Genia Naidenkine, Clown Philosopher
Catch Genia Naidenkine over his morning coffee when he's feeling his most philosophical, and he'll explain it all to you.
"Clowns tend to come in three basic flavors," he says in his heavily accented English, laying aside his newspaper. "There is the traditional White Face, the Auguste and the Tramp or character clown. The make-up is as stylized as any Japanese geisha's, and their routines are just as formalized with the White Face playing the straight man to the Auguste's bumbling loser."
Genia should know. He's the head clown with the critically acclaimed Circus Chimera.
"Now the Whiteface and the Auguste have roots that date back to seventeenth century Europe," Genia continues. "But the Tramp is a quintessentially American innovation, inspired by the cycles of boom and bust that went on in this country throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. That are still going on in this country, in fact. It is sometimes easiest to view that homeless man pushing the shopping cart as a clown."
Genia didn't start out as a clown. He was born in the city of Voronezh, Russia, four hundred miles south of Moscow. His parents were teachers at Voronezh's famous Spartak Gymnastics school and Genia began training at the age of six. As an acrobat, he performed with the Moscow State Circus, touring the world many times over.
But when he arrived in the United States six years ago, he decided a career shift was in order. "Acrobatics is no job for a middle-aged man," he laughs. He'd always loved clowns and decided to become one. He chose the Tramp: "Character clowns focus less on slapstick routines and more drawing the audience into the act to poke fun at ourselves and the human condition. That appeals to my sense of irony."
Genia's wife Berengere and two sons, Vilen and Alexandre, also perform with Circus Chimera. The sons perform an aereal act while Berengere dazzles audiences with her hula hoop artistry. The two met when the French-born Berengere worked as a circus set designer ten years ago in Paris.
And what does Genia see as the biggest difference between the United States and Russia? "Circus performer is a serious profession in Russia," he says. "It's every bit as prestigious as being a doctor, a teacher or an engineer. We perform in buildings that look like opera houses but are customized to the needs of our shows. In America, it is still an outsider profession, not quite respectable." He laughs again. "That's probably what I love about performing here."
Circus Chimera tickets may be ordered by phone (1-888-663-7464) or online (www.circuschimera.com)