Nina Andreevna Suprun , circus director in Russia Born 1926-12-25 . Trained in ballet since childhood, she had been a dancer in Rostov’s Operetta Theatre, Nina was assigned in 1943 to the Kornilov ensemble, of which she became the soloist who worked directly with the elephants. In 1958, re-married with Anatoly Kornilov (1924-1991), Aleksandr’s son, who was his father’s assistant in the elephant act. Now married, Anatoly and Nina put together their own acts—a "Cossack act" on Siberian camels, and a comedy act in which bears impersonated firemen whose chief was Anatoly, while Nina was a nurse. These acts were part of the Kornilov ensemble, and the young couple continued to participate in the elephant act. In 1984, SoyuzGosTsirk gave Anatoly Kornilov the management of Riga’s circus (Latvia was then part of the Soviet Union). There, Nina devised a new attraction, Elephants Around the Globe. Anatoly and Nina retired in 1990 and the attraction passed into the hands of their daughter, Taisiya. Nina never left the circus and, to this day (2018), she continues to participate in the training of the Kornilovs’ elephants.
