Elena Borodina - Revision history

Djando: /* Valentin Gneushev And Silencio */

2023-05-26T04:52:06Z

‎Valentin Gneushev And Silencio

Djando: /* Valentin Gneushev And Silencio */

2023-05-26T04:50:41Z

‎Valentin Gneushev And Silencio

Djando: /* Valentin Gneushev And Silencio */

2023-05-26T04:49:40Z

‎Valentin Gneushev And Silencio

Djando: /* Early Training: Violetta Kiss And Ekaterina Mozorova */

2023-05-26T04:45:26Z

‎Early Training: Violetta Kiss And Ekaterina Mozorova

Djando at 04:37, 26 May 2023

2023-05-26T04:37:45Z

Djando: /* From Ballet Dreams To Circus Challenges */

2021-06-03T20:29:23Z

‎From Ballet Dreams To Circus Challenges

Djando: /* Valentin Gneushev And Silencio */

2018-06-06T03:36:54Z

‎Valentin Gneushev And Silencio

Djando: /* Circus Debuts */

2018-06-06T03:34:46Z

‎Circus Debuts

Djando: /* Valentin Gneushev And Silencio */

2015-11-01T20:47:03Z

‎Valentin Gneushev And Silencio

Djando: /* Valentin Gneushev And Silencio */

2015-11-01T20:46:13Z

‎Valentin Gneushev And Silencio

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 In 1999, Elena Borodina appeared for the first time in the United States at Teatro ZinZanni, the celebrated American varieté show, in Seattle. She soon became a regular of ZinZanni shows in San Francisco and Seattle&mdash;where she eventually settled, before moving to Las Vegas. At Teatro ZinZanni, Elena Borodina gave a beautiful new version of her act performed on a white grand piano serving as a pedestal&mdash;replete with a pianist at the ivories!
-Elena eventually remained in the United States, and continued her career both in Europe and America. Between engagements, she began teaching hand balancing, and developed a successful hand-balancing method named ''Silencio'', after her act, that mixes acrobatics and yoga techniques, and is aimed at yoga practitioners.
+Elena eventually remained in the United States, and continued her career both in Europe and America. Between engagements, she began teaching hand balancing, and eventually developed a successful hand-balancing method named ''Silencio'', after her act, that mixes acrobatics and yoga techniques, and is aimed at yoga practitioners.
 == See Also ==

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 Elena went on anyway, and her new act, titled ''Silencio'', finally debuted in 1997 at Circus Nikulin, in Moscow. Elena's mother didn’t like her daughter’s act&mdash;but Valentin had always told Elena never to listen to anybody’s opinions, and although she was hurt, Elena dismissed the criticisms. In time, her costume was redesigned, and her music fine-tuned; Clemens Zipse, the producer of Palazzo, a leading German varieté, came to see the show, and immediately offered Elena a contract. Elena Borodina was on her way to stardom.
-In 1998, she participated in the festival [[Circus Prinsessan]] in Stockholm (an all-woman circus festival), and began working steadily in various German varietés. She eventually moved to Germany. Elena was then invited to participate in the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris in February 2001, where the was awarded a Silver Medal, and in 2001-2002, she was featured in Trapèze at the [[Cirque d’Hiver]]-[[The Bouglione Family|Bouglione]] in Paris.
+In 1998, she participated in the festival [[Circus Prinsessan]] in Stockholm (an all-woman circus festival), and began working steadily in various German varietés. She eventually moved to Germany. Elena was then invited to participate in the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris in February 2001, where the was awarded a Silver Medal, and in 2001-2002, she was featured in ''Trapèze'' at the [[Cirque d’Hiver]]-[[The Bouglione Family|Bouglione]] in Paris.
 In 1999, Elena Borodina appeared for the first time in the United States at Teatro ZinZanni, the celebrated American varieté show, in Seattle. She soon became a regular of ZinZanni shows in San Francisco and Seattle&mdash;where she eventually settled, before moving to Las Vegas. At Teatro ZinZanni, Elena Borodina gave a beautiful new version of her act performed on a white grand piano serving as a pedestal&mdash;replete with a pianist at the ivories!

