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Helena Khadikova, jigit artist, Khadikov Jigit Riders, Zippos Circus

Czech circus artist Helena Khadikova was born into the Faltynys circus family and is now one of the featured trick acrobats with the Khadikov Jigit Riders. She is married to Tamerlan Khadikov, the troupe's leader, who comes from Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city. Helena also does Western and juggling acts. This season the Khadikov Jigit Riders appear with Zippos Circus in its show Jigit, which runs at Central Park, East Ham in London from 4-9 May and tours until November. She chats to Liz and Adrian Arratoon.

The Widow Stanton: Where were you born? Helena Khadikova: My family comes from Prague but I was born here in London. My family was on tour with Gerry Cottle's Circus. They were four years on tour with just a week or two break. I was born, actually, in the caravan. I even have a British birth certificate.

What did your family do? There was a troupe that did a unicycle act, throwing knives and juggling. It was all brothers and sisters and after they got married they brought their husbands and wives into the act. In 1994, my parents split up and started to work on their own. The troupe has continued and they're working in England now at Planet Circus OMG!. My uncle is there as well. My parents continue to work in the circus but they're in the Czech Republic this year. And my brother, Jindra, is also in the circus. He’s 17 now and is continuing the Faltynys tradition.

When did you start performing? I was four years old. I started juggling with three rings. It wasn't that I had to perform, it was just what I liked to do. But when I was 14 or 15, it was because I had to. [Laughs] That was different because when I was a child it was just what I wanted. Every circus I worked in when it was the open days or open shows, it was nice to work.

Did you go to school? I was at school for two months in the year and the rest of the year my mother taught me.

Haven't you appeared with Zippos before? Yes, I was here in 2007 with my family, my parents, who did a Western act. My brother was a small child that time. I was doing a juggling act with footballs. I changed my costume for different places, a Chelsea dress, Manchester United…

How did you meet your husband? We were working in a park in Holland in 2013, similar to Disneyland. I was there with my parents and he was there with his parents and their troupe. We started a relationship but we still didn't live together or work together. I did my thing, he did his thing. Then in 2014, we started to live together.

Has jigit always been in his family? His father was a jigit or Cossack rider and he brought Tamerlan up doing the same so he could continue with it.

So who is in the troupe at the moment? Me and my husband, my mother-in-law, Rimma Khadikova, and two other male riders. We try to keep the same line-up but we may change the riders every two or three years depending on whether they want to stop or continue. Normally we'd be six or seven in the troupe but now it's getting difficult with the paperwork. My mother-in-law is very important. She stands in the middle and directs the horses. She's really good but she hasn't always done it. My father-in-law did it but he died. He'd just look at the horses and they knew they had to work. When she looks at them, they're like, 'I will do what I want'. But the rider also has to talk to the horse. I talk to mine. I sit on him but I tell him to go faster, or encourage him. I talk to him and although he may not understand the words he understands the intention.

How many horses have you got? We have five at the moment but normally we need six, so we'll by one here in England as soon as possible.

Is it unusual for a woman to do the trick riding? Yes, it is and I am the first woman in the history of jigit to do the five high. Here we don't have enough people. It's not so easy to do it. We might do it for a festival but even that doesn't always work because as soon as my daughter, Diana, was born, I got a bit worried because I don't use any safety devices and it's not so safe.

At Christmas we saw the Assa Troupe of jigit riders perform in Girona. They are all women with one man. So we were excited when we found out you were actually performing at Zippos as a featured rider. Could you ride a horse before you joined the troupe? Yes, I could ride a horse but not like this. [Laughs] Just for fun. It's a funny story; my husband never wanted to have girls riding a horse in the troupe. He said it didn't look so nice because every girl we saw doing it always looked scared and as if she was thinking too hard about how to do it. Then we had a contract for seven people, but one of the men couldn't come for some reason. They all need visas and I don't need one, so I said, 'Let's try it'. He said: "OK, we don't have any other option because we can't lose the contract and we need to be there with seven riders." So from that time I started and everybody loves it even more and they say: "Oh, she's good!" My husband does the most difficult tricks but he's a man, but when I hang from my leg, they say: "Oh, it's fantastic!" and he says: "Oh, I never wanted you in the act but now it's…" [Laughs]

