A travelling family
Nikita Moiseev was born to be in Cirque du Soleil.
He was actually delivered into this world in New York City while his family was on tour with the Cirque show Alegria.
He’s now 18, and his life has always been connected to Cirque in one way or another.
His father Alexander was involved in the creation of the Cirque show Alegria 20 years ago, and his stepbrothers were also part of the show.
At the end of that very first tour, Moiseev’s family settled in Las Vegas where his father continued to work on Cirque shows O and Mystère.
When Alegria returned on the road, the eight-year-old joined the show, playing the part of Little Tamir.
His mother Irina is his official guardian on tour. She also offers ballet classes to the artists in the show.
Moiseev was trained in gymnastics by his father who is now with Totem as a coach of the Russian bars, an act which Alexander first designed and performed more than 30 years ago.
Essentially, Russian bars consists of acrobats performing a series of aerial stunts on flexible vaulting poles about four metres long.
Moiseev plays a cosmonaut in Totem during the Russian bars act as well as a monkey in other segments.
Moiseev is one of five teenagers who grew up in the Cirque family and are still a part of the shows.
“My whole life has been with Cirque du Soleil, travelling to many countries and meeting all kinds of people.”
He says the troupe has been his travelling family, one that is made up of performers from 15 different countries.
He was able to keep up with his studies as he was tutored by on-site teachers who travel with the show.
The teachers follow the regular provincial curriculum, and the school is recognized by the Quebec education system.
Moiseev graduated from the Cirque du Soleil school in 2011 and is now fluent in French, English and Russian.
He says he hasn’t missed anything being a part of the Cirque family.
In fact, the gymnast says that his education was enriched by his travels around the world.
“I liked being onstage from the beginning; it’s something I took to right away. I can’t say I’ll do it for the rest of my life, but for now I like it,” he says.
In the Totem show, he says that he does a lot of “jumping around,” performing acrobatic stunts on the Russian bars dressed in what he describes as a “funky” costume.