Melinda Merlier

Acrobat, Aerialist

By Dominique Jando

Melinda Merlier was born Melinda Fölnagy in Tatá (Hungary) on September 1, 1968. She enrolled in Budapest’s State Circus School when she was ten. She had her formal schooling there, while training the rest of the time in all circus disciplines.

In 1985, she met a new French student who had just enrolled in the School, Olivier Merlier, and they began to work together on an acrobatic adagioAcrobatic act, generally involving a man and a woman, presented in a slow or romantic mood.. In April 1988, two months before their graduation, Olivier and Melinda also became partners in life, and married in Budapest. A few months later, they made their professional debut at the old Hansa Theater in Hamburg, Germany.

In Janauary 1988, Olivier & Melinda presented their brand new act at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris; although they didn't win a medal, they caught the attention of the Big Apple Circus's talent scouts, and were invited to join the circus's resident company in the United States. They debuted there in the Big Apple Circus summer tour production of 1989.

Olivier & Melinda stayed at the Big Apple Circus until 1992, participating in company ensembles, performing their acrobatic adagioAcrobatic act, generally involving a man and a woman, presented in a slow or romantic mood., and a teeterboardA seesaw made of wood, or fiberglass poles tied together, which is used to propel acrobats in the air. duet. They separated at the end of the 1992 summer tour, and Olivier returned to France.

Melinda, a very versatile acrobat, remained in the Big Apple Circus's resident company until 1998, where she appeared in an amazing variety of acrobatic acts, from acrobatics to flying trapezeAerial act in which an acrobat is propelled from a trapeze to a catcher, or to another trapeze. (See also: Short-distance Flying Trapeze), contortion to dancing with elephants! She also became involved with a talented acrobat in the company, Carlos Guity.

After she left the Big Apple Circus, Melinda went on to work at Sea World, in Orlando, Florida. She was featured in an aerial tissu(French) A double piece of hanging fabric, generally made of silk, used for an aerial act. (See also: Fabric, Silks) act with Maxim Panteleenko in Cesar Aedo’s The Flight of the Condor. Meanwhile, Melinda had married Carlos Guity in June 2001. She left The Flight of the Condor to give birth to her son, Noah, in April 2002.

Then, Melinda returned to Sea World, and was featured in another company with a web act, and later an aerial hoopA heavy metallic hoop used as a variance of trapeze, usually with contortion moves. (Also called Cerceau.) act; she also worked as company manager. The show closed at the end of August 2008, and Melinda left after a five and a half years run.

Subsequently, Melinda went on to study massage therapy; she is also an ACE certified Personal Trainer and a Pilates instructor. Melinda, Carlos, and Noah live in Orlando, Florida.

See Also

• Biography: Olivier & Melinda
• Video: Olivier & Melinda, Acrobatic Adagio and Teeterboard Act in the Big Apple Circus production of Ballerinas, Horses and Clowns... (1990)
• Video: Olivier & Melinda, Teeterboard Act in the Big Apple Circus production of Greetings from Coney Island (1991)
• Video: Melinda Merlier in The Contortion Doll with Jeff Gordon and John Lepiarz, in the Big Apple Circus production of Goin' Places (1992)
• Video: Acrobats and Elephants in the Big Apple Circus production of The Medicine Show (1996)
• Video: Melinda Merlier and the Woodcock Elephants in the Big Apple Circus production of The Medicine Show (1996)