Valdis Yanovskis
From Circopedia
Juggler, Acrobat, Aerialist
By Dominique Jando
Valdis Yanovskis was born February 10, 1969 in Moscow to a circus family. His father was an acrobat who later converted to clowning. His mother was a trapeze artist.
Yanovskis joined the State College for Circus and Variety Arts in Moscow, where, under the tutelage of Tamara Babayan, he specialized as a juggler. In 1987, he graduated with his own group-juggling act, "Carnival," developed by Arkady Burdnetsky and Vasily Gratchov.
From 1990-94, he competed in sports-aerobics and was a member of the Russian National Team. He was European champion twice, in 1990 and 1991. Valdis, along with Gratchov and Burdnestsky, performed their juggling act, now titled "Original Jugglers", in the U.S. with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey from 1995-97. They appeared for the last time together at the Big Apple Circus in 1999, after which time they parted ways.
Valdis stayed at the Big Apple Circus and became a member of its resident company. He has since performed in several acrobatic acts and in an aerial "bambou(French - Russian: Bambuk) Aerial apparatus, generally a hanging perch, from where the performers hang with the help of hand or ankle loops. See also: Aerial perch." (aerial perchA hanging perch, from where the performers hang with the help of hand or ankle loops. (French: Bambou - Russian: Bambuk)) act with Regina Dobrovitskaya. He has also partnered with clowns Bello Nock, Vallery (Serebriakov), Fumagalli, and mime Olivier Taquin.
