With a Russian director and a majority of Ukrainian performers, the Cortex circus closely followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine to prepare its new show, presented in England.
The circus was founded in 2020, “after covid-19”, as explained by Irina Archer, one of the directors, to AFP. The Russian artiste arrived in the UK 23 years ago on a contract, but remained in the country after meeting her husband.
There are 23 artists working for the circus, 15 of which are Ukrainian. The new show, warriors, will tour the UK until the end of October. The premiere will take place this Friday in Sheffield.
“The circus industry has always been very strong in Russia and Ukraine. Before the war there was no division. I have always worked with many Ukrainians”explains Archer.
Artists hired by Cortex in 2020 returned to Ukraine. “And suddenly, in February last year, war broke out and everything collapsed.”account.
Initially it was difficult to get permission for male Ukrainian artists to travel to the UK. “It was very difficult for them to get the right to leave Ukraine”says the director. Artists “are very concerned”. “On stage they entertain the audience, but deep down they are always worried about their families in Ukraine. They are anxious, it’s a difficult situation. But entertaining people gives everyone strength.”
On its website, the circus tells the story of the Ukrainian members. Tetiana Lotiuk “was in Kharkiv when the war started (…) She made a terrible journey from Kharkov to Hungary in the second week of the war. Now she is safe in the UK, with us”reports.
Also in England are Víktor Gorodetskiy, Yulia Gorodetska and the son of the couple Valdis, all from Mikolayev. ‘This family had to leave their homes three weeks after the outbreak of war’explains the circus website. “They fled to Khmelnytskyi, where they stayed with Viktor’s parents, who are also circus performers, before spending two long months in Lviv.”, he adds. Eventually they obtained a visa to the United Kingdom and the government authorized Víktor to leave the country as a performer.
Source: DN
