Our production center is called “illusion”. This word captures the entire sense of our occupation.

Indeed it suffices to recall, that word “illusio” is translated from the Latin as “error” or “fraud.” But how it came to be associated with the word “focus” is unknown.

There are several explanations given and the most popular of them is that it all began with a translation from the Latin Mass, “hoc corpus est (enim) (meum),” “this is my body.” It was pronounced by priests with the evening meal and symbolized religious rite the transformation of bread into the body of God. Later the word combination evolved into “hokus-pokus” and it began to be used for all forms of transformations.

The skill of magic long ago was conceived supposedly several thousand years prior to our era and many consider ancient Egypt is the birthplace of magic.

Much has changed from the past. The contemporary conjurer can do practically everything. Illusions can be categorized as: mathematical, graphic, optical, logical, mnemonic, psychological, the senses of smell, touch, sound and sight, and plastic, chemical, physical, equipment, complex, and public.

As you can see, there are very many forms of magic. Many conjurers amuse spectators at parties and concerts. But only few dedicated their life to study and perform the so-called “large illusion” show. This type of production requires not only enormous expenditures of time and money to build and rehearse the effects but it also requires the synthesis of creative thought with engineering craftsmanship.

This occupation very difficult, but when it is done successfully, both the spectators and the magician receive unspeakable satisfaction.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union put pressure on itself and also our magic. For long years the magic left the position of prestige it once enjoyed. Even Russia’s entire illusion association decomposed into the small corporate interests.

Today there is not more than five professional associations: such as the State Theater of Anatoliy Lyashenko’s illusions; the Moscow Cloud of the Conjurers; and President Vasiliy Rudenko and so on. These groups support interest in the Russian magical skills, search for ways to the revive the lost rich traditions of Russian magic.

In Russia now, not more than 150 conjurers possess the skills to be considered of a high-level and not more than five work in the “large illusion” shows.

To work in our genre, as I mentioned earlier, is incredibly complicated. For instance, at the International Festival of Illusion, in the Polish city Gdynia, there were only three nominations: “general magic”, “manipulation” and “comic magic.”

In the incredibly large area that makes up the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, we could not locate artists who work with large effects or illusions.

This is why, one year ago I planned to destroy supremacy of the illusion world by those who travel across the ocean to subjugate “old lady Europe” with truly impressive tricks.

It was not hard to figure out how to…

Our production center is called “illusion”. This word captures the entire sense of our occupation.

Indeed it suffices to recall, that word “illusio” is translated from the Latin as “error” or “fraud.” But how it came to be associated with the word “focus” is unknown.

There are several explanations given and the most popular of them is that it all began with a translation from the Latin Mass, “hoc corpus est (enim) (meum),” “this is my body.” It was pronounced by priests with the evening meal and symbolized religious rite the transformation of bread into the body of God. Later the word combination evolved into “hokus-pokus” and it began to be used for all forms of transformations.

The skill of magic long ago was conceived supposedly several thousand years prior to our era and many consider ancient Egypt is the birthplace of magic.

Much has changed from the past. The contemporary conjurer can do practically everything. Illusions can be categorized as: mathematical, graphic, optical, logical, mnemonic, psychological, the senses of smell, touch, sound and sight, and plastic, chemical, physical, equipment, complex, and public.

As you can see, there are very many forms of magic. Many conjurers amuse spectators at parties and concerts. But only few dedicated their life to study and perform the so-called “large illusion” show. This type of production requires not only enormous expenditures of time and money to build and rehearse the effects but it also requires the synthesis of creative thought with engineering craftsmanship.

This occupation very difficult, but when it is done successfully, both the spectators and the magician receive unspeakable satisfaction.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union put pressure on itself and also our magic. For long years the magic left the position of prestige it once enjoyed. Even Russia’s entire illusion association decomposed into the small corporate interests.

Today there is not more than five professional associations: such as the State Theater of Anatoliy Lyashenko’s illusions; the Moscow Cloud of the Conjurers; and President Vasiliy Rudenko and so on. These groups support interest in the Russian magical skills, search for ways to the revive the lost rich traditions of Russian magic.

In Russia now, not more than 150 conjurers possess the skills to be considered of a high-level and not more than five work in the “large illusion” shows.

To work in our genre, as I mentioned earlier, is incredibly complicated. For instance, at the International Festival of Illusion, in the Polish city Gdynia, there were only three nominations: “general magic”, “manipulation” and “comic magic.”

In the incredibly large area that makes up the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, we could not locate artists who work with large effects or illusions.

This is why, one year ago I planned to destroy supremacy of the illusion world by those who travel across the ocean to subjugate “old lady Europe” with truly impressive tricks.

It was not hard to figure out how to do the effects. It was more important to make the illusions an original program with local material and color. It is necessary to note that many magic effects have not had a different method in the last hundred years. The modern illusionist only adds the newest technical developments to make for a more spectacular show.

For example, look that the great, and despite its age, not “old” sawing a woman in half. Today we have many forms of sawing and each of them can be achieved differently.

It’s likely that many guessed the secret of sawing a girl in half.

Secret is simple: in the box another girl is waiting and when the girl it climbs into the box, the first girl has her head out one end of the box and the second girl puts her feet out the bottom. The saw cuts through the box and the halves are separated and the illusion is performed.

But, even if the audience knows the secret, the illusionist can make it seem impossible by his presentation.

Now conjurers show the sawing that use entirely new and different secrets. For example, sawing girl in the standing (vertical) position and is generally is carried out with just one girl.

However, our first experiments with the “large illusion”, we did not have the Copperfield-type of money and yet they brought acknowledgment and genuine interest from the magic community.

In Orel, we are in the midst of three months of a prepared program and arrived on the television show broadcast from Moscow on channel NTV. They then invited us to appear on the The Unit Vector which has an audience of millions. We appeared in the central publications, “Komosomol truth” “Arguments and Facts,” “Moscow Komsomol Member,” “New Newspaper” and many others. Through the coverage on the Internet featuring Russia’s first “large illusion” show. From that coverage, we received proposals for tours.

This is Russia’s first show of this type.

— Whereas foreign magicians use a stage filled with decorations and complex illusions, our show “DASHA” works on a practically clear stage. This increases the effect of the illusion.

— DASHA is developed by a director so that the illusions are naturally intertwined with the show. This is an attempt to bring together the best traditions of Russian theater.

— Following on the traditions of the great magicians, DASHA has a unique portion with the participation of a large number of people with participation over the television.

— We perform a non-traditional version of the ‘cutting the lady in half’ where the woman is cut with an enormous steel blade and her parts are then separated to the left and right.

— The ‘floating lady’ is performed with a man and is conducted with the help of one of our spectators and thus excludes the chance of pre-planning.

— In Illyuzioniska a participant passes through a large mirror, dissolves into smoke and appears on the opposite side of the mirror.

— Also performed are the “cutting off of a head,” “vanishing chair,” “passage through a man,” “combustion of the head,” “a levitation,” “a guillotine” and “disappearance of large objects – called ‘the illusion of the increasing horse.'”

The audience will be closer to the stage and this is the main difference from those who show their skills from a distance for fear of disclosing the secrets. We only fear poor weather. We do not want rain to soak the crowd and dampen the excitement of an encounter with their childhood – with the miracle.

Sergey KORABLEV, President of producer center “illusion.”

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