By NOEL MURPHY
CIRQUE du Soleil star and Olympic athlete Trudy McIntosh is heading home to Lara after almost six years touring with the internationally-acclaimed show.
A performer and strength and conditioning coach with Cirque’s Alegria troupe, Ms McIntosh is in France on a stadium tour and anxious to return home as soon as the show finishes at the end of the year.
“Alegria’s last show will be on 30 December. I’ll be on the next flight home to Geelong,” she told the Independent.
The diminutive Olympian and Commonwealth games gold medallist embarked on a major career change when she swapped the vaults and rings of gymnastics for the exquisite glamour of Cirque.
“I’ve been with Alegria for over five years now. We travel each week to a different place,” she said.
“When we started out we were under the big top, so we’d stay for one up to three months at one place. Three years ago it turned into an arena show, so each week is a new city – it’s a little bit tiring.
“With Alegria, I do an act called Power Track. It’s a combination of tumbling and gymnastics and trampolining.
“There are 14 of us on stage at one time, flipping and tumbling all the time. It’s quite powerful.”
Ms McIntosh overcame a serious knee injury from skiing before joining Cirque – after being told she’d never run again.
“Hearing those words, I couldn’t comprehend it,” she said.
“But I went through three operations and three years of rehab. It was really difficult, really painful.”
Ms McIntosh said she loved the strength and conditioning work with Cirque and working on rehabilitation with injured athletes.
“Before I joined Cirque, I was a personal trainer. I want to get back onto that.
“I’m also a yoga and Pilates teacher and want to get back to them as well.”
Ms McIntosh was uncertain what the future held but was keen to start working in Geelong again, possibly with former colleague Stoofa Lewry.
She also has to deal with the issue of a European attachment.
“Ashley, my boyfriend, lives in Denmark, so I’ll go back to Denmark.
“I’m not sure just exactly when but I’ll probably stay home for two months or so with Mum and Dad.”
