Overcoming

A show going by the unusual title of “Ironman” was staged recently in Donetsk. Taking part in it were actors of Rizoma Theater, who demonstrated the unique capabilities of the human body. The show was organized by the all- round Olympic gymnastics champion Liliya Podkopayeva, who says that one of the show’s main goals was to raise funds for Ukraine’s largest specialized refuge for HIV- infected children. Situated in Makiyivka, in Donetsk oblast, this institution now houses 87 HIV-infected children aged 2 months to 10 years.

Ironman is Ukraine’s first sports stage show, as Rizoma’s artistic director Anatoliy Zalevsky termed the genre. It is unique in several respects. First of all, the stunned audience saw a veritable constellation of winners of the world’s most prestigious competitions, all of them people with truly rare talents. For example, besides strongman Dmytro Khaladzhi, who can spin a 16-kg dumbbell in one hand, tie steel bars into a knot, and tear metal sheets with his bare hands, Donetsk spectators also saw uniquely endowed athletes, who displayed the wonders of strength, pliability, and plasticity. Among them were Natalia Vasyliuk, the Iroshnikov brothers, winners of a number of international competitions and contests, and Anatoliy Zalevsky himself. The spectators also saw a performance by local sports and dance companies, which were quite good in the overall context of the show, which featured unique movable metal stage settings as well as “live sound,” i.e., drumbeats during the most complicated and dangerous numbers.

Occasionally it seemed that what was being shown on stage was an amazing distortion of reality, because this could not possibly occur in real life. After all, a person of average body build and stature cannot be flexible enough to slip quietly and seemingly without effort through the meter-long bars of an iron cage without even touching them. Isn’t it mind-boggling when an adult man can soar in the air and perform complicated gymnastic routines, simply holding on to the hair of his female partner, who is swinging on a thin cable? Even in their wildest dreams spectators cannot imagine that an ordinary looking individual (even if he is a world-famous strongman) can endure a stack of thick wooden planks topped with a huge stone being placed on his back, while a few strapping fellows break the stone with sledgehammers.

This list of astounding and unfathomable feats is endless. But they seem to be a matter of routine for the actors of Rizoma. They claim that sports records are trivial to them: the main thing is not achievements but compassion and help for those in dire need of it. This is why the show was dedicated to HIV-infected children in Donetsk oblast, who were not only invited to see the event but were given a variety of gifts.

Shortly before the show, Podkopayeva visited the Donetsk Oblast Specialized Refuge for HIV- infected Children, bringing gifts and promising to devote her attention to this institution. “It is very important for us to perform for these children. If their faces show at least a trace of joy, if they begin to smile during the performance, this means we are doing the right thing,” Khaladzhi emphasized before the show began.

On the eve of the show Khaladzhi was awarded the official diploma of the Record Book of Ukraine to confirm his status as the world’s strongest man. The Ukrainian Hercules declared that he is not going to stop at what he has already achieved and plans to extend the list of his records in the nearest future. “I will probably try to set a record in the exercise ‘cross:’ this is a test of absolute strength, when you hold two 32-kg weights by the little fingers of your outstretched hands. I will be holding two weights, 64 kilos, in each hand,” Khaladzhi told journalists. He is also going to break the record of the ancient Greek hero by taking as many as 70 steps while carrying a huge, fattened bull on his shoulders. The athlete intends to set this record in Donetsk, the coal miners’ capital, and dedicate this achievement to the 70th anniversary of the Shakhtar soccer club.

Podkopayeva, the UN Goodwill Ambassador for AIDS and Tuberculosis, is not planning to rest on her laurels either. She intends to undertake a series of charitable actions all over Ukraine. A show similar to the one in Donetsk will soon be held in Odesa oblast, one of the top five Ukrainian regions affected by AIDS. The athlete plans to spend the next World AIDS Day in Lviv, where she will also carry out a target-oriented charitable mission.

Together with the Donetsk Oblast Council the celebrated gymnast is also planning to establish specialized gymnastics schools in Donetsk oblast. The Olympic champion’s own coach will teach in these schools. Podkopayeva is convinced that there will be no shortage of pupils because attendance will be free, and the schools will gladly accept any willing person.