Kyiv · Circus Arts

The Pozdnyakov Family

A family of championship circus artists and pedagogues — Taras, his mother Nataliya, and his wife Evgeniya — directors and coaches whose own honors and whose students have won the world's most prestigious circus competitions.

Prepared as a credentials overview for assessment under the Taiwan Employment Gold Card — Arts & Culture (Performing Arts) field. The qualifying question — recognized international competitions and awards — is addressed directly below.

The international competitions & awards

The family's record runs through the two most prestigious circus competitions in the world — plus other major international festivals. Below, each award is labeled Personal (won by the applicant) or As director / coach (an act they created or trained that won).

Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain — Paris

Founded 1977 · the world's premier competition for circus artists ("the launchpad of the global circus elite")
Personal Taras Pozdnyakov — special prize, 2003 (juggling).
As director / coach Gold Medal acts incl. Sergii Tymofieiev (Balance, 29th ed.) and Alexander Koblikov (Juggling, 2009); students of Nataliya took Gold in 2007 & 2008.

Festival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo

Founded 1974 · its Golden/Silver Clown is widely called the "Oscar of the circus"
As director / coach Silver Clown to Alexander Koblikov (2013) and the Iroshnikov act (2005); and in the New Generation competition, Nataliya's students Victoria Dzyuba (Silver Clown) and Mykyta Postnikov (Bronze) in 2023.

Other major international festivals

International Circus Festival Wiesbaden · Young Stage Basel · Salieri Circus Award (Italy)
As director / coach Silver at Wiesbaden (2010); acts presented at Young Stage Basel and the Salieri Circus Award, created under Taras's direction and Nataliya's coaching.

Kyiv Art Prize (мистецька премія «Київ»)

City of Kyiv's official arts honor
Personal Nataliya Pozdnyakova — 2025 laureate in the circus-arts category. She has also served as a festival juror (e.g., the Magic Arena festival).
On qualification: the Arts & Culture / Performing Arts track recognizes "an internationally or domestically recognized award, or serving on the judge panel of such an award." Cirque de Demain (Paris) and Monte-Carlo are the field's flagship international competitions; Taras holds a personal Cirque de Demain prize and Nataliya is a Kyiv Art Prize laureate and festival juror — so both applicants meet that bar on their own records. The directed/coached medals further establish their standing as world-class makers and trainers.

Taras Pozdnyakov

Taras Pozdnyakov

Director, choreographer & juggler

Founder & creative director, Raw Art (post-circus project) · Instructor, Kyiv Municipal Academy of Variety & Circus Arts
  • Personal award Prize-winner, Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain, Paris (special prize, 2003 — a 9-hoop juggling act).
  • Founder of Raw Art (2005) and originator of the "post-circus" form — a body of work presented at international festivals.
  • Director of championship acts: Cirque de Demain Gold (Tymofieiev; Koblikov 2009) and Monte-Carlo Silver Clown (Koblikov 2013; Iroshnikov 2005).
  • Faculty member at one of Europe's leading circus academies (a co-founder of the Global Alliance of Circus Schools, Monte-Carlo 2020).
Academy faculty page ↗ Instagram ↗ Raw Art ↗ Feature (The Stage / Widow Stanton) ↗

Nataliya Pozdnyakova

Nataliya Pozdnyakova

Master pedagogue of equilibristics

Acting Head, Department of Circus Genres, Kyiv Municipal Academy of Variety & Circus Arts
  • Personal award Laureate, 2025 Kyiv Art Prize (circus-arts category) — the City of Kyiv's official arts honor.
  • Judge Festival juror (e.g., the Magic Arena circus festival).
  • Credited as the founder of a new variation of the "plastic equilibrium" genre.
  • Coach of international-medal students: Cirque de Demain Gold (2007, 2008), Wiesbaden Silver (2010), and Monte-Carlo New Generation 2023 (Victoria Dzyuba — Silver Clown; Mykyta Postnikov — Bronze).
Academy faculty page ↗ 2025 Kyiv Art Prize announcement ↗

Evgeniya Pozdnyakova

Evgeniya Pozdnyakova

Master of Sports · circus artist & coach

Teacher, Kyiv Municipal Academy of Variety & Circus Arts · Teacher / manager, Raw Art · Founder, Raw Art Summer & Winter School
  • Personal award Master of Sports in Acrobatic Gymnastics (2005); member of the Ukrainian National Team (2004–2007); multiple winner & prize-winner of the Ukrainian and European Championships in Acrobatic Gymnastics.
  • Professional circus artist 2007–2011 (hand-to-hand, hand balancing / contortion); MA in Physical Education (Drahomanov National Pedagogical University).
  • Circus-arts teacher and Raw Art coordinator since 2010; founder/organizer of the Raw Art Summer & Winter training schools (2019–); has trained 100+ professional circus performers.
  • As (assistant) director / coach: Pavel Stankevich — Bronze, Cirque de Demain (Paris, 2011); the 3-J juggling group — Special Prize at Young Stage (Basel, 2017) and Silver Clown in the New Generation competition (Monte-Carlo).
Note: Evgeniya's personal record sits in both the Arts & Culture (performing arts) and the Sports field — her European-Championship results in acrobatic gymnastics are international-competition awards in their own right.

Selected work

Acts created under Taras's direction and Nataliya's coaching — performed at the festivals above. (Click any to watch.)

"Question" — Sergii Timofeev
Cirque de Demain Gold · dir. Taras / coach Nataliya
"Iroshnikovs"
Monte-Carlo Silver Clown 2005 · dir. Taras
Anastasiya Mazur — "Heartache"
dir. Taras / coach Nataliya
Ignatov | Ganzyuk — Young Stage Basel
dir. Taras / coach Nataliya
Viktoriya Gnatuk — "Color of Life"
Handstand · dir. Nataliya
"The Rings"
Performed by Taras Pozdnyakov
Pavel Stankevich — "P.S. Escaped"
dir. Taras / coach Nataliya
"Forget About Circus"
Raw Art
"Rise | Fall"
Raw Art

Press & recognition