About the artist
Nikolai Balashov
Circus and screen performer, Russian record holder and circus act director.
From Ufa to the circus ring
Nikolai was born in Ufa and discovered circus at a youth studio. Before going on tour, he worked as a milling machine operator, cinema projectionist and trolleybus driver. He credits that experience with helping him as a performer.
In 1984 Nikolai graduated from the studio and joined the Tomsk Philharmonic. Touring sometimes meant several shows in a day, with performers loading their own props. He joined Leningrad Circus on Stage in 1990 and its Moscow counterpart in 1999.
In St Petersburg, Nikolai performed at the SKK and Yubileyny sports complexes, including for Pirate Station. For The Circus Princess, he assembled a troupe from different circus disciplines and staged short routines for the theatre.
In an interview Nikolai recalled avoiding fractures and dislocations over his career. He eventually set aside the rola-bola act because of the strain on his back. Free-standing ladder juggling remains in his repertoire.
Studio portrait of Nikolai Balashov
Photography
On stage and in costume
The joker juggling clubs on stage
Performers in gold and chequered costumes
Two performers on sway poles
Spring Man in a multicoloured costume
Costumed fire scene · film album
Group photograph from a film set
Stilts on set · film album
Stilt duo · film album
On a film set · artist archive
Open any image to browse the collection.
Film and TV
Screen credits
Years follow the artist’s chronology and may differ from release dates.
- 2025Sex. Before and After
Stilt juggler in tails. A project by Darya Moroz.
Kinopoisk - 2024The Favourite (Potemkin)
Fire juggler.
Search Kinopoisk - 2020Captain Volkonogov Escaped
Sway pole performance.
Kinopoisk - 2020Good Girls Go to Heaven
Wedding scene.
Kinopoisk - 2019Vertinsky
Banquet scene.
Kinopoisk - 2018Bender
Supporting role in the circus troupe.
Kinopoisk - 2017The Duelist
On-set performance.
Kinopoisk - 2010Peter the Great. The Testament
Stilt performance.
Kinopoisk - 2008Gorodok
Television appearance.
Kinopoisk - 2007The Imperial Envoy
Fire performance.
Cinema Museum - 2007Traffic Cops
Fire performance on stilts.
Kinopoisk - 2006Lilacs
Death on stilts. Directed by Pavel Lungin.
Kinopoisk - 2006The House on the English Embankment
Filming with director Mikhail Bogin.
Kinopoisk - 2003Good Luck, Detective!
Filming with director Aleksandr Bashirov.
Kinopoisk
Stage
Theatre credits
Nikolai performs in productions and stages circus routines for theatre.
- Since 2023The Circus Princess
St Petersburg Theatre of Musical Comedy. Nikolai assembled the circus troupe and leads it, staging routines that include ladder and stilt juggling.
- 2018La bohème
Mikhailovsky Theatre. Stilt juggling in the fair scene, followed by three years as a stunt performer.
- 2011A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Mariinsky Theatre. Circus work in Claudia Solti’s production, with acrobatics by David Doulney.
Geography
International tours
The touring years began with Andres Circus in Poland, followed by international festivals and engagements lasting several months.
- 1994–1995Poland
Andres Circus.
- 1996Finland
Circus artists’ competition.
- 1996Stuttgart, Germany
Festival.
- 1998, 2004Türkiye
The first engagement lasted eight months.
- 1999Israel
A ten-month engagement.
- 1999Cyprus
- 2000England
Six months on tour.
- 2001Dubai, UAE
Dubai festival.
- 2001Qatar
Festival.
- 2002–2003Taiwan
A year on tour.
- 2005, 2007Macao and Hong Kong
Beyond the ring
Aerial circus and teaching
Circus on a paramotor
Nikolai learned to fly a powered paraglider at 50. For his aerial project he recruited pilot Yuri Dybov and four trapeze gymnasts. The team tested and filmed the routine in a field. The project remained at the demonstration stage.
Flight photos
Petrovskaya Academy of Theatre and Film
Nikolai joined the academy through a contact he met on set. He teaches actors basic juggling and acrobatics for screen and stage.
Class photos
Archival acts and special projects
The archive includes fire performances, chair and head balancing, paramotor flights with banners, water attractions and laser lighting. Special projects are discussed individually.
Archival site
Away from the stage
Tennis and table tennis, trampolining, quad bikes, motorcycles, VR, diving, paragliding, windsurfing, roller skating and ice skating, electric unicycles, archery, drones, cycling and poker.
Read the interviewTelevision archive
Around the World on Stilts
On 7 April 2013, Nikolai appeared on Anatoly Tukish’s Vtoroy Plan on St Petersburg’s VOT! channel. The recording survives in four parts.
Downloads
For press and organisers
For organisers
See you at the show
Solo acts, guest welcomes and staged programmes for festivals, civic celebrations and corporate events.
