NICOLE KOLEV

My favourite part of being an artist is the connection with art. We create art with our bodies every day, and I get to do what I love every single day.

Nicole Kolev, a spirited 23-year-old Italian acrobat, wows audiences in Las Vegas with her hand-to-hand performances in Cirque du Soleil's Mystère. Growing up in the circus world, she inherited her athletic prowess from her Bulgarian gymnast father and her passion for performance from her Italian lion trainer mother. Alongside her sister Michelle, Nicole achieved a career milestone by winning the gold medal at the International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo, the most prestigious circus competition in the world.

Can you walk us through a regular day for you?

My daily routine is both simple and busy. Mornings offer a precious window of free time, which I usually spend stretching or enjoying activities with my family. My sister and I then head to work at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. We start with an hour-long make-up session followed by hairstyling. We warm up an hour before the show begins. We perform two shows each day, making for long days at Cirque du Soleil. After the second show, we dive into our regular workouts or hand-to-hand training. Finally, we head home to unwind with a shower, dinner, and some well-deserved sleep.

When did you start partnering in hand-to-hand training with your sister?

We began hand-to-hand training when I was 14 and Michelle was 17. Both of us had been practising handstands since we were 8 years old but had no plans to create a hand-to-hand act together until our parents performed their flying trapeze act in Spain. There, we met an elderly man who used to perform hand-to-hand with his brother. He inspired us to create our own act, became our first teacher, and provided us with our 'hand-to-hand foundations'. We trained with him for about a month during our contract in Spain.

After that, while our parents worked across Europe, we tried to continue training online with his support, which was challenging without his physical presence. Over the next three years, we trained with two other teachers we met during our work journey, both with hand-to-hand expertise. They helped us complete our act, which we first performed on 18 November 2018, in Paris. Developing our act took four years, and without the guidance of our teachers and parents, we wouldn't have made it. We are forever grateful to them.

How does one start to build trust in a partner if you want to become a performing duet?

The truth is, our bond and trust have grown with us over time, through experience. We're really close sisters, and this really helps us in our act because the backstage relationship you have can completely impact your performance. With experience, my sister and I have learned how to handle life's ups and downs, and we try not to let them affect us on stage.

How do you and your sister prepare right before going on stage? Is it a joint process for the two of you?

Michelle and I are together in the same physical environment just before going on stage, but each of us is in our own thoughts, each with our own preparation. My ritual to stay calm is to connect with my spiritual side. I take deep breaths, focus on the present, and speak positive, motivational words to myself.

Do you practise other sports/disciplines in your free time?

I enjoy sports, but I don't practise any other disciplines than hand-to-hand training. In my free time, I like to focus on improving my handstand skills and avoiding further strain on my body and possible injuries. Every day we do two shows five days a week, and in addition, we have several weekly training sessions.

Do you have any non-diet-related wellness practices you incorporate into your daily life?

Every day, I try to improve my internal dialogue and maintain a positive outlook on everyday life. Being a positive person helps in life and in any work we do. I've always had a habit of being very self-critical, even during the years when I trained hand-to-hand every day. I rarely celebrated my achievements but was always quick to criticise myself for every small mistake, which isn't a constructive mentality. We should never criticise ourselves when we're always trying to do our best. It took me years to understand this, and now it's something I try to practise in all aspects of my life, not just at work. A simple exercise I follow daily is this: when a negative thought—whether directed towards myself, another person, or a situation—appears in my mind, I try to identify it and analyse it. Once I can identify it, I’m also able to change it, and turn it into something more positive. 

What makes a performance particularly more enjoyable? And what is your favourite thing about the lifestyle of a circus artist?

A really cheering audience makes you enjoy your performance even more. It's such a beautiful feeling when you can hear their appreciation for what you do on stage. My favourite part of being an artist is the connection with art. We create art with our bodies every day, and I get to do what I love every single day. I think that we physical performers who love our work are very communicative with our bodies. I’m personally not the best with words but I like to create and express myself through movement.

As a performing duet, how do you approach creativity for your acts?

Our goal has always been to inspire girls around the world to follow their dreams and prove that we women have the same strength as men. That thought was always what inspired us to create our act. We love every type of art, like photography, paintings, landscapes, and the experiences we live every day become our sources of inspiration for the future. The fact that our parents were artists helped us become more complete artists. They taught us discipline, consistency, and respect for this profession. Without them, we wouldn't be the artists we are now.

How do you deal with things not going according to plan while performing?

There are two types of things that can go wrong on stage: things you can't control, like lights going out or the wrong music playing, and mistakes we make as artists. In hand-to-hand, for example, a mistake is when the flyer (that's me) falls, whether it's my sister's mistake as the base or mine. The only thing you can do is move forward and continue the act, try not to think about the mistake or get angry. I always tell myself that we are not machines, but just human beings always trying to do our best, and we have to accept that sometimes we can't be perfect.

Can you share a particularly memorable moment in your career?

The most memorable moment of my career was participating in and winning the gold award at the International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo. For those like me who were born in the circus, participating in this event is like achieving the greatest goal of your career, it's a very big thing. My sister and I prepared physically to improve every little detail of our performance. I also chose to follow a path of mental coaching to better prepare myself mentally. Over those months, I focused on building self-confidence so that I could trust in myself and my abilities. I trained my mind with meditation and positive self-talk to manage situations that caused me anxiety and nervousness at work.

Looking at the other side of the coin, what was a difficult period in your career that you had to overcome?

I think the most difficult moment of my career was in the early years when I struggled to understand how to deal with mistakes, resolve them, and especially manage emotions in front of the public when something unexpected happened.

What advice would you give to other performers regarding health and injury prevention based on your experiences?

Take care of your body. Maintain a healthy diet and consider incorporating supplements that help our bodies perform the amazing things we do as artists. Another very important thing is to adequately warm up the body before each performance; there isn't a day that we don't do it. It's a step too important for us.

Find Nicole on Instagram