Xpress, the Coolest Section of the St. Petersburg Times, is the home for features, news and views of interest to young readers. Most of the work in Xpress, which appears on Mondays in Floridian, is produced by the Times' X-Team. The team of journalists ages 9-17 from around the Tampa Bay area is selected every year at the end of the school year to serve during the following school term. The current team of 12 was chosen out of 150 applicants. Watch for X-Team application forms in Xpress during the month of May.
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Cirque kids
The youngest members of Alegria, Nikita Moiseev and Myroni Khetaguri, share an act and a family business.
By SAM GOODMAN
Published March 8, 2004
[Times photo: Bill Cooke]
Nikita Moiseev, 9, gets his makeup before a January show in Miami.
Myroni Khetaguri, 7, is the youngest member of Alegria.
Nikita Moiseev, 9, is a veteran of the Cirque tours.
ST. PETERSBURG - What exactly is a normal life? Well, for most of us, it is getting up, going to school, coming home, doing homework, then going to bed expecting to do pretty much the same old thing tomorrow.
But for Nikita Moiseev, 9, and Myroni Khetaguri, 7, that is anything but normal.
Nikita and Myroni are the youngest members of Cirque du Soleil's Alegria company. They perform on the Russian bars in a troupe that includes two of Nikita's brothers, Victor and Ivan. You could say they were born to perform: They both were born on tour to families that have been with Cirque for many years.
Nikita and Myroni share the same part, which they trade off for each show. Each night, one of the boys introduces the show, welcoming Cirque-goers in French and English. Then during the Russian bars act, one of the boys performs a trick called the kangaroo. The boy wraps himself around a troupe member's body and they do a back flip.
Nikita's father, Aleksandr, trains the performers in the Russian bars act. His mother, Irina Saveliev, travels with Cirque and is guardian for manipulation artist Maria Silaeva. The family has been touring together for more than a year. However, Nikita and several other family members have been off and on the tour for almost eight years.
Myroni's father, Gia, is a performer in a different Cirque act. His mom, Aimee Khetaguri, works on the tour as a human resources production assistant. The family has been touring together for nearly seven years.
The boys' normal days include school, rehearsal and performances. They have Mondays off, but must attend school on Saturday. The boys, who are good friends, enjoy art and science.
They also love to read, and have read all the Harry Potter books and seen the movies.
On one recent day off, Nikita and Myroni went to several Orlando area theme parks. Although it would seem that thrill rides might be tame for people who spend part of their days doing stunts, they had a great time. Nikita's favorite ride was Doctor Doom, while Myroni liked the Rockin' Roller coaster. The thrill rides compare well to one other trick they do in the show. Each night a mechanical corbeau, which is French for raven or crow, descends from the top of the tent and one of the boys feeds it. Then he grabs ahold of the bird and it whisks him up in the air.
The boys are under the lights for about a half hour, which seems fitting for the youngest members of Alegria. But they make a big impression.
- Sam Goodman, 12, is in sixth grade at Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa.
