Okay, so I have a bit of a treat for you all as I think I’ve unearthed some relatively unknown yet very skilled jugglers and circus performers. It’s taken me ages to discover information about them and do all the translations, as they share very similar names to other famous Russians in the art world and the military. Vladimir Alekseevich Serov was born on February 25th, 1947 in Yurga, Russia. He was a tightrope walker, juggler, magician and director. He graduated from the art studio, VTMEI in 1972 and in 1973, he was awarded a Laureate of the All-Russian competition of variety artists. From childhood he participated in amateur performances. His professional debut took place at the Novosibirsk Philharmonic with the number “Juggler on a free wire” in 1968. He prepared the act “Monocycle on a free wire” in 1971, in which he demonstrated unique tricks: he rode a few meters forward along the wire, then did a 180 degree pirouette and rode in the opposite direction. The next pirouette was 90 degrees. Serov put his feet on the rim of the unicycle and, moving them, rode across the wire. The next outstanding trick: the artist laid a unicycle on a slack wire after which he did a headstand in the centre of the short frame of the unicycle. In this unstable position, balancing his feet in the air, Serov began to slowly rotate the pedals of the unicycle lying on the wire with his hands and, unexpectedly for the viewer, started off and rode forward along the wire, then back, and completed this trick with a spectacular flip over his head.
Here he is performing this act in 1983, on the Russian TV show, “Wide Circle”.
This next act is called, “A mischievous souvenir” and it combines dance, acrobatics and balance on rola bola. Here is Vladimir Serov performing this act on the Russian TV show, “Wide Circle” in 1983. The other performer is Tamara Sergeevna Filippova, an animal trainer, illusionist, author and performer of conversational genre numbers.
https://youtu.be/J_gEmoHdRy4?si=OvcGSEXs_N8PNu5S
Here is the juggler Yuri Solomakhin, performing in 1983 on the Russian TV show, “Wide Circle” . I don’t know anything more about him, so if you do, please day so in the comments.
https://youtu.be/A3g7m5TqIMY?si=QG_YEV1Fs-Vd9qSj
Finally, here’s Vladimir Serov, People’s Artist of the RSFSR, performing at the Benidorm Palace. He performs his unique unicycling trick involving a 180 degree pirouette before riding in the opposite direction. He also does an alternative to kicking up the teacups and saucers by throwing them onto his head, though he does kick up the last one. Don’t forget, he does this while riding a unicycle with the (thin) tyre on, while balanced on a slack wire. He also rides a miniature bike on the wire and ends by balancing upside down on the miniature bike, pedalling with his hands. This performer has such awesome skills. In fact, this last video is on Vladimir’s YouTube channel, where you can watch several more great videos.
https://youtu.be/SYPjxvaxvG0?si=X0ijL_S45P8OZWIz
