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==Hand Balancer, Contortionist==

''By Dominique Jando''


[[File:Naumenko_Portrait.jpeg|thumb|right|350px|Irina Naumenko]]Irina Naumenko was born March 4, 1983 in Marks (spelled Marx in the West, since it was named after Karl Marx), a small town northeast of Saratov, in southwestern Russia. Her parents had no connection with the circus: Her father, Viktor, was a mechanics and a driving instructor, and her mother, Elena, was an office-building administrator. Irina was a very physical child: She held a yellow belt in Taekwondo, a rather violent Korean martial art. 

When a circus club (the Russian equivalent of a Youth Circus, but at a much higher level) opened in Marks in 1995, one of her mother’s friend suggested that it would be a good outlet for Irina to channel her natural energy. Irina had often seen shows at the State Circus of Saratov, but she had never considered a career in the circus. Nonetheless, she joined the Circus Club and found herself in her element, giving a special attention to balancing. She spent seven year at the Club, participating regularly in its public performances; this is where [[RosGosTsirk]], the Russian State Circus central organization, spotted her and took her under contract in 2001.

===An International Career===

In Moscow, Irina trained in contortion under [[Natalya Goncharova]], and created a hand-balancing act with which she won a Gold Medal the following year at the [[International Circus Festival of Enschede]], in the Netherlands.
When [[Olga Pikhienko]] one of [[Cirque du Soleil]]’s star hand-balancers, decided to leave ''Varekai'', the show in which she was performing, she contacted Natalya Goncharova to find a replacement. Goncharova suggested Irina, who had gained a respectable pedigree. Irina thus joined Cirque du Soleil in 2003, and toured the world with ''Varekai'' for nine years, until 2011. She had settled in Montréal by then, and married a former Cirque du Soleil’s artistic director, Mathieu Gastien, with whom she had a son, Mathieu, born in 2011.
 
After a break following her son’s birth, Irina resumed her career with a new act she had created with Julie Perron, a young and edgy Canadian choreographer. She has appeared since in many special and corporate events, in circus and variety shows&mdash;notably with [[Cirque Éloize]] and in ''Le Noir'' in Singapore with Stardust International Entertainment&mdash;and she has been featured in Cirque du Soleil’s diner-show ''Joyá'' at Playa de Carmen in Mexico from 2014-2016.

==See Also==

* Video: [[Irina_Naumenko_Video_(2013)|Irina Naumenko, hand balancer]], in ''Le Noir'' in Singapore (2013)
* Video: [[Irina_Naumenko_Video_(2017)|Irina Naumenko, hand balancer]], at Lone Star Circus in Moody Gardens (2017)

==Image Gallery==

<Gallery>
File:Naumenko_Portrait.jpeg|Irina Naumenko
File:Naumenko_in_Noir.jpeg|Irina Naumenko (2013)
</Gallery>

==External Link==

* [http://www.irinanaumenko.com www.irinanaumenko.com]

[[Category:Artists and Acts|Naumenko, Irina]][[Category:Hand Balancers|Naumenko, Irina]][[Category:Contortionists|Naumenko, Irina]]

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