, I was shaking, I was afraid to come to his circle. However, he himself found me. When I lost again and walked around the table in my arms, Belkin suddenly stopped me.

I asked if I could stand in my arms. I was surprised at the naive question. I think it's funny even asking. If I know how to walk, then it is probably easier to stand. I answer with bravado that, of course, I can stand. He suggested demonstrating. Imagine that I did not succeed. He looked, looked and offered to study in his circle. Having barely waited for tomorrow, I ran to him with my balls, a racket, a spoon, a saucer, a cup and immediately showed all the skills.

I juggling four balls, and Vladimir Petrovich asks if I can throw three balls. I frankly said that I did not own three balls. Belkin was surprised, because he had just seen manipulation with three objects: a spoon, a saucer and a cup. He categorically stated this that I could, but there are no three balls.Then I did not even suspect that three different items are more difficult to throw than three identical ones.

” When a fifteen man got in the circle, the leader held a competition among the guys, determining the most capable of equaliber, juggling, acrobatics, clowning, illusions. Serov in each genre showed his skill, but managed to stand on a free wire for the longest. So the fate of the future equalibrist was determined. From that day, Volodya at the end of each lesson stood on a wire.

In order to arouse the fantasy of his students, Belkin suggested that the guys come up with circus tricks. We thought, rehearsed and showed. After some time, Belkin proposed adding a stick to the tricks with balls. Again they invented, rehearsed and showed invented tricks in their own hand. And here I again made the next discovery, came up with a trick: standing on the wire balanced a stick on my head and at the same time juggled four rings.

My invention delighted everyone. And how proud I was! The guys came to Vladimir Petrovich and in chorus began to convince him that Volodya was a genius, as he came up with an amazing trick, the only one in the world! Belkin calmly clarified whether I myself invented this trick. I assured that myself. He praised and only after that showed the magazine “Soviet Estse and the Circus”, where a photograph of the artist performing my invention was printed.

How ashamed I was! It turned out that this traditional juggling composition has existed for many decades, if not hundreds, has been demonstrated by many generations of artists. Of course, as an inventor-innovator, I was shameful, but Vladimir Petrovich immediately said that he only now believed in my creative abilities. It has come, they say, time to seriously introduce me to the history of circus and pop art, so that in my concept there is progress.

According to Belkin, I have ripened for this. He began to introduce me to circus literature and even the magazines “Circus”, “Circus and the Estse” published in the years. He had a good circus library at home. In the evenings, Vladimir Petrovich invited me to his home to read books, leaf through magazines, view circus photos. ” As you can see, Serov was firmly lucky with the first teacher in art.

Belkin not only gave him a circus school, but helped him in creating the first issue with which the young performer went to professional scaffolds. In the Novosibirsk Philharmonic, he worked for the whole summer, and then serious everyday trials were waiting for him. I was allowed to remove the curtain and put on the floor. Warming up in the canvas, I spent cold autumn nights.

And in the afternoon here behind the scenes rehearsed new tricks. ” At that time, Tamara Sergeevna Filippova, the leader and host of the program of the pop cycle team, arrived on tour in Novosibirsk. In one of the concerts, she accidentally saw the number of Vladimir and invited the artist to go to their team. As it turned out soon, I was not mistaken. Filippova, well versed in pop art, is endowed with pedagogical and directorial gift.

Her creative advice and support inspired me with confidence in my own strength. ” BISTO and L. Maslyukov, dance lessons and stage movement A. Redel and M. Khrustalev, class of Pantomime A. Boyko, lectures by Yu. Dmitriev, meetings with R. Slavsky, I received great benefit and spiritual satisfaction.