Askold Zapashny is a prominent representative of the dangerous profession of a trainer. Perhaps, more well-known representatives of the training than Edgard and Askold can not be found 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 Maritz. Love for the circus was transmitted to children with genes. The parents of the boy were representatives of the circus dynasty, which could not 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 the Russian circus under the stage name Milton. However, it is difficult to say who Zapashny is by origin, because blood of different nationalities flows in him.
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 will be typed for traumatology students. But, despite such a health risk, Askold decided that he was simply obliged to continue the work of his parents.
The boy very often changed school, but not because he studied poorly. 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 the strictness of his father. The boy’s dad carefully watched his son study and did not give him any relief.
Career
I must say that a career in circus art began with Zapashny in his childhood. At the age of 10, he first entered the circus dome, taking part in one of the rooms. But Askold himself considers his official debut in the arena to participate in a number called "Time Machine" when he was 11 years old.
With the beginning of the 90s, the life of the family became very complicated. The years hungry for people were marked for 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 to China for a while, where he and his wife were offered a very favorable contract. By then, Askold had already graduated from high school.
A summer circus was specially built at Zapashny’s new place of work, where Askold, along with other family members, took part in the training of Chinese trainers. There, the young man learned a complex local language.
Also in China, the young man learned to train monkeys, who not only juggled, but did it while standing on horses. And later, he learned to walk the rope flawlessly and mastered acrobatic elements.
After a long stay in the Celestial Empire, the family returned to Russia, where numerous tours began.
By his 20s, the guy was already working on his own 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 Horseback on a Lion." Years passed, and Askold became more and more famous.
Soon, the famous trainer graduated, graduating from GITIS with honors. Then, together with his brother, he creates his own circus, which is known as the "Zapashny Brothers Circus", characterized by its own unique style.
In 2012, the man became the director of the Big Moscow State Circus, and since the fall of 2018, he has been a professor at the Department of Circus Directing at the notorious GITIS.
