Denise Mirzoeva says she was six years old when her mother, who owned her acrobatics gym, met her stepfather Azer Mirzoev, who was a professional coach specialising in art forms such as ballet, acrobatics, gymnastics, and figure skating. “His history is impressive, he even danced Swan Lake and The Nutcracker the the Russian Ballet Theatre. Azer brought his international teaching techniques to our little gym in South Africa and it was very successful,” Denise says.

“We mostly trained in school halls and even though the equipment had to be taken down after each session, it did not stop us. We trained four hours a day and being the coach’s daughter, I had to do extra work at home even during the holidays. I must say the elephants and giraffes in the background made training fun,” she said. She did performances with two other acrobats. “I was at the top of the pyramids doing air flips and spins.

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Being at the top requires a strict diet, while my partners had to eat beef to get strong, I had to live on fruit, vegetables, and boiled chicken. “No sugar, no sweets, not even a sandwich, but the sacrifice was worth it!” She said the trio quickly climbed the ranks in acrobatics and received provincial and South African colours. “We had our setbacks, I broke my leg and tore my ligaments twice before the South African championships, but we always managed to achieve gold,” she added.

They decided to participate internationally, and they went on to compete all over the globe, including Russia, Hungary and Scotland among others. “Our final stretch of competing was the world championships that were held in Germany. Preparing for the championship, I had to be taken out of school for two years, as I had to train eight hours a day, every day of the week. “It was hard work, there were times I felt like I wanted to quit.

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We did participate and came 14th, but the experience was life-changing,” says Denise. She hung up her acrobatic shoes and started to study to become a game ranger following her passion for wildlife. “I never thought I would go back to sport but after my first child, I had to leave the long nights and early mornings in the tourism industry to be a mom. This forced me to find a job closer to home with more flexible hours, so I started coaching gymnastics and finally opened my gym called Eli Circus School.”

Their first public appearance was at the Eisteddfod, where only a couple of the senior students performed. When Eva Gardner from the ballet school contacted her to perform with her and a couple of other great coaches in a fundraiser for Paws, they jumped at it. “The students were amazing showing off their talents that many people have only seen on TV or in the circus,” she said. My journey was difficult, stressful, life-changing, fun, and rewarding. It got me where I am today, and I would not change a minute,” she concludes.