Askold Zapashny is a prominent representative of the dangerous profession of a trainer. Perhaps, there are no more famous representatives of training than Edgard and Askold in our country. Every day this brave man puts himself in mortal danger, but this is what brings him the necessary drive and awareness of the value of life itself.
Childhood and youth
Askold Walterovich Zapashny was born on September 27, 1977 in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov. Askold was not the only child in the family. He has a brother, Edgard, and a sister, Maritza. The love of the circus was passed on to children with genes. The boy's parents were representatives of the circus dynasty, which could not but be passed on to the younger generation. We can say that German blood flows in Askold, since his great-grandfather was from Germany and performed in a Russian circus under the stage name Milton. However, it is difficult to say who Zapashny is by origin, since the blood of different nationalities flows in it.
Askold's father and mother devoted their entire lives to the training of predatory animals. Moreover, very often they were on the verge of death, receiving injuries of varying severity. Walter Zapashny suffered the most. If you list all of his injuries, then a whole guide for trauma students will be typed. But, despite such a health risk, Askold decided that he was simply obliged to continue the work of his parents.
The boy changed schools very often, but not because he did not study well. The fact is that the profession of circus trainers involves frequent tours, so the children traveled after their parents. However, such exhausting business trips did not save young Askold from his father's severity. The boy's dad carefully watched how his son studied, and did not make any indulgences to him.
Career
I must say that Zapashny's career in circus art began in childhood. At the age of 10, he first appeared under the dome of the circus, taking part in one of the numbers. But Askold himself considers his official debut in the arena to participate in an issue called "Time Machine" when he was 11 years old.
Since the beginning of the 90s, the life of the family has become very difficult. The years hungry for people were also marked for the Zapashny by the fact that there was not enough food for the animals of the circus in which they worked. More precisely, there was food, but often there was no money to buy it. Then the head of the family makes a responsible decision to move for some time to China, where he and his wife were offered a quite lucrative contract. By that time, Askold had already graduated from school.
At the new place of work, a summer circus was specially built for the Zapashny, where Askold, along with the rest of the family, took part in the training of Chinese trainers. There, the young man learned a difficult local language.
Also in China, a young man learned to train monkeys, which did not just juggle, but did it while standing on horseback. And later he learned to walk flawlessly on a tightrope and mastered acrobatic elements.
After a long stay in the Celestial Empire, the family returned to Russia, where they began numerous tours.
By his 20s, the guy had already worked with might and main independently with lions and tigers. And a little later, his name was entered in the Guinness Book of Records for a circus trick called "The longest jump on a lion." The years passed, and Askold became more and more famous.
Soon, the famous trainer received a higher education, graduating from GITIS with honors. Then, together with his brother, he creates his own circus, which is known as the "Circus of the Zapashny brothers", distinguished by its own unique style.
In 2012, the man became the director of the Bolshoi Moscow State Circus, and since the fall of 2018 he has been a professor at the Department of Circus Directing at the notorious GITIS.
Personal life
In his personal life, Askold Walterovich reigns full order and idyll. For several years now he has been married to Helen Reichlin, a girl with Jewish roots. The future husband and wife met in 2004. During their life together, the couple had two daughters, Eva and Elsa.
