Maria Silaeva
Discipline
Manipulation
Age
26
From
Volgograd, Russia
Likes
Spanish culture
With her Tweety T-shirt, long
legs and natural pout, you’d
be forgiven for thinking that
Maria – known by her
Russian nickname, Masha –
is about 12. In fact, she is the
old lady of the company,
having been hoop twirling
and ribbon twisting with
Cirque since 2000.
“They saw me doing a
competition and invited me
for rehearsals to see how it
would go,” says the seasoned
rhythmic gymnast. “It went
really, really well.”
Despite “loving” life in the
circus, when
Alegría
plays its
last show at the end of the
year, she’s hanging up her
hoops and heading home to
“settle down, have a family
and raise children”. It’s odd to
hear this from someone who
looks so like a child herself –
albeit, a very bendy one.
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