After a successful tour in Sofia and around the country, the Balkanski circus set out for Turkey upon completing a performance in Bulgaria's capital last Sunday.

Their final show was as breathtaking as ever. The spectacle culminated in several daring somersaults performed by the troupe. One is hardly able to imagine a man making such somersaults, while tied to three-metre iron stilts, but Nikolai Balkanski did just that.

"This has been my dream, to teach my sons to do it," Nikolai's father Alexander said. The first time Nikolai performed the feat, he was attached to two stilts, and the second time, only one. It was then that Nikolai performed his unique double backward somersault.

Death defying and exciting is how one might describe the performance. The crowd was so entranced, they forgot to applaud at times. Aside from this special somersault, the circus has almost completely changed its program from last year, and most of the tricks were unknown.

The first part of the show was both artistic and lyrical. A fairytale scene of colours, animal-training and plastic movements were combined for the entertainment of both children and adults. "Our goal is to revive the notion about circus art as a quality and dignified one," Alexander said after the performance.

The novelty and variety in this year's show were evident in the seductive dance performance of the female ringmaster, who tried to seduce a man sitting on a bench, to the music of Joe Cocker. The man, who was a part of the show, pretended to be blind, to the embarrassment of the ringmaster and the delight of the crowd.

The senior Balkanski took part in the second segment of the show which included some crowd-pleasing tricks aimed at the senses. Most of the breathtaking moves were performed here. "The aim is to knock the spectators dead as quickly and intensively as possible," Alexander said.

The training of bears by the Metchkarovs troupe was also worth noting. They followed this up with tricks by dogs and cats as well.

The entire program has had the solid support of actors from all over Europe, with members from the troupe Babakievi (Russia), such as the juggler Gorkan, taking part in the show.

Up until now, the Balkanski family had decided to ignore the tempting offers from abroad and make a genuine and worthy circus, in Bulgaria. "But I am not convinced that this has been my best option," Alexander said with regret, as the circus prepares for three foreign tours.

Between March and November of next year, the circus will give performances in six Greek cities, including Athens, Thessaloniki and Kavala. "It will be the first Bulgarian circus going to Greece in the last 25 years," Alexander said.

Before heading to Greece, the troupe will be in Istanbul, Bursa and Antaliya, which are a few of the cities of the Turkish tour. Between Turkey and Greece, they will stopover in three Cyprian cities.

The 11-performer Balkanski Circus won the Silver Clown award of the Monte Carlo international circus festival five years ago with its 2m, 4m and 6m stilt act. For this, the German press called the Bulgarian artists "the giraffe people," and also "the Bulgarian hamsters."