Igor Kio is a famous illusionist of the twentieth century, the successor of the legendary circus dynasty of Kio. He amazed the audience with tricks: "Sawing a Woman", "Burning a Woman", "Turning a Woman into a Lion" and others. People's Artist of the Russian Federation, laureate of the international Oscar prize.
Biography
Igor Emilevich Kio is the son of the world famous illusionist Emil Teodorovich Kio.
Igor's father, Emil Teodorovich Hirschfeld, had a German-Jewish family. The family had three sons, Emil was the eldest. He became the founder of the Kyo circus dynasty.
Emil Teodorovich was married several times. For the fourth time, he married his assistant, Evgenia Vasilievna Smirnova.
In 1944 their son Igor was born.
Igor had a half-brother, Emil, who was named after his father. Emil was born in the third marriage of the elder Kio.
Igor from the age of 5 took part in circus performances. He was dressed in a Lilliputian costume and, together with real Lilliputians, was taken out to the arena. Since childhood, the boy dreamed of performing magic tricks.
In 1959, the first independent performance of Igor Kio took place in Moscow. The father was unwell, and he asked his son to conduct a performance. The fifteen-year-old boy successfully debuted in the circus arena.
The stage name Kio was coined by his father. Emil Teodorovich lived in Warsaw in his youth. His house was next to the synagogue. Prayers in it were performed in Hebrew, during which the words "Tkio, tkio, tkio" were heard. Hirschfeld removed the first letter and adopted the pseudonym Kio.
For three years, from 1962 to 1965, Emil Teodorovich Kio and his two sons entered the circus arena together.
Emil, Igor's brother, graduated from the Moscow Civil Engineering Institute and a few years later came to work in the circus.
After the death of Emil Teodorovich, his sons Igor and Emil continued the traditions of the Kyo circus dynasty.
Igor's father passed on his secrets of magic tricks. He inherited all the circus props necessary for staging attractions.
Emil also decided to become an illusionist. He began to create his own circus program without a prepared base. The artist had to make new equipment for showing tricks himself. Then began long rehearsals and honing each trick.
Relations between the brothers soured. But the audience got the opportunity to see two interesting rides under the name of Kio.
In 1977, in Leningrad, Igor Kio presented a new circus show "Selected-77" to the audience.
From 1981 to 1983 on the central television Igor Kio and Alla Pugacheva were the hosts of the variety and circus program "Attraction".
In 1985, the audience appreciated the new program "Without Illusions", which was shown at the stage theater. There were no empty seats in the hall.
In the early nineties, in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, spectators saw a circus performance "At six o'clock in the evening after winter."
In 1992 Igor Kio surprised the audience with his tricks in the performance "The Wizard of the Twentieth Century".
In 1999, the illusionist was awarded the title of "Honorary Academician of Circus Art".
In 2003 Igor Kio was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Russian Federation.
Igor Kio was the only illusionist in history to receive an international Oscar.
The award was presented to him in Belgium in 2003.
The artist died in 2006 at the age of 62, after heart surgery.
Creation
At the very beginning of his career, Igor Kio successfully showed his father's signature numbers. Gradually, his circus program was replenished with new tricks.
The glory of Igor Kio thundered not only throughout the Soviet Union. He was known and loved by the audience in Japan, the USA, Belgium, France, Germany, Turkey, where he went on tour. Keo worked in a tense rhythm at arenas at home and abroad.
During the Soviet era, circus performers were dependent on government officials. The Union State Circus established a tour plan: how many performances the illusionist should show, and in which cities.
Igor Kio came up with new tricks, but there was no way to bring them to life. No funding was allocated for setting up new programs.
In 1989, Igor Kio left the Union State Circus, having worked in it for 30 years, and created his own company "Show Illusion Igor Kio". He began to organize his tours himself, and also attracted other artists to his show.
New tricks appeared in his circus program: "Fashions", "Aquarium", "Harry Houdini's Chest", "Piano in the Air" and others.
Spectators were amazed by spectacular performances with the transformation of a woman into a lion and a trick with burning a woman in a fire. In the New Year's performance, Igor Kio burned Alla Pugacheva, who assisted him.
The audience was at a loss: who is Kio - a clever illusionist or a real magician and sorcerer? Some viewers took the trick of sawing a woman seriously. Many spectators were waiting for the artist at the exit after the performance. They asked him to cure their illness, help with family problems, and even make them younger.
Igor Kio made a great contribution to the development of circus art, combining it with the pop genre. On central television, he hosted a program in which popular Soviet singers and ensembles performed along with clowns, equilibrists, magicians and trainers on the circus arena.
The audience got the opportunity to see a circus performance in one program and listen to their favorite performers: Alla Pugacheva, Lev Leshchenko, Valery Leontyev and others.
Personal life
Igor Kio was officially married three times. The first time he got married at the age of 18. His chosen one was Galina Brezhneva, daughter of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee L. I. Brezhnev. Galina was 14 years older than him. She broke up with her first husband, a circus acrobat Yevgeny Milaev, and became interested in a young illusionist. They got married in secret from their parents. The parents opposed this marriage. By order of Brezhnev, their marriage was annulled. But the lovers secretly continued to meet for four years.
Igor's father wanted his son to be carried away by a new girl. To this end, he invited Iolanta Olkhovikova to his room as an assistant. The beauty was from a circus family. Her mother worked as a dog trainer, and her father was a coupletist. Igor was fascinated by Iolanta and they got married. Their union lasted 11 years. In marriage, a daughter, Victoria, was born, who became a ballet dancer.
In 1971, when Igor was married to Iolanta, he began a new relationship with his assistant Victoria. Victoria was not free either. Everyone found out about their secret romance when the couple got into a car accident.
In 1976, they divorced their legal spouses and got married. Victoria became his third wife.
The fact that the illusionist easily falls in love with women was well known in the circus environment. Many of his lovers were his assistants. An affair with the prima donna of the Soviet stage Alla Pugacheva began during their joint work in the circus and on television. All the artist's hobbies were short-lived. He always returned to his wife. Victoria forgave her husband for his betrayal. They lived together for 30 years, until Igor was gone. They had no children.
Igor Kio's two grandsons, Igor and Nikita, from their daughter from Victoria's second marriage, did not become circus performers.
