Diana and Yury

DIANA ALESCHENKO & YURY SHAVRO - Unicycle Adagio

By Dominique Jando

Yury Shavro was born on June 6, 1973 in Zaporojie, Ukraine. Ukraine was then part of the Soviet Union, and Yury has a Russian citizenship. At age nine, he enrolled in the Youth Circus of Prilyki, where he began serious circus training: in the Soviet Union, youth circuses—or “amateur circuses,” as they were called—trained their students at a level quite unheard of in Europe and North America. He remained at the Youth Circus until 1989. The follwing year, he was accepted into the State Circus College of Kiev, the second most important circus school in Soviet Russia (after the one in Moscow). He graduated in 1994 as an acrobat on unicycle.

Diana Aleschenko was born on September 4, 1975 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia (although she is citizen of Ukraine). In 1986-87, she studied ballet in Moscow, but found her true vocation at the Youth Circus of Kiev, which she joined in 1988. Four years later, she was accepted at the State Circus College of Kiev, where she graduated in 1994 as a hand-balancer and an acrobat on unicycle. While studying in Kiev, she met Yury.

In 1995, Yury and Diana went together to Moscow, where they joined the Circus Studio of Valentin Gneushev, at Circus Nikulin on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. They developed an remarkable acrobatic adagioAcrobatic act, generally involving a man and a woman, presented in a slow or romantic mood. on unicycle and performed it for the first time at Circus Nikulin the following year. In 1996, they participated in the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris, where their act won them a Gold Medal. They were also awarded a Silver Medal at the International Circus Festival of Wuhan, China.

These achievements heralded the beginning of a brilliant international career. Diana & Yury have performed in all sorts of venues, from the large circus ring of Circus Krone in Munich to the small stages of varieté(German, from the French: ''variété'') A German variety show whose acts are mostly circus acts, performed in a cabaret atmosphere. Very popular in Germany before WWII, Varieté shows have experienced a renaissance since the 1980s. theaters. They have been featured in practically every major German varieté(German, from the French: ''variété'') A German variety show whose acts are mostly circus acts, performed in a cabaret atmosphere. Very popular in Germany before WWII, Varieté shows have experienced a renaissance since the 1980s. house: TigerPalast in Frankfurt; the WinterGarten in Berlin; the GOP Varieté of Essen, Hanover, and Bad Oeynhausen—to mention only a few.

Diana & Yury have also been featured at Circus Monti and Circus Conelli in Switzerland, Circus Sarrasani in Germany, and most recently in the Cirque du Soleil production of Kooza. They have also appeared on many European TV shows and in a host of corporate and special events, from the Tour de France to the Deutsch Bank Gala.

See Also

• Video: Diana & Yury