Adela Horňanská

My life was fairly normal, until I was chosen from over 500 circus artists from around the world for a casting with the Czech circus company Cirk La Putyka.

I don’t think I am the only one who, with bated breath, watched the shows of Cirque du Soleil (Cirque du Soleil) on television. I must have been about 5–6 years old when I saw their first performance, and since then I haven’t missed a single show. Circus acrobats became my role models, but in Trenčín, where I grew up, my opportunities were limited – so I became a gymnast and a dancer.

At university, alongside studying languages, I became an actress, but everyone knew that my true domain was telling stories through movement and that contemporary circus was perfect for this. I started with hula-hooping and later moved on to a much larger hoop – the cyrwheel. I practised it recreationally for two years, until the year 2023 and the unexpected casting for Cirk La Putyka, a company I had admired for a long time. So I had to seize this opportunity. To my surprise, I received an email from the director Rostislav Novák Jr., saying he wanted to meet me in person.

I spent three intense but inspiring casting days in Prague at Jatka 78, and surrounded by graduates of circus schools, it was clear that I couldn’t compete with them. Right after the casting came the crucial decision: if I wanted to be like them, I had to study at a circus school.

I then returned to Barcelona, where I was accepted into the Rogelio Rivel circus school. Thanks to this, I added a few other circus disciplines to my cyrwheel technique, such as acrobatics, trampoline, handstands, and hair suspension.

And that is the story of how, thanks to one single opportunity, I believed that my long-standing dream could still become a reality.