The IV Republican circus art festival-competition "ARENA-2025" took place in Orsha
In Orsha the IV Republican holiday-competition of circus art "ARENA-2025" took place with ten of the best amateur circus groups from Belarus and the Russian Federation. The city once again confirmed its status as one of the main circus capitals of the country, becoming a meeting place for talents, creative exchange, and bright emotions.
The City Palace of Culture and Creativity "Orsha" turned into a real center of attraction. Its foyer hosted an interactive platform "Circus Park," where artists from the folk miniature theaters "Poker" (Centralized Club System of the Braslaw District), students of the Vitebsk State College of Culture and Arts, as well as creative teams from the Sharkovshchina District Culture Center created an atmosphere of fun and engaged guests in games, improvisation, and small master classes.
– The holiday of circus art in Orsha is not just performances. It is a platform for acquaintance, development, and strengthening the circus movement in the country, – noted the Deputy Head of the Culture Department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Oleg Ageev while opening the festival. – The day before, the guys participated in educational programs and master classes: they learned new tricks, absorbed the experience of masters, and sought inspiration. And on stage, we see the result of colossal painstaking work – the ability to immerse the audience in the atmosphere of celebration, wonder, and joy.
The jury included famous artists of the Belarusian State Circus – brothers Leonid and Vitaly Furmanov, laureates of international competitions "The Best Clowns in the World" and "World Clown Festival." Along with them, the numbers were evaluated by the famous strength artist Bogdan Kazakov, a record holder of the "Wonder" achievements book, holder of the highest world awards in the field of circus art.
This year, the Vitebsk region was represented by four groups: the honored amateur groups of the Republic of Belarus – the circus "Youth" from Novopolotsk and the studio "Arena" from Orsha, as well as the exemplary group "Fairy Tale" and the studio "Cascade" from the city of Postavy.
– It so happened that the Vitebsk region is one of the leaders in the country in terms of the number of circus groups, – said the chief director of the Vitebsk Regional Methodological Center for Folk Art Olga Mults. – Just Orsha is worth it! "Arena," "Fairy Tale," "Fantazers" – names known not only throughout Belarus but also beyond its borders. Here, circus art lives, develops, and is passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, it is quite natural that Orsha became the venue for the republican holiday.
In the competition program, the audience saw numbers with elements of acrobatics, gymnastics, juggling, equilibristics, and powerlifting. The age of the participants ranged from 5 to 25 years, but despite their young age, many of them showed mature artistry and the ability to hold the audience's attention. It was especially impressive that each number told its own story: some transported the audience into a world of fairy tales and fantasies, others – into the atmosphere of circuses of the last century, and others – into the space of modern street art. The artists did not just perform tricks; they lived each movement, painting emotions and characters in the air.
Viktor SOSNOVSKY.
Photo by the author.