The Kornilov Dynasty - Revision history

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2025-08-21T22:29:00Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Anatoly and Nina Kornilov */

2025-08-21T18:01:09Z

‎Anatoly and Nina Kornilov

Djando: /* Taisiya & Aleksei Dementiev-Kornilov */

2025-07-15T00:09:06Z

‎Taisiya & Aleksei Dementiev-Kornilov

Djando: /* Taisiya & Aleksei Dementiev-Kornilov */

2025-07-15T00:06:16Z

‎Taisiya & Aleksei Dementiev-Kornilov

Djando: /* A New Era */

2025-07-15T00:04:30Z

‎A New Era

Djando at 23:55, 14 July 2025

2025-07-14T23:55:52Z

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2025-07-13T03:07:10Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Andrei and Anastasia Dementiev-Kornilov */

2025-07-12T19:45:49Z

‎Andrei and Anastasia Dementiev-Kornilov

Djando: /* Andrei and Anastasia Dementiev-Kornilov */

2025-07-11T04:38:32Z

‎Andrei and Anastasia Dementiev-Kornilov

Djando: /* Andrei and Anastasia Dementiev-Kornilov */

2025-07-10T21:20:50Z

‎Andrei and Anastasia Dementiev-Kornilov

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 File:Kornilov_A_and_A.jpeg|Aleksei Dementiev & Andrei Dementiev-Kornilov (1999)
 File:Aleksei_Dementiev.jpeg|Aleksei Dementiev (c.2000)
 File:Olga_Kornilova.jpeg|Olga Kornilova & Aleksandr Valiev (2016)
 File:Kornilov_Gomel_Circus.jpeg|''Indi-Ra'' at the Gomel State Circus (2016)

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 ===Anatoly and Nina Kornilov===
-Nina soon became a major participant in Aleksandr Kornilov’s act. Born Nina Andreevna Suprun on December 25, 1926 in Briansk (which, in Russian Orthodox Russia, is not Christmas Day) and trained in ballet since childhood, she had been a dancer in Rostov’s Operetta Theatre. The Soviet Circus central organization noticed her exceptional physical qualities and she was hired and given a complete circus training in order to be integrated in an act… that was never built! Since Kornilov was putting together his attraction at that time and needed a dancer with acrobatic talents, Nina was assigned in 1943 to the Kornilov ensemble, of which she became the soloist who worked directly with the elephants.
+Nina soon became a major participant in Aleksandr Kornilov’s act. Born Nina Andreevna Suprun on December 25, 1926 in Bryansk (which, in Russian Orthodox Russia, is not Christmas Day) and trained in ballet since childhood, she had been a dancer in Rostov’s Operetta Theatre. The Soviet Circus central organization noticed her exceptional physical qualities and she was hired and given a complete circus training in order to be integrated in an act… that was never built! Since Kornilov was putting together his attraction at that time and needed a dancer with acrobatic talents, Nina was assigned in 1943 to the Kornilov ensemble, of which she became the soloist who worked directly with the elephants.
 [[File:Aleksandr_Kornilov_and_Nina_Kornilova.jpeg|thumb|right|400px|Aleksandr Kornilov with Nina (c.1965)]]From her first marriage to K.K. Chevrotkin in 1946, she had a son, [[Yuriy Chevrotkin]], who studied drama in St. Petersburg but returned to the circus, where he worked as a clown. Marriage and maternity kept Nina away from the ring for two years, but, in 1948, she was back in the Kornilov Troupe and would never leave it again. That year, Aleksandr Kornilov added to his act a teeterboard segment in which Nina, propelled by one elephant, turned a somersault and landed on the head of another elephant&mdash;a spectacular trick that predated similar stunts by [[Gunther Gebel-Williams]] and the [[The Richter Dynasty|Richters]].

