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What They Were Thinking

What They Were Thinking: In the Big Apple Circus

Anna Volodko, 21, performing in the Big Apple Circus at City Hall Plaza, April 8, 2012.Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff/Boston Globe

Every Sunday, Boston Globe photographer Stan Grossfeld asks the subject of one of his photos to explain what's happening in the shot.

Who's up today: Anna Volodko, 21, performed in the Big Apple Circus at City Hall Plaza, April 8, 2012.

Volodko: “I’ve done this more than 1,000 times. I was thinking I wanted to show myself nicely, to make this move beautiful so that people could enjoy my performance. I go up there and do these drops with the rope and I hope that people shout, that they love it. When I started as an aerialist, it was scary. Now it’s fine. There is no net, no security. My life is in my hands. I fell once when I was starting but there was a mat there. It’s really dangerous. If I think about other things, it would be too dangerous. There’s a lot of rope burns. It’s not comfortable to have the long hair when I’m performing because it gets in my eyes. But it is my natural color - I’m a real blonde and I use it like a prop to be really special. The audience is always different because of their mood. I like Boston audiences; there’s more applause than in Russia. They’re more critical. When I finish and go backstage, I’m happy and proud if I made the audience happy. It’s a great feeling. If they don’t clap and I made a mistake, I’m angry.’’

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