Elena Lev | |
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Born | 1981 (age 40–41) |
Occupation | Performer, acrobat |
Elena Lev, born in Moscow, Russia on December 1st 1981, began her training to become a rhythmic gymnast at an early age, assisted and coached by her mother, Elena Lev Sr. She developed a signature hula hoop act incorporating gymnastics and contortion. Her big breakthrough came when she was invited to join the Alegría touring troupe of Cirque du Soleil, of which she was a member from 1994 through 2000. She also performed briefly with the Quidam troupe in 2002. Lev performed with Cirque du Soleil's Wintuk at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. [1]
Lev is currently performing in Cirque Du Soleil's Zumanity in Las Vegas. She is also in management and about to graduate with a degree in Food and Beverage Management. Her daughter Varvara, who is almost 12, is in synchronised swimming and training to follow in her mother's footsteps but in a different field.
Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 June 1984 by former street performers Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix.
Saltimbanco was a touring show by Cirque du Soleil. Saltimbanco ran from 1992 to 2006 in its original form, performed under a large circus tent called the Grand Chapiteau; its last performance in that form was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on December 10, 2006. A new adaptation of the show started touring North America on July 31, 2007, with its first stop in London, Ontario, Canada. The new version was staged in arenas with fewer performances in each city it visited. The new version closed at the end of 2012.
Kà is a show by Cirque du Soleil at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kà describes the story as "the coming of age of a young man and a young woman through their encounters with love, conflict and the duality of Kà, the fire that can unite or separate, destroy or illuminate."
Tamara Anatoliyivna Yerofeyeva is a famous individual rhythmic gymnast. She was All-Around World Champion, multiple World Cup's winner, World Universiade winner and an Olympic Game's finalist. Tamara was competing for Ukraine's National Team from 1996 to 2004 winning more than 300 medals for Ukraine at various competitions. She currently lives in Las Vegas, USA and performing with her solo hoops act at different shows including Cirque Du Soleil, Spiegelworld, David Saxe Productions and more. Also, she’s participating in all kinds of gala and corporate events around the world. One of her recent performances was at Fashion Costume Showcase of famous french designer Thierry Mugler in Montreal, Canada.
Ludivine Furnon is a retired Olympic athlete from France. She was the first French female gymnast to ever win a medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
Wintuk was a semi-permanent and seasonal residency show created by Cirque du Soleil. Wintuk played seasonally from 2007 to 2011 at the former WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden entertainment complex in New York.
Francesca Gagnon is a Canadian singer and theatre actress featured in Cirque du Soleil's Alegría and Midnight Sun. During her career of more than two decades, she has recorded several solo albums and toured three continents singing in French, English, Italian and Spanish.
Olga Pikhienko is a circus performer who specializes in handbalancing and contortion. Pikhienko started in rhythmic gymnastics at the age of five. When she was eleven, she started performing with her father, Sasha Pikhienko, at the Nikulin Circus based in Moscow. Olga's act with her father won them a gold medal in 1992 at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris. In 1993, they won a silver medal in Beijing, China at the World Festival.
Zed was Cirque du Soleil's second resident show in Asia. It premiered on October 1, 2008 at the Cirque du Soleil Theater, Tokyo Disney Resort, in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan. Inspiration for Zed was taken from the Tarot and its Arcana; the main character Zed represents the Fool of the Tarot. The show depicted Zed's journey and his role in uniting two mythical groups, the people of the earth and sky. The production closed permanently on December 31, 2011.
Zumanity (zoo-manity) was a resident cabaret-style show by Cirque du Soleil at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The production was unveiled on September 20, 2003 and had its last performance on March 14, 2020. It was announced on November 16, 2020 that the show would be closing permanently. It is the first "adult-themed" Cirque du Soleil show, billed as "the sensual side of Cirque du Soleil" or "another side of Cirque du Soleil". Created by René Richard Cyr and Dominic Champagne, Zumanity is a departure from the standard Cirque format. Intended to be for mature adult audiences only, this show is centered on erotic song, dance, acrobatics and comedy.
Jinny Jessica Jacinto is a Canadian contortionist, known for her work with the Cirque du Soleil, her television appearances and her role in the film Satie and Suzanne.
Zaia was a Cirque du Soleil stage production based at The Venetian Macao on the Cotai Strip in Macau. The 90-minute show opened in August 2008, bringing together 75 high-calibre artists from around the world. Zaia was Cirque du Soleil's first resident show in Asia and was directed by Neilson Vignola and Gilles Maheu. The custom-built theater housing the performance was capable of seating 1,800 spectators at a time.
Koozå is a touring circus production by Cirque du Soleil which premiered in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, in 2007. The show was written and directed by David Shiner, who had previously worked as a clown in Cirque du Soleil's production of Nouvelle Expérience. His experience as a clown and his time with Switzerland's Circus Knie and Germany's Circus Roncalli informed his work on Koozå.
Michelle Nicole Matlock is a professional American clown and former "struggling actress", best known for playing the lead romantic role as the ladybug in OVO, the twenty-fifth annual traveling production of Cirque du Soleil.
Cassiopée is a francophone Canadian singer and entertainer. Since 2011, she has played the lead female character Lia in Cirque du Soleil show, Zarkana. She also plays three of the four other female parts in the production.
Felix Cane is an Australian professional pole dancer, pole instructor and international champion pole dancer.
Iris was a resident Cirque du Soleil show based in Los Angeles, California. It premiered on September 25, 2011, after preview performances which began on July 21, 2011. The cost for production of the show was nearly $100 million, which included the cost of renovating the Dolby Theatre in which the show was housed. Iris was written and directed by French director-choreographer Philippe Decouflé. The show explored images from the history of cinema and featured elaborate choreography, acrobatics, and a variety of contemporary circus acts. The name of the show, Iris, comes from the camera diaphragm as well as from the colored iris of the human eye.
Denise Stefanie González, known professionally as Denise Stefanie, is a Mexican singer-songwriter, model and actress.
Michael Jackson: One is the second Michael Jackson-based production in Cirque du Soleil's roster, after Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour. It was announced to the public and media on February 21, 2013. In their continuing partnership with the Jackson estate, One evokes the entertainer's artistic style in several manners. The new production began previews on May 23, 2013 and the official world premiere was June 29, 2013 at the Mandalay Bay on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. Like The Immortal World Tour, this production was also written and directed by Jamie King. "Sneak peek" videos were released on the internet revealing numbers of the production, including "2 Bad", "Stranger in Moscow", "Bad", and "Smooth Criminal". However, unlike Immortal, the show only uses prerecorded tracks, with no live orchestra. This show is also the most dance-driven Cirque du Soleil show.
Anna Stankus is a circus performer who specialises in hula hoop manipulation whilst also incorporating rhythmic gymnastics and contortion in her acts. She is currently on tour with Cirque du Soleil Kooza for its North American tours. Since first beginning her career in 2007, she has gone on to perform in many productions worldwide including for Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Le Noir, Franco Dragone shows and in various variety shows in her hometown of Las Vegas.