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 [[File:Kornilov_A_and_A.jpeg|thumb|right|300px|Aleksei Dementiev and Andrei Dementiev-Kornilov (1999)]]On April 6, 1981, Taisiya gave birth to the couple’s first child, Andrei Dementiev-Kornilov. In 1983, two young elephants, Gerda and Pretty, who were both two years old, joined Maya and Flora in the group, replacing the two oldest elephants who went into retirement. These young elephants, along with Flora, were the first to be trained by Aleksei, who confirmed his talents as a first-rate trainer. In the process, Flora and Aleksei became exceptionally attached to each other.
-Aleksei had other skills, however: He had a keen sense of administrative management&mdash;which would help him after the fall of the Soviet Union. He was a good complement to Tayssia, who was free to focus on the artistic part of their work. As a performer, Aleksei had a strong charismatic presence in the ring: With his blond mane and his unbridled energy, he was the Russian equivalentz of the German-American star-trainer [[Gunther Gebel-Williams]]. Then, in 1991, one year after Aleksei and Taisiya had taken over the family act, the Soviet Union collapsed; the former Soviet, now Russian circus found itself in a precarious situation.
+Aleksei had other skills, however: He had a keen sense of administrative management&mdash;which would help him after the fall of the Soviet Union. He was a good complement to Tayssia, who was free to focus on the artistic part of their work. As a performer, Aleksei had a strong charismatic presence in the ring: With his blond mane and his unbridled energy, he was the Russian equivalent of the German-American star-trainer [[Gunther Gebel-Williams]]. Then, in 1991, one year after Aleksei and Taisiya had taken over the family act, the Soviet Union collapsed; the former Soviet, now Russian circus found itself in a precarious situation.
 In order to survive and save their animals, the couple decided to create their own independent collective, which went on tour under the "Moscow Circus" banner in Europe, Asia, Australia, and in the United States&mdash;where they were presented in 1994 at New York’s Madison Square Garden by the Australian producer [[Michael Edgley]]. The previous year, Taisiya had given birth to their second child, Anastasia. In 2000, Aleksei and Taisiya were made Honored Artists of the Russian Federation. The following year, they received the Golden Star in a circus festival held at the [[Bolshoi Circus]] in Moscow.

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 ===Taisiya & Aleksei Dementiev-Kornilov===
-Aged twenty-nine, Taisiya had become an accomplished artist; she was also a graduate of the GITIS institute (the Theater Institute of Moscow) with a degree in circus directing and choreography. During one of her parents’ several engagements at the circus of Riga, she and Aleksei Dementiev found themselves in the same school and the same class.
+Aged twenty-nine, Taisiya had become an accomplished artist; she was also a graduate of the GITIS institute (the Theater Institute of Moscow) with a degree in circus directing and choreography. During her parents’ engagements at the circus of Riga, she and Aleksei Dementiev found themselves in the same school and the same class.
 Born March 13, 1961 in Riga, Aleksei Stepanovich Dementiev (1961-2001) didn’t belong to a circus family: His father was the manager of a department store in the city. Aleksei and Taisiya became friends and, since they saw each other at regular intervals, their friendship evolved into a romantic relationship. They were eighteen when, in 1979, they decided to get married&mdash;but Aleksei was working at the time as a barman and Anatoly made it clear that he had not made his daughter the circus artist she was to see her marry a barman! Whoever would marry his daughter had to be a circus man.

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 In 1984, SoyuzGosTsirk gave Anatoly Kornilov the management of Riga’s circus (Latvia was then part of the Soviet Union). There, Nina devised a new attraction, ''Elephants Around the Globe'' (with a choreography by [[Alla Dukhova]] and an original music by Maksim Prokovsky) and a production that became a Soviet circus milestone, ''Memories of Riga'', which of course included their elephant act. ''Memories of Riga'' was presented abroad in 1986, at Budapest’s [[Fővárosi Nagycirkusz]] in Hungary.
-That year, Nina and Anatoly were promoted to the rank of Honored Artists of the Socialist Republic of Russia. Anatoly and Nina retired in 1990 and the attraction passed into the hands of their daughter, Taisiya. Sadly, Anatoly didn’t have time to enjoy his retirement: He passed away the following year, on May 12, 1991, at age sixty-seven. As for Nina, she never left the circus and, to this day (2018), she continues to participate in the training of the Kornilovs’ elephants.
+That year, Nina and Anatoly were promoted to the rank of Honored Artists of the Socialist Republic of Russia. Anatoly and Nina retired in 1990 and the attraction passed into the hands of their daughter, Taisiya. Sadly, Anatoly didn’t have time to enjoy his retirement: He passed away the following year, on May 12, 1991, at age sixty-seven. As for Nina, she never left the circus and continued to participate in the training of the Kornilovs’ elephants until the very end.
 ===Taisiya & Aleksei Dementiev-Kornilov===

