On June 21, 1941, the artists of the traveling circus tent under the direction of the famous hypnotist Andrei Belov, who performs under the pseudonym the Great Armando, give their first performance in a small Latvian town. During the performance of the number under the dome, Belov's wife, the aerial equilibrist Elsa, sees a little girl among the audience, meets her eyes, loses her balance and falls into the arena. This girl is a copy of Masha, the daughter of Elsa and Belov, who died five years ago.
