Alisher Aliyev

Acrobat, Equestrian, Aerialist

Alisher Luftilozhonovich Aliyev was born May 23, 1978 in Kyrgyzstan, in what was then the Soviet Union, in a well-known Tajik circus family that has specialized in high-wire and Cossack riding—specialties in which Alisher was trained at an early age. He worked for many years in various Cossack riding acts and on the high wireA tight, heavy metallic cable placed high above the ground, on which wire walkers do crossings and various acrobatic exercises. Not to be confused with a tight wire. with his family before creating a German wheel act with which he could work as a soloist.

Then, as it often happened in the disillusioned post-communist Russia of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Alisher decided to leave the circus and join the business world: he went to work with one of his uncles in a car dealership. Yet, he soon realized that he missed the circus—the world in which he was born and to which he truly belonged. So, when he learned that Askold and Edgard Zapashny needed a German wheel acrobat for the arena shows they produced in Russia, he jumped on the opportunity and came back to the fold.

Then he learned that Sergei Borzov, the head of the award-winning, extremely original aerial act, the Borzovi Troupe, needed a replacement catcherIn an acrobatic or a flying act, the person whose role is to catch acrobats that have been propelled in the air.; he took the job and joined the Borzovi Troupe at Circus Krone in Germany, where Borzov was under a long-term contract. The long career of the Borzovi act, which had been created in 1993, eventually came to an end in 2005. The following year, 2006, Alisher Aliyev decided to create his own flying actAny aerial act in which an acrobat is propelled in the air from one point to another., the White Birds.

The act was very successful, and after tours in Malaysia and in Japan (with the Bolshoi Circus troupe, then under the management of Leonid Kostiuk), Alishev returned to Circus Kronebau, Circus Krone’s building in Munich, where he was featured on his own right with the White Birds. After another tour in Japan with Moscow’s Bolshoi Circus, the White Birds participated in the 2009 International Circus Festival of Wuhan, in China, where they won the Bronze Lion. That same year, they also won the Étoile d’Or (Gold Star) at the International Circus Festival of Grenoble, in France.

After another tour in Japan with the Bolshoi Circus in 2010, the White Birds were featured the following year at Moscow's Bolshoi Circus. Then they were invited to participate in the 35th International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo, where they received the coveted Silver Clown award. Thereafter they continued to tour extensively in Russia, China, Belarus and the United Kingdom, and were featured at Moscow’s Circus Nikulin in 2012.

After a last appearance of the White Birds in China in 2017, Alisher Aliyev decided to create a new flying actAny aerial act in which an acrobat is propelled in the air from one point to another. on the Borzovi model, a combination of Russian bar in the air, with upright-cradlePiece of apparatus (generally aerial) composed of two horizontal parallel bars in which a catcher locks his legs to be in position of catching a flyer. (Variant: Korean Cradle.) and Korean cradleA swinging aerial cradle, attached to two verticals bars functioning like the ropes of a trapeze. It was originated by North Korean flying acts. flying), although with a slightly different twist. Alishev asked the celebrated award-winning act director, Aleksandr Grimailo, to help him create this extremely spectacular flying actAny aerial act in which an acrobat is propelled in the air from one point to another., which debuted in the summer of 2017 at the Belorussian State Circus in Minsk.

In 2018, the Aliyev Troupe was featured at Moscow’s Circus Nikulin. Then, in September 2018, they participated in the International Circus Youth Festival of Moscow (popularly known as "Nikulin Circus Festival"), where they won the much sought-after Golden Elephant.

See Also

• Video: The White Birds, flying trapeze, at Circus Kronebau in Munich (2009)
• Video: The Aliyev Troupe, flying act, at Circus Nikulin in Moscow (2018)