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Alexey Goloborodko
Born	1994 Tula, Russia
Nationality	Russian
Other names	Alesha, Alyosha (informal variants of "Alexey")
Years active	1998-2010
Known for	Minute of fame, himself
Website	http://limbermen.com/Alexey/

Alexey I. Goloborodko (Алексей Голобородько) pronounced:- Al-ix-EY Ga-la-ba-RROJ-ka is a contortionist, who has been described by many as the most flexible human on the planet. He was born in Tula, Russia, in December 1994. In addition to contortion, he has also trained in dance, both classical and modern, as well as "wushu". This is a group of Chinese martial arts, of which "Tai Chi" is the best-known variant in the West. This training in dance helps to add fluency, grace and elegance to Alexey's contortion performances.

Early Life

Alexey's mother relates stories about how his natural flexibility was such that he would startle strangers on buses, or shop assistants fitting him with shoes, even when he was a very young child. He was then spotted by his coach-to-be, Vladislav Afanasievich Rodin, in the Circus Circle in Tula.

Rodin had 30 years previously trained his son - also named Alexey - in what he calls a synthesis of classical dance, gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, modern dance, martial arts and extreme flexibility of the body. Years later, after the son had moved abroad, he met a promising young boy in the Circus Circle. He offered to give free, intensive, one on one training to this boy - Vladimir Gagarin - who in his turn developed into an award-winning contortionist. However, for personal and family reasons, Gagarin left the scene in his teens. Rodin was saddened and disillusioned by this, and disinclined to take on additional boy trainees.

When he met Alexey, though, he was won over by the latter's enthusiasm and determination, and changed his mind. A close collaboration began, which continues to this day. A room in the Goloborodko family's flat was converted into a gymnasium for Alexey, and he trains for several hours each day, not only with Rodin, but also with specialist dance instructors. Natalia Perepelkina (leading teacher of the Tula branch of the Moscow Institute of Culture) - teaches classical dance. The famous dancer Svetlana Shishkina teaches modern dance, while Maria Nikolaeva teaches "Jazz Style" dance. Wushu graduate Shaolin Igor instructs Alexey in this art. This team has trained him in seven distinct performances, which have these names:- "The Swan", "Tango," "Petrushka", "Rock," "Mowgli", "God of the Sun" and "Obsession." Alexey has recently stated that his repertoire now stands at ten different acts.

Career

In 2003 at age 9 he made an award winning contortion performance at the Circus Festival in Russia. Also in this year, a documentary program was made about him for Russian television. He has participated in many circus and arts festivals and competitions. Details of some of them are available, and these are listed below. Rodin has stated that Alexey won medals at ten such competitions in the period 2003 - 2007.

• Bronze medalist at the international children's circus competition in Monte Carlo, Dec 2007

• Medal winner at the Moscow Youth Festival of Circus Arts

• Medal winner at the Circus Festival in the city of Ivanovo

• Winner at the Festival of arts and sports "Golden Lily" Kiev, Oct 27th 2007

• Special Jury Prize - "Dancing Rubber" Sixth Moscow International Youth Festival of Circus Arts : 2007

• Winner of a gold medal at the VII Youth Delphic Games of Russia, Novosibirsk, May 2008. Absolute winner in the "Circus" category

• Third place - Second World Delphic Games Saratov, Russia. Circus - Age group 10-30 Goloborodko Alexei I. (Russian Federation) 19-25 September 2008

• Silver Medal at 8th China Wuhan International Acrobatics Art Festival, Hubei Province, China, 26 Oct 2008

• Youngest participant in the Circus Arts Festival in Ishevsk, Russia, March 2010

In late 2007 Alexey took part in the very popular and influential Russian TV talent competition:- Минута Славы, or Minuta Slavy "A Minute Of Fame". This was the event that made him a household name throughout Russia, and brought him to the attention of many abroad as well.

In the first round he performed a ballet/contortion routine "The Swan". The musical accompaniment was "Ave Maria" by Charles Gounod, played on wine glasses, crystal xylophone and bass guitar by the St. Petersburg trio "Crystal Harmony". He enjoyed a hugely enthusiastic response from the audience and won easily.

In the second round, the act was an Indian-based "Sun God" dance, with Alexey wearing an elaborate Gold and Jewels effect costume. The music was a recorded version of "Recuerdos de la Alhambra" by Francisco Tárrega. Again there was an ecstatic response from the audience, and they made him their firm favourite.

In the third round, Alexey performed "Obsession", his trademark contortion act using two folding chairs. The audience loved it, the judges apparently did not, and the eventual winner of the competition was Dmitry Bulkin, with his acrobatic performance on a vertical pole. There was a complaint by Rodin that Bulkin had misled the organizers of the competition, by claiming to be an amateur, and a car mechanic by trade, when he had actually performed in the Cirque du Soleil, and other prestigious circuses.

In February 2010 he took part in the Channel TF1 French TV Talent Show "Qui Sera le Meilleur ce Soir?" He won the first round, a one-on-one competition with another contortionist. In the final, however, the judges opined that he came across as a professional intruding into a contest for amateurs, and he lost to a group of younger children with a dance act. Thus he was the accuser last time, the accused this time.