How long did it take to learn? I'm still practising now, to be honest, but it was three or four months before I could do it. It depends, if somebody is scared, it takes longer. It's also important to get a connection with the horse. You saw that I just ride one horse. That's my horse. I don't change horses because I don't trust them and they don't trust me. My husband was born into it; he doesn't care which horse he sits on but I'm not like that. I worry; I know my horse and we trust each other, so I'm not afraid, but if Tamerlan told me to go and practise on the brown one, I would have to but I wouldn't like it.

Explain jigit for someone who hasn't seen it. I say I'm an acrobat on a horse because it’s the easiest thing. If I say Cossack or jigit they don't understand.

We should add that the horses are galloping round the ring… Yes, and that's even slow for us. We have a faster tempo normally. I can feel it if they're going slow because the faster they go the easier it is actually.

Which is your hardest trick? Hanging from one foot? The hardest for me was the five [third photo], but this I don't do any more. The hanging is the hardest. After Diana was born it was not so easy for me to pull myself back up on to the horse again. The funny thing is if the horse is sleepy I get up earlier. When he's galloping the movement helps me, but if he gets scared by somebody in the audience, he breaks his tempo, and I have to get back up full power. You also have to have strong arms because you have to pull yourself up.

How long after you'd had Diana were you back in the ring? Three weeks afterwards. But I didn't do the hanging. That act I did after three months because I was afraid of hurting myself. I shouldn't have done anything until six weeks but three weeks after I was already doing the first tricks.

Your core muscles must be so strong… [Tests Helena's biceps and abs] You’re like a rock! We're a bit jealous… [Laughs] Yes.

Do you enjoy touring? Yes, we are good friends with everybody and three or four times a week we are training, working out, with the girls and with Emilion Delbosq; he's our leader, he's great. You can imagine, I have a small child – she's seven months old – so I'm always busy. Five horses, one dog, cook for my husband, a lot of transport for the horses, our caravan, a small truck, a small car, then make-up for three shows, shower, then still I go to train for the half an hour to lose more weight. I got back already to my performing weight but just to work out. My husband isn't really happy because he says: “If you over-train it's hard ” but he works out a lot also… but he doesn't wake up as early as me. He's gets up around 8am and my daughter wakes me up around 6-6.30am because her teeth are coming through.

You must have worked all around the world… Yes, I have worked many times in England, I spent six years in Holland with my 'old' family; I speak very good Dutch. In Germany we were every Christmas in Europa-Park, in Dresden, in Augsburg, we've been to Malaysia. Then we performed at the Massy Festival in France, where we won bronze, and in Cirque Éducatif and we won gold. That was with my 'new' family.

So your whole life you've been in the circus. Do you have a base anywhere? Yes, we have a home 20km from Prague. We have a big farm where the horses have their own stables and we have a house with a lot of space. My daughter, was born at home and after two weeks we came to the circus and after three weeks I start. The boys are with us there; sometimes they go home for one or two years, sometimes they stay with us.

What has been the highlight of your career? I was six years in the park and to be honest it did nothing for me. I did my job but it was always in one place. I love circus and travelling; I love it. I can't be in one place for long. If it's one week, two weeks, OK. But like one year, two years? [huffs] I get crazy. I'm not used to it. And in Scandinavia when we were working with Cirkus Arnardo we travelled every day; every day putting up and pulling down this big tent.

You’re amazing! Thank you very much.

Helena appears in Zippos Circus with the Khadikov Jigit Riders at Central Park, East Ham, London from 4-9 May 2017 and at Brockwell Park, London from 11-16 May. Zippos is on tour until November.

For Zippos Circus tour dates and tickets click here

Picture credits: Piet-Hein Out; Francois Dehurtevent

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#contortionist #gold suit #bottle #zippos circus #red #white #gold #black #purple