Difference between revisions of "Yelena Larkina"

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[[Image:Larkina_2009_Photo_Dehurtevent.jpg|right|300px|Yelena Larkina]]
 
==Hula-Hoops==
 
==Hula-Hoops==
  
A former rhythmic gymnast of the Soviet Gymnastics Team and Silver Medalist at the 1985 USSR championships, Yelena (or Elena) Larkina joined Moscow’s [[State College of Circus and Variety Arts]] (a.k.a. the Moscow Circus School) in 1987, where the famous Russian act director [[Valentin Gneushev]] noticed her.
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''By Dominique Jando''
  
Gneushev teamed Yelena Larkina as the dancer-assistant of the famous juggler on rolling globe, [[Yury Borzykin]], with whom she performed on Broadway, at the Gershwin Theater, in Steve Leber’s production of ''Cirk Valentin'' in 1991. In that same show, Yelena also performed an earlier version of her hula-hoop act.
 
  
Back to Moscow, Valentin Gneushev helped Yelena create a unique hula-hoop act, built on a sensuous choreography to a Mid-Eastern music. This act, in which the choreography and presentation have as much importance as a remarkable technique, was a total novelty and an immediate sensation—not least for the fact that Yelena originally performed it topless, with a light veil teasingly moving in front or her bare breasts.
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A former rhythmic gymnast of the Soviet Gymnastics Team and a Silver Medalist at the 1985 USSR championships, Yelena (or Elena) Larkina joined Moscow’s [[State College of Circus and Variety Arts]] (a.k.a. the Moscow Circus School) in 1987, where the famous Russian act director [[Valentin Gneushev]] noticed her.
  
Yelena Larkina's act won a Bronze Medal at Paris’ [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in 1994—quite an exceptional feat considering the extremely high acrobatic level of the competition, which doesn’t favor such specialties as hula-hoops.
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Gneushev made Yelena the dancer-assistant to the late juggler-on-rolling-globe, [[Yury Borzykin]], with whom she performed, in 1991, at the Gershwin Theater on Broadway, in Steve Leber’s production of ''Cirk Valentin''. In that show, Yelena also performed an early version of her hula-hoop act.  
  
Yelena Larkina has since been featured in some of the world’s major circuses and variety shows, including Frankfurt’s TigerPalast, Düsseldorf’s Apollo Varieté, Berlin’s WinterGarten, and [[Circus Krone]] in Germany; [[Circus Knie]] and [[Circus Conelli]] in Switzerland; [[Circus Benneweis]] in Denmark; and the [[Big Apple Circus]] in the United States, among many others.  
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When Yelena returned to Moscow, Gneushev helped her develop her hula-hoop act into something unique. In the act, which was set to Middle Eastern music, the choreography and presentation were as important as her remarkable technique. The act was an immediate sensation, not least because—in the early performances—Yelena performed topless under a light veil that her dancing movements made teasingly move to and fro.
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In 1994, Yelena's act won a Bronze Medal at Paris’s [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]]—a remarkable feat, considering the high level of the acrobatic competition, which tends to overshadow specialties such as hula-hoop acts.
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Yelena Larkina has since been featured in many of the world’s major circuses and variety shows, including: [[Cirkus Benneweis]] in Denmark; the [[Big Apple Circus]] in the United States; [[Circus Knie]] and [[Circus Conelli]] in Switzerland; and, in Germany, [[Circus Krone]], Frankfurt’s TigerPalast, Düsseldorf’s Apollo Varieté, and Berlin’s WinterGarten.  
  
 
Yelena Larkina is married to juggling legend [[Kris Kremo]].
 
Yelena Larkina is married to juggling legend [[Kris Kremo]].
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==See Also==
 
==See Also==
  
* Video:  
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* Video: [[Larkina_Video_(1994)|Yelena Larkina, hula-hoop act]], at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain (1994)
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* Video: [[Yelena_Larkina_BAC_Video_2007|Yelena Larkina, hula-hoop act]], in the Big Apple Circus production of ''Celebrate'' (2007)
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[[Category:Artists and Acts|Larkina, Yelena]][[Category:Hula-Hoop|Larkina, Yelena]]
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==Image Gallery==
  
[[Category:Artists and Acts|Larkina, Yelena]][[Category:Hula-Hoops|Larkina, Yelena]]
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<Gallery>
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File:Larkina_-_Krevino.jpeg|Yelena Larkina at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain (1993)
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Image:Yelena_Larkina (c.2005).jpg|Yelena larkina (c.2005)
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Image:Yelena_Larkina.jpg|Yelena Larkina (c.2005)
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Image:LARKINA_BAC_(2007)_Mo_Sherif.jpg|Yelena Larkina at the Big Apple Circus (2007)
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Image:Larkina_at_BAC_(2007).jpg|Yelena Larkina at the Big Apple Circus (2007)
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Image:Larkina_-_Heidemarie_Wussler.jpg|Yelena Larkina at Circus Knie (2009)
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Image:Larkina_2009_Photo_Dehurtevent.jpg|Yelena Larkina at Circus Knie (2009)
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Image:Yelena_Larkina_(2009).jpg|Yelena Larkina at Circus Knie (2009)
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Image:Yelena_Larkina_(2010).jpg| Yelena Larkina at the Royal Hanneford Circus (2010)
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</Gallery>

Latest revision as of 04:27, 21 October 2019

Yelena Larkina

Hula-Hoops

By Dominique Jando


A former rhythmic gymnast of the Soviet Gymnastics Team and a Silver Medalist at the 1985 USSR championships, Yelena (or Elena) Larkina joined Moscow’s State College of Circus and Variety Arts (a.k.a. the Moscow Circus School) in 1987, where the famous Russian act director Valentin Gneushev noticed her.

Gneushev made Yelena the dancer-assistant to the late juggler-on-rolling-globe, Yury Borzykin, with whom she performed, in 1991, at the Gershwin Theater on Broadway, in Steve Leber’s production of Cirk Valentin. In that show, Yelena also performed an early version of her hula-hoop act.

When Yelena returned to Moscow, Gneushev helped her develop her hula-hoop act into something unique. In the act, which was set to Middle Eastern music, the choreography and presentation were as important as her remarkable technique. The act was an immediate sensation, not least because—in the early performances—Yelena performed topless under a light veil that her dancing movements made teasingly move to and fro.

In 1994, Yelena's act won a Bronze Medal at Paris’s Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain—a remarkable feat, considering the high level of the acrobatic competition, which tends to overshadow specialties such as hula-hoop acts.

Yelena Larkina has since been featured in many of the world’s major circuses and variety shows, including: Cirkus Benneweis in Denmark; the Big Apple Circus in the United States; Circus Knie and Circus Conelli in Switzerland; and, in Germany, Circus Krone, Frankfurt’s TigerPalast, Düsseldorf’s Apollo Varieté, and Berlin’s WinterGarten.

Yelena Larkina is married to juggling legend Kris Kremo.

See Also

Image Gallery