Sacha and Melinda Pavlata are happy to announce the opening of Moody Street Circus on Moody Street in Waltham, MA: finally a 'stable' circus home where they can share their international family legacies of belly dance and circus arts with children and adults of all of all ages!
Sacha and Melinda both grew up in the circus: Sacha's circus heritage goes back 5 generations on both sides - he was born in a traveling wooden circus wagon and grew up performing a variety of acts with his family in Big Tops all over Europe and North Africa. Sacha has since performed nearly every act in the circus you can imagine -- from horses to high wire and everything in between. Sacha was a circus star and tentmaster of Big Apple Circus in the 1980s, then went on to co-found and star in Circus Flora in St. Louis. He has delighted audiences around the world with his astonishing & dynamic cloud swing act. SachaFACTS: Sacha trained Cirque du Soleil circus stars in their fledgling first season. He was part of the extraordinary Flying Wallenda team that won a Silver Clown at the Festival du Cirque in Monte Carlo. Sacha appeared as Antonio in the major motion picture Big Top Pee Wee (and you can catch him in unicycle action in the movie version of Annie as well). 
Melinda 'Melina' grew up belly dancing and Greek Folk dancing with her mother Rhea of Greece and sister Piper in tavernas in Athens, Greece and performing in the San Francisco-based Pickle Family Circus ring (where her father was songwriter/bandleader, and her step-mother was juggler and actress/acrobat). Melinda also loved academic pursuits and with the support of her family, successfully juggled her school work with her circus life (it helps to know how to juggle - you can keep many balls in the air without losing your focus!) -- however, after receiving her PhD as a Ben Franklin Fellow in medieval French literature from the University of Pennsylvania and teaching as an adjunct professor of French at Boston College, Melinda decided to commit herself full-time to the creative and independent-minded circus and belly dance life: as an adult Melinda is on the faculty at Kripalu Center of Yoga and Health and is invited around the world as ' Melina of Daughters of Rhea' to teach her empowering, joyful brand of Greco-Turkish style belly dance. It was when she toured as dancer, choreographer and aerialist with Circus Flora that she and Sacha met and fell in love.
Sacha and Melinda have since toured the globe - Singapore, Taiwan, New Zealand, Greece, Germany, Italy - with their daring and romantic static trapeze duet, Sacha's dashing cloud swing act, Melinda's emotive lyra dance and sword-on-dagger balance, and with the Flying Wallendas, where Sacha assists in the formation of their legendary 7 person pyramid on the high wire. Together, Sacha and Melinda founded Cirque Passion, a European family circus with a humanitarian spirit, and adopted their beautiful baby tent from France, a transformative chapiteau de joie for performers and audience alike.
Sacha and Melinda have taught children and adults circus and dance around the world. Their warmth, circus know-how and technical expertise have made them popular and sought-after teachers wherever they go. Sacha was on the faculty at the Ecole Nationale du Cirque in Paris, France before being invited to the Big Apple Circus in the 80s where he starred and trained students including the Back Street Flyers, an inner city troupe he took all the way to France for championship competition. Sacha went on to co-found and run Circus Flora's School of Circus Arts in St. Louis and trained the cast of Broadway's Barnum as well as its international touring actors. He coached the circus acts in the development of Cirque du Soleil's very first season. Sacha (and Melinda) have taught sold-out circus camps at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) in St Louis for over twenty years. They are very happy to finally create their own school at Moody Street Circus.
A Circus Tale....
Our full and glorious circus story is posted on our Cirque Passion website, www.cirquepassion.com -- suffice it to say that we are dedicated to the circus life, to sharing circus skills safely with our students, and to living life with joy to the fullest. The photo above was taken at our (no kidding!) Ancient Greek wedding in Athens, Greece, where Melinda's mother, the legendary belly dance matriarch Rhea of Greece, lives.
Cirque Passion Tent
This is our European circus tent, the most magical, beautiful, elegant little tent in the world. (Gorgeous photo by Patty Wright Ferrini). We have put up our tent for special events including circus shows that help to raise money for Lou Gehrig's disease research (ALS-TDI), for circus weddings (fun!) and we share our tent with other circuses like Amazing Grace Circus! in Nyack, NY so that they might have a tent to call home.
Cirque Passion Trapeze Duet
This picture was taken at the Baltimore Museum of Art BellyPalooza theatre show - it is the opening scene of Sacha and Melinda's artistic trapeze duet. We love to work together upside down in the air.
Melinda Melina Pavlata's Sword and Dagger Dance Act
Melinda Melina is the only belly dancer in the world to perform this daring sword on dagger balancing act - a dance that takes its inspiration from the point to point sword balancing acts of Europe. Melinda Melina has presented her dancing and circus fusion at prestigious venues around the world, but the most meaningful place she performs is in her own Cirque Passion circus tent. With the establishment of Moody Street Circus, perhaps we'll be seeing her tent up right here on Moody Street! Melinda loves to find new ways to thoughtfully (and entertainingly) hone and fuse her crafts, and to find new places to pitch her circus tent and bring circus arts to the center ring.
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