Spectacular Performances at One of the Most Prestigious Circus Arts Festivals

One of the world’s most prestigious circus arts festivals was held for the 15th time in Budapest between January 10-15. This year’s Budapest Circus Festival featured four different shows and more than fifty performances by around 200 artists from all over the world. The competition program ended with a gala show lasting almost three hours, followed by the much-anticipated moment when the winners of the festival were announced in the Capital Circus of Budapest, reports Magyar Nemzet.

The first act of the gala was a juggler, Kai Cao, followed by an aerial performance by the Bambook group. Following their life-threatening stunt from a height of twelve meters, the clown of the show, Fraser Hooper, took to the stage. After the laughter, the parrots got the spotlight in Elisa Cussadi’s production. The interplay of conflicting energies in Duo Antresol’s ring performance gave the production a special dynamic.

Andrei Pogorelov’s death-wheel performance and Evgenyina Zavadskaya’s graceful aerial tightrope act were also enthusiastically received.

Alex Giona and his horses showed harmony and respect for each other.

The closing act of the gala was a bicycle performance by the China National Acrobatic Troupe, seen for the first time by a European audience.

The bronze prize in the White Show – Lyrical Circus Late-Night Show went to Ruslan Kalachevsky for his handstand performance, the silver prize to Anton Mikev for his combination of belt and ball juggling, and the gold prize, also for his belt routine, to Anthony Cesar.

Regina Russnák received the Bronze Award for her show of Hungarian excellence in the Red-White-Green Show – Hungarian Supertalents, the Silver Award for the Flying Weiss Junior group, and the Gold Award for Pal’s Compagnie for their skateboarding act.

The main prizes of the festival’s competition program were awarded last. Bronze prizes were awarded to four performances: the Group Tightrope Walkers Antik for their high-wire performance, Alex Giona for his horse-dancing, Les Étolies de Mongolie for their bow act, and Duo Antresol for their aerial hoop performance. Three artists won silver prizes: Elisa Cussadie for her parrot show, the aerial acrobat Evgenyina Zavadskaya, and the death-wheel acrobat Andrei Pogolerov for his unique performance.

Two groups were awarded the gold prize at the 15th Budapest International Circus Festival: the China National Acrobatic Troupe for their bicycle performance and the Mongolian Troupe Zola acrobat group. The absolute winner of the evening was the China National Acrobatic Troupe, who won the Budapest Grand Prix.

Via Magyar Nemzet, Featured image: Facebook/Fővárosi Nagycirkusz