Although he's only fifteen now, Alexey has become a regular performer at the circus, having worked circus seasons at Circo Massimo, Rome, in July 2008, Circus Sarasota, Florida, in Feb/March 2009, and Circus Conelli, Zurich, in November 2009. He has also performed on board a cruise ship: "Superstar Virgo", operating in South-East Asia, in June-August 2009.

At present he is appearing in an exciting new type of show in Singapore. As the publicity material for the production puts it:-

"“Voyage de la Vie” or the “journey of life” is a story of a boy’s metaphoric journey, or a rite of passage before he becomes an adult.

Enter the world of the mysterious Lantern Keeper, the charming Crystal Cat and the mesmerizing Diva along with extraordinary inhabitants. Explore the journey of the boy on an adventurous search to discover his destiny. An unforgettable experience of magnificent sets, glamorous costumes and amazing circus feats awaits…

A circus theatre spectacular, the story is told through song and dance, combining with the energy, physicality and athleticism of circus arts, resulting in a contemporary cutting edge performance art form which fully engages the senses and keeps audiences on the edge of their seats. The first circus theatre spectacular ever to be created in Singapore, it presents an international cast of circus stars brought together from 16 countries."".

External Links

http://limbermen.com/Alexey/ A good selection of photos of Alexey may be found here.

Videos

1 A performance by Vladimir Gagarin - Alexey's predecessor, also trained by Rodin - at age 13.

2 Nine year old Alexey won an award at the Circus Festival for this.

3 Doing what no-one else can do, in the gym.

4 From the documentary. At home and school, with his family and trainer.

5 Exercising with his trainer.

6 He's off his guard a bit here, and can be seen pulling faces.

7 In Monaco, where he received a standing ovation from the royal couple.

8 "Golden Lily" Festival of arts and sports, Kiev, Oct 2007.

9 Rehearsing backstage before Golden Lily appearance.

10 Minuta Slavy first round "The Swan".

11 Minuta Slavy second round "Sun God" dance.

12 For comparison, Vladimir Gagarin - aged 19 here - performs the Sun God dance.

13 Minuta Slavy third round "Obsession". He wasn't warned that there would be liquid helium 'smoke', and he couldn't see the floor.

14 Another performance of "Sun God" (i.e. not Minuta Slavy).

15 At Circo Massimo in Rome, August 2008.

16 A more recent one: Ishevsk Festival March 2010.

17 Now appearing in Singapore. Looking good in his new costume.

Two higher-resolution videos are available as Torrent files; some familiarity with such files is necessary to download them.

18) Alexey at home, then second round of Minuta Slavy, with judging:- 259 MB 8m:8s

Search for:- Goloborodko contortion DVB-S @ tv1rus minuta slavy II 11-11-2007

19) Alexey at home, then third round of Minuta Slavy, with judging:- 319 MB 9m:50s Hi-res version of No 13

Search for:- Goloborodko Contortion DVB-S @ tv1rus Minuta Slavy II 14-10-2007

Citations

(Most are in Russian. Google translation services were used for the purposes of compilation of this article.)

^ http://limbermen.com/Alexey/ Professional and information site for male contortionists. The site can pass on enquiries about bookings etc. to represented performers

^ http://www.ruscircus.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=5948&st=15 Rodin interviewed for site representing Russian circuses

^ http://www.ruscircus.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=13565&pid=53607&st=45& Alexey interviewed for site representing Russian circuses

^ http://viperson.ru/wind.php?ID=296296 Article by Oksana Nikolaeva: "Rubber Boy" 20/04/2007 in viperson.ru - a database of biographies of prominent Russians

^ http://www.tula.rodgor.ru/gazeta/675/nashi/3449/ Article by Andrew Dremizov in "Sloboda," No 46, a Tula newspaper, 14/11/07

^ http://tula.kp.ru/daily/24302/496153/ Article in "Komsomolskaya-pravda", another Tula newspaper, by Julia Bogomolov 30/05/2009

^ http://ndaward.ru/scene08.htm "National Childrens' Awards" (Russia) Newsletter

^ http://www.circfest.ru/lng/ru/winners/p2007/ Festival Results Announcement

^ http://tula.kp.ru/daily/24302/496153/ Article in "Komsomolskaya-pravda" by Julia Bogomolov 30/05/2009

^ http://www.delphic.ru/text/04.games/01.russia/11.7thjunior/04.prize.asp Games Results Announcement

^ http://www.idcworld.org/games.world.participants?id=39&lang=ru Games Results Announcement

^ http://www.tula.rodgor.ru/news/tkult/35450/ Paragraph in Sloboda newspaper 04/03/2010

^ http://mimisiku77.canalblog.com/archives/2010/04/24/17674306.html video of first round Minuta Slavy

^ http://www.tula.rodgor.ru/news/tkult/12592/ Article in Sloboda newspaper 10/12/2007

^ http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/en-US/EntertainmentNightlife/VoyagedelaVie/AbouttheShow Site of the new show in Singapore