Evolution of...Mystere’s Flying Man
Aerial Strap (Reserve | 1994; 2000-Present) - Artist: 1994 Unkown - Present: Dima Deyneko
In 1994, Aerial Straps was an act-in-rotation for Hand-to-Hand.
From 2002 - 2015, Aerial Strap as an act-in-rotation for Aerial Cube.
From 2015 forward it could act as a replacement for any solo or duo artist.
Flying Man in Silk (1997) - Artist: Yuri Maiorov.
Years before Ginger Ana Griep-Ruiz's amazing Aerial Silk act joined the lineup in 2012, Mystère featured another fantastic silk act: The Flying Man in Silk by Yuri Maiorov.
For Alegria's 1996 run in Asia, Cirque presented Russian artist Yuri Maiorov (who also performed Russian Bars and FastTrack at the time) as "The Flying Man in Silk". Described as "Strong yet tender, powerful yet light, natural yet surreal - the Flying Man shuns open shows of strength in favor of the more subtle artistry evoked by sensual masculine movement and the rich flow of silk..." - Yuri would go on to perform his act through both Japanese cities and Hong Kong in 1996, transfer to Mystère for a time in 1997, then become part of La Nouba's creation in 1998 (Where he most recently retired from La Nouba, passing on the act to a much younger man.)
Aerial Cube (Dec.1995 - Dec.31.2016) - Artists: 1998: Mikhail Matorin, 2008:Paul Bowler, 2016: Alexey Turchenko
Soaring with drama and deep concentration, the artist conquers the universe through his cube. He effortlessly turns and spins the cube while nonchalantly performing a exhirilating ballet of jaw-dropping aerial maneuvers. Fascinated observers hold their breath wondering who is in control. The cube or the artist? The mystery continues.
The first act takes place as a chiselled Herculean of a man twirls a huge aluminium cube in the palm of his hand. He rises out of the machine with cube in hand; arms over his head. The lights flash and he begins to dance with the cube. And what he can do with this cube is amazing - Taking this enormous metal cube in his hands, the man juggles it, flips it and otherwise amazes the audience with the feats he's able to accomplish with only his two hands keeping the cube and the audience separated. And when it glows in the after light of the theatre, you can't fight back the chills any longer. After his bouts of strength with the cube, the artist takes to soaring through the theatre to amaze us once again.
Mikhail Matorin, who perfected this cube act while in Russia, was first featured in 1994's Alegría. After the conclusion of its North American Tour in 1995, Mikhail joined Mystère, where he performed his act for the next three years. Meanwhile, Paul Bowler, whom Mikhail had trained as his protégé, continued to perform the Aerial Cube act in Alegría throughout its European Tour. In early 1999, Mikhail retired from Mystère and was replaced by Paul Bowler, who continued to perform this act for many years thereafter, retiring himself in 2014.
The original song that accompanied this act, "Misha", is named after original cube aerialist and was used through Paul Bowler's tenure. It was replaced in 2015 with a more upbeat number after Paul Bowler retired. The version of Aerial Cube during this time was more of a combination of Straps and Cube, than strictly Cube (although Aerial Cube always had Straps as part of the act.)
All Copyrights goes to Cirque du Soleil