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 Gneushev took Elena to her word, and told her that she would be in Circus Nikulin’s next show, ''Етим Детям'' (''For These Children''), slated to debut in three weeks! Elena had no costume, no music, no props. The costume that was hastily designed for her was a catastrophe, and Michael Ekimian’s music for her act was delivered on opening day! Only her pedestal was in its final form: a cube (a shape that fitted the props related to theme of the show), with a fan inside that gently blew on the veil hanging from her toes.
-Elena went on anyway, and her new act, titled ''Silencio'', finally debuted in 1997 at Circus Nikulin, in Moscow. Elena's mother didn’t like her daughter’s act&mdash;but Valentin had always told her never to listen to anybody’s opinions, and although she was hurt, Elena dismissed the criticisms. In time, her costume was redesigned, and her music fine-tuned; Clemens Zipse, the producer of Palazzo, a leading German varieté, came to see the show, and immediately offered Elena a contract. Elena Borodina was on her way to stardom.
+Elena went on anyway, and her new act, titled ''Silencio'', finally debuted in 1997 at Circus Nikulin, in Moscow. Elena's mother didn’t like her daughter’s act&mdash;but Valentin had always told Elena never to listen to anybody’s opinions, and although she was hurt, Elena dismissed the criticisms. In time, her costume was redesigned, and her music fine-tuned; Clemens Zipse, the producer of Palazzo, a leading German varieté, came to see the show, and immediately offered Elena a contract. Elena Borodina was on her way to stardom.
 In 1998, she participated in the festival [[Circus Prinsessan]] in Stockholm (an all-woman circus festival), and began working steadily in various German varietés. She eventually moved to Germany. Elena was then invited to participate in the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris in February 2001, where the was awarded a Silver Medal, and in 2001-2002, she was featured in Trapèze at the [[Cirque d’Hiver]]-[[The Bouglione Family|Bouglione]] in Paris.

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 Although at the end of the year, Elena had learned and mastered practically everything that could be done in hand balancing, she graduated as a circus generalist, and was invited to participate in group acts&mdash;something she didn’t want to do. Luckily, Violetta Kiss finally proposed to build an act for her.
-Elena worked one year under Violetta Kiss, and developed a superlative technique which enabled her to master the most difficult tricks known to the specialty, including perfect alternate one-arm stands, jumping from one hand to the other. But Elena was not satisfied with her technical prowesses; she soon realized that if Violetta Kiss was indeed an extraordinary technical teacher, her style as an act choreographer emphasized too much the technical aspect of the act to the detriment of its artistic composition and originality.
+Elena worked one year under Violetta Kiss, and developed a superlative technique which enabled her to master the most difficult tricks known to the specialty, including perfect alternate one-arm stands, jumping from one hand to the other. But Elena was not satisfied with her technical prowess; she soon realized that if Violetta Kiss was indeed an extraordinary technical teacher, her style as an act choreographer emphasized too much the technical aspect of the act to the detriment of its artistic composition and originality.
-Like many young circus students of her generation, Elena was impressed by the groundbreaking work of a new director, [[Valentin Gneushev]], who was experimenting with the circus troupe of the ''Pravda'' plant, which he was heading. There, she thought, was an aesthetic she could relate to; she decided to leave Violetta Kiss, and to find a director who could help her build an act that would reflect her own personality. But she had only three months left before her final audition, and had to come up with a good act if she wanted to stay in the Soviet circus system.
+Like many young circus students of her generation, Elena was impressed by the groundbreaking work of a new director, [[Valentin Gneushev]], who was experimenting with the circus troupe of the ''Pravda'' plant, which he was heading (and which was in the immediate vicinity of the circus school). There, she thought, was an aesthetic she could relate to; she decided to leave Violetta Kiss, and to find a director who could help her build an act that would reflect her own personality. But she had only three months left before her final audition, and had to come up with a good act if she wanted to stay in the Soviet circus system.
 Elena liked the work of [[Ekaterina Morozova]], who had just created an eccentric acrobatic act in which two girls, Angela Strashnaya and Angelica Malkovka, performed acrobatic tricks while playing the saxophone. It was totally original&mdash;and also much too soon for the times. But she thought Morozova could be a good director for her, and Elena asked Ekaterina to help her with her hand balancing act.

