| The Family |
As his protege, Tino once engineered many of the riggings for his grandfather's famous sky walks. Now he engineers his own as he and his family log thousands of miles 8 to 10 months out of the year as they perform with various circuses, festivals, celebrations, fairs and special events. Tino started on the wire at the age of 7 when his grandfather Karl took him into the circus backyard, put the balance-pole in his hands, taught him how to place his feet and how to control his body and where to focus his eyes. At the age of 12 he made his first crossing on the wire 35 feet off the ground. At 17 Tino became a full fledged member of the Great Wallenda troupe. For several years, he toured with and under the tutelage of his grandfather. With his wife Olinka, also a sixth generation performer whose family roots were that of aerial performances and high wire, Tino set off to establish his own unique tightrope presentation. Before Karl's death, Tino did return to work under his grandfather's leadership in recreating the 7-Person Pyramid and was supervising a second unit Wallenda troupe in the northwest when the elder Wallenda met with his untimely death. Some of the feats Tino has accomplished in his career on the wire are walking over lions, tigers and man eating sharks; walking between buildings, over rivers and a waterfall. His highest walk was 179 feet in the air over Denver and 3,300 feet in length Olinka, a native of Czechoslovakia, has proven herself to be an accomplished performer and aerialist. Descended from an honored and well-respected circus family, the Valla-Bertinis, she has excelled in a variety of circus arts including trapeze, unicycling, and balancing on her head on a trapeze as it spins and descends to the earth. She holds a record in the Guinness Book of Records for a unique walk she did upside down suspended only by her toes! Several years ago she was honored by a popular magazine as being one of the 100 Best Wives of All Time! Tino would also add to the award the title Best Mother. Together they have 4 children - Alida, Andrea, Aurelia & Alessandro - all of whom actively perform on the high wire. After a celebrated career performing with Tino on the wire she no
The Seventh Generation Alida - Tino and Olinka's oldest daughter. She has been performing in the circus since she was four and on the wire with her parents since she was only eight. Her circus skills include bareback riding on horses, trapeze, Spanish web, unicycles and the Cloudswing. Alida made her Sky Walk debut when she crossed over a man-made lake in Houston on the wire. Now the mother of 2, Ysabella and Lukas, she continues her career in the circus adding the Andrea began performing when she was four years old and started in the high wire act at the age of nine. She has been featured as the top mounter of the bicycle pyramid sitting and standing on the chair. Officially retired at this time, she has left performing on the wire for the more challenging duty of raising her 2 children, Zaira and Michael.
Alessandro made his first appearance with his family when he was less than two years old. At the age of 7, he made his debut on the wire in St. Louis where he crossed a span of over 30 feet. When asked when he planned to do this feat again, his reply was, "Every show from now on!" To his credit, Alex has the distinction of being the youngest wire Sacha Pavlata. A fifth generation performer of an esteemed circus family, Sacha has headed up the Big Apple Circus School and Circus Flora's circus school since coming to the U.S. He has appeared in the motion pictures Big Top Pee Wee and Annie and trained Michael Crawford, Jim Dale, Stacy Keach, and Tony Orlando in circus arts for their roles in Barnum on the London and Broadway stages. He holds the base level, third position in The Seven. Robinson Cortes - A third generation circus performer and native of Columbia, Robinson is no stranger to heights and Trevor McNabb is the newest member of the troupe. Trevor and Alex (Wallenda) became friends growing up together in Rietta - 6th Generation Wallenda and occasional guest performer with the Wallenda family, began performing on the high wire with her grandfather Karl and the Great Wallendas at age 13 in New Orleans. Rietta has had a multifaceted career, adding to her talents on the wire by performing daring feats on the Sway Pole. She doubled for Cathy Rigby in the chair position at the top of the pyramid Lyric - 7th Generation Wallenda, Rietta's daughter. Lyric began performing in the air on the Spanish Web at age five
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