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 ===Aleksandr Kornilov===
-Born November 22, 1903 in Russia, Aleksandr Nikolaievich Kornilov (1903-1977), the founder of the Dynasty, began his professional life as a sailor. At the end of the 1920s, he landed in Samara, the great port city on the Volga river, where he discovered the traveling menagerie of Ivan Lazarevich Filatov (1873-1956)&mdash;the father of the legendary Russian bear trainer [[The Filatov Familt|Valentin Filatov]], and scion of an old family of itinerant animal trainers.
+Born November 22, 1903 in Russia, Aleksandr Nikolaievich Kornilov (1903-1977), the founder of the Dynasty, began his professional life as a sailor. At the end of the 1920s, he landed in Samara, the great port city on the Volga river, where he discovered the traveling menagerie of Ivan Lazarevich Filatov (1873-1956)&mdash;the father of the legendary Russian bear trainer [[The Filatov Familt|Valentin Filatov]] and scion of an old family of itinerant animal trainers.
 [[File:Aleksandr_Kornilov.jpeg|thumb|left|300px|Aleksandr Kornilov (c.1960)]]This unforeseen encounter changed Kornilov’s life: Although he was indeed fascinated by the Filatov Menagerie exhibitions, he was even more attracted to Masha, the pretty young girl who handled the box office. Masha (Maria Ivanovna Filatova, 1904-1975) was Ivan Lazarevich’s daughter: They quickly fell in love, and Aleksandr decided to stay on dry land and follow Masha, whom he eventually married.

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 File:Anastasia_Dementieva-Kornilova.jpeg|Anastasia Dementieva-Kornilova (2017)
 File:Indi-Ra_Poster.jpeg|''Indi-Ra'' at the Tyumen State Circus (2018)
 </Gallery>
 [[Category:Artists and Acts|Kornilov Dynasty]][[Category:Animal Trainers|Kornilov Dynasty]][[Category:Exotic Animals|Kornilov Dynasty]][[Category:Elephant Acts|Kornilov Dynasty]]

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 In recent years, the Kornilovs have accumulated honors, the latest being a Special Golden Elephant and the [[Circopedia Award]] for Excellence in the Circus Arts, which they received in 2016 during the [[International Youth Festival of Circus Arts]] at Circus Nikulin in Moscow&mdash;in addition to a swarm of other prizes and trophies. They recognized Taisiya, Andrei and Anastasia’s masterpiece, ''The Mystery of the Giant Elephant'', an extraordinary attraction presented on an Indian theme that is arguably the most accomplished elephant act in circus history&mdash;in the shadow of which Nina Kornilova remained a major contributor.
-Nina Kornilova, the family's matriarch, was deeply involved in the training and upkeep of the Kornilov's elephants. Nina, seating quietly backstage keeping company with her elephants in their compound, was a familiar image. In 2000, she was made Honored Artist of Russia, and in 2021, at age ninety-five, she was awarded the medal of Russia's Order of Honor, which recognizes "high achievements in government, economic, scientific, sociocultural, public, sport and charitable activities." Nina Kornilova passed away on July 7, 2025, seventeen months shy of her one hundred birthday.
+Nina Kornilova, the family's matriarch, remained deeply involved in the training and upkeep of the Kornilov's elephants. Nina, seating quietly backstage keeping company with her elephants in their compound, was a familiar image. In 2000, she was made Honored Artist of Russia, and in 2021, at age ninety-five, she was awarded the medal of Russia's Order of Honor, which recognizes "high achievements in government, economic, scientific, sociocultural, public, sport and charitable activities." Nina Kornilova passed away on July 8, 2025, in Moscow, seventeen months shy of her one-hundred birthday.
 Beside Andrei and Anastasia, the fourth generation includes [[Olga Kornilova]] who has succeeded her father, Mikhail Chevrotkin-Kornilov, in the presentation of a group of exotic animals with her husband, [[Aleksandr Valiev]], and the clowns [[Alex Sherr|Alex & Bella Sherr]]: Alex is Yuriy Chevrotkin’s son. The fifth generation is represented by the young Veronika Dementieva-Kornilova, the daughter of Andrei and his wife, Ekaterina, a former rhythmic gymnast that Andrei married on April 24, 2014.