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:37, 26 May 2023
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−	[[Image:Elena_Borodina_at_ZinZanni.jpg~~\|thumb~~\|right\|~~250px\|Elena Borodina~~]]	+	[[Image:Elena_Borodina_at_ZinZanni.jpg\|right\|400px]]
	== Hand Balancer ==		== Hand Balancer ==

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 Her best friend, and her neighbor, was Ekaterina (Katia) Denisova, with whom Elena had taken ballet classes. Ekaterina’s mother, Martha Avdeeva, was a scion of the old [[The Avdeev Family|Avdeev]] circus family. Martha and her sister, Svetlana, had inherited the legendary "giant semaphore" act of the [[Koch Sisters]]&mdash;who were related to Katia’s grandmother (and namesake), Ekaterina.
-Katia’s grandmother liked Elena and had started training her in basic circus disciplines. Since Elena wanted first and foremost to perform, Ekaterina suggested that she apply instead for the [[State College for Circus and Variety Arts]] (the famous Moscow Circus School), which was holding pre-auditions at the same period, before the summer vacation. This time, Elena, who was tall for her age (she grew fast in her early years, but would eventually reach a relatively small size as an adult), was judged too weak and too tall for an acrobat. That was for Elena another major disappointment. Her mother, however, was relieved: To her, circus folks were still rogues and vagabonds...
+Katia’s grandmother liked Elena and had started training her in basic circus disciplines. Since Elena wanted first and foremost to perform, Ekaterina suggested that she apply instead for the [[State College for Circus and Variety Arts (Moscow)|State College for Circus and Variety Arts]] (the famous Moscow Circus School), which was holding pre-auditions at the same period, before the summer vacation. This time, Elena, who was tall for her age (she grew fast in her early years, but would eventually reach a relatively small size as an adult), was judged too weak and too tall for an acrobat. That was for Elena another major disappointment. Her mother, however, was relieved: To her, circus folks were still rogues and vagabonds...
 Then, friends told Elena about a small Amateur Circus&mdash;the Russian equivalent of a Youth Circus, albeit at a much higher level than in Western Europe or America&mdash;which was in their neighborhood (quite surprisingly, since it was the Red Square area), located in an old church hidden behind Moscow’s legendary luxury deli and grocery store,  Yeliseyevsky. Little Elena went there by herself, and was immediately accepted: The good bases she had acquired in ballet classes and with Ekaterina had proven useful.

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 But there was a dissenting voice, and a powerful one at that: [[Tatiana Assovskaya]], the head of SoyuzGosTsirk, who had a knack for spotting potential talent among young performers, and who was always willing to help them. Assovskaya accepted the act, on the condition that Elena rework it with Morozova and add a few proper hand balancing tricks to her presentation. The year was 1991.
-Elena Borodina’s first contracts with her new act were an engagement in the company of [[The Durov Dynasty|Teresa Durova]]’s new [[Moscow Clown Theater]], and a tour of the [[Moscow Circus]] in Japan. But she soon realized that she had difficulty finding good work. Meanwhile, she saw that Valentin Gneushev’s acts were garnering awards at international circus festivals and, most importantly, were increasingly in demand on the international market.
+Elena Borodina’s first contracts with her new act were an engagement in the company of [[The Durov Dynasty|Teresa Durova]]’s new Moscow Clown Theater, and a tour of the [[Moscow Circus]] in Japan. But she soon realized that she had difficulty finding good work. Meanwhile, she saw that Valentin Gneushev’s acts were garnering awards at international circus festivals and, most importantly, were increasingly in demand on the international market.
 === Valentin Gneushev And ''Silencio'' ===

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 In 1998, she participated in the festival [[Circus Prinsessan]] in Stockholm (an all-woman circus festival), and began working steadily in various German varietés. She eventually moved to Germany. Elena was then invited to participate in the [[Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain]] in Paris in February 2001, where the was awarded a Silver Medal, and in 2001-2002, she was featured in Trapèze at the [[Cirque d’Hiver]]-[[The Bouglione Family|Bouglione]] in Paris.
-In 1999, Elena Borodina appeared for the first time in the United States at Teatro ZinZanni, the celebrated American variete show, in Seattle. She soon became a regular of ZinZanni shows in San Francisco and Seattle&mdash;where she eventually settled, although she still performs regularly in Europe. At Teatro ZinZanni, Elena Borodina gave a beautiful new version of her act performed on a white grand piano serving as a pedestal&mdash;replete with a pianist at the ivories!
+In 1999, Elena Borodina appeared for the first time in the United States at Teatro ZinZanni, the celebrated American varieté show, in Seattle. She soon became a regular of ZinZanni shows in San Francisco and Seattle&mdash;where she eventually settled, although she still performs regularly in Europe. At Teatro ZinZanni, Elena Borodina gave a beautiful new version of her act performed on a white grand piano serving as a pedestal&mdash;replete with a pianist at the ivories!
 Elena eventually settled in the United States, and continued her career both in Europe and America. Between engagements, she began teaching hand balancing, and developed a successful hand-balancing method named ''Silencio'', after her act, that mixes acrobatics and yoga techniques, and is aimed at yoga practitioners.