An Olympian, a Gator alumna and now an Amazonian ninja, 23-year-old gymnast Marissa King has tumbled into her dream job.
After five years studying, training and competing at UF, King landed a role in Cirque du Soleil’s new traveling production, Amaluna, in October, leaving her post-graduate job in Houston to train at its headquarters in Montreal.
“The stuff they do here is unbelievable,” she said almost six weeks into her training. “It makes me so proud, so honored to be a part of such an incredible company.”
She started the tour in Miami on Friday, gearing up to start performing this coming weekend as one of the ninjas and joining Gator alumni Nicola Willis, Corey Hartung and Melanie Sinclair in the Cirque du Soleil company.
With makeup tutorials and voice, cue and choreography classes, she said life as a Cirque du Soleil artist is not what she’s used to as an elite gymnast.
“You have to learn to act and be your character on stage,” she said. “It takes a lot of energy, a lot of practice. So not only is it just the acrobatic aspect. There’s a lot more that goes into becoming a Cirque du Soleil artist.”
Originally from Cambridge, England, King started gymnastics when she was 8 years old and began climbing the elite-gymnast ladder when she moved to the Huntingdon Olympic Gymnastics Club at 11.
She made the British national team at age 15, and in 2008 represented Great Britain in the Summer Olympics in Beijing. King competed in the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship before joining The Gator Nation on a scholarship in January 2010.
King said joining UF’s team was a great opportunity to come to America, get a degree and do a sport she loves every day.
“It’s a big deal when you’re in England, saying you’re going to a Florida school,” she said. “Everyone knows where that is.”
She won the vault national championship her sophomore year at UF, but the team didn’t advance to the Super Six team final.
They turned things around her junior year, when they came in second at nationals behind Alabama.
That hunger and drive to win fueled the team the next year, her senior year. Then, the UF women’s gymnastics team won its first national championship as a team.
“Going to the Olympics was great, but going to the national championship after the history that I’ve had at Florida, with the buildup of the team, was just as great,” she said.
King stayed a fifth year to finish her telecommunication degree to add to her geography major. In that time, she acted as an assistant coach, and the team won its second national championship.
After graduating in July, King accepted a job as an associate producer for a sports broadcasting company in Houston, Texas, where she got a taste of the working world and realized it wasn’t for her.
She worked there from August to October, still hoping she’d hear from Cirque du Soleil, where she auditioned in 2011.
“Everyone always said I’d do well (in Cirque du Soleil),” she said. “It was a new goal — something I wanted to work for. Gave me excitement in thinking about it.”
She received an email from Cirque du Soleil in the middle of October asking her to perform in the uneven bar act in Amaluna, where she’ll be wearing a red and black costume accessorized with a head piece.
“I cried of excitement,” she said. “I said, ‘Absolutely, I’ll take it.’”
The news was announced at the Gators gymnastics team banquet.
“I’ve seen her grow, which is an amazing thing for me,” said UF gymnastics assistant to the head coach Ashley Kerr.
Kerr was with her as a teammate, coach and best friend, King said.
“This is what she’s made for, to be up there and performing, showing off her skill,” Kerr said. “Not only incredibly talented, but she works incredibly hard. I’m glad she’s living her dream right now. It’s really great to see.”
As King settles into her six-month contract, she said she hopes to be extended to the European tour.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 12/7/2014]
UF alumna and former Gator gymnast Marissa King (center) holds the 2014 National Championship trophy as the assistant coach. King joined the Cirque du Soleil Amaluna tour Friday and will begin performing this coming weekend.
