Russian Strongman Finds Refuge — and a New Act — in Vermont

From left: Terri Conti, Woody Keppel, Yuri Alekhin and Allan Nichols Credit: Luke Awtry

Yuri Alekhin held a long metal pole with one meaty hand and slid it between his legs. He bent at the waist and gripped the pole on either side of his thick right leg — picture a tree trunk wrapped in denim. He took a deep breath and, with a bearlike grunt, began to pull.

Using the back of his upper thigh as a fulcrum, Alekhin bent one end of the pole upward in three great heaves. By the last, it had gone from straight to a 90-degree angle. He held the pole aloft, inspected his work and folded the bent piece the rest of the way over as if it were a foam pool noodle.

Alekhin then dropped to one knee, braced a straight length of the pole against the other knee and bent it backward in one fluid pull. In about 45 seconds, he’d transformed the sturdy six-foot pipe — roughly half a foot shorter than Alekhin himself — into scrap-metal origami.

“That was easy,” the burly Russian said in a heavy accent, noting almost apologetically that the pipe was hollow. “Rebar is much harder.”

Most mere mortals will have to take his word for it. Alekhin, 43, is a renowned Russian strongman and one of only a handful of humans on the planet who could mangle a piece of steel as handily as he did Woody Keppel‘s poor fence pole last week in Charlotte. Not that Keppel minded. Alekhin, all 360 pounds of him, is the new star of the vaudeville-inspired shows that sixtysomething Keppel organizes as leader of the Hokum Bros., a Vermont musical comedy group noted for kitschy original folk and blues tunes with a theatrical flair.

Vermont audiences will get their first real taste of Alekhin and the Hokums together this weekend at the Fools Block Party in downtown Burlington, a scaled-down version of the annual Festival of Fools street performance fair that Keppel cofounded. They’ll perform as Hokum and the Russian Strongman several times during the mini festival on Friday and Saturday, August 1 and 2.

Alekhin hails from Rostov-on-Don, a city in southwestern Russia. He’s been strong all his life, but before he started bending rebar and pulling tractors with his teeth as a circus performer, he worked for 25 years as a professional opera singer. Around the time his first daughter was born, he developed an interest in strongman stunts.

“I don’t know what happened, but you became a father and you started doing these crazy things!” Alekhin’s wife, Inga Maevskaya, recalled. Alekhin speaks limited English, so Maevskaya, a 38-year-old linguist, translated for him and answered questions on his behalf during a recent interview.

Two years ago, Alekhin was hired by Montréal-based circus company Cirque du Soleil to join its Songblazers tour, a country music-themed circus show that was to travel the U.S. extensively. His act combined strongman heroics with his musical acumen — he’s a fine guitarist as well as a world-class singer. For Alekhin, it was a dream come true.

After rehearsing in Canada, he arrived in Nashville, Tenn., for the start of the tour in June of last year. Maevskaya and their two daughters joined him in September, and the family spent the next few months traveling the southern U.S. with the circus. But in November, the show was abruptly canceled for “logistical reasons,” according to announcements from Cirque du Soleil. Because Alekhin’s legal status in the U.S. was tied to his employment with the circus, he was no longer legally allowed to be in the country and was told he and his family had a week to leave.

Returning to Russia wasn’t an option, however. Alekhin and Maevskaya have been critical of the nation’s invasion of Ukraine on social media. Opposing the war is a crime in Russia, so going home would mean risking imprisonment for treason — “for life,” Maevskaya said. She added that they have friends in Ukraine, some of whom are in the Ukrainian military, which further increases the danger of returning.

The family applied for asylum in the U.S. as political exiles, which was granted in May. They currently live in Ferrisburgh with the parents of acrobat Teo Spencer, Alekhin’s friend and Cirque du Soleil castmate.

Alekhin ripping a copy of Seven Days Credit: Luke Awtry

Alekhin entered Keppel’s orbit about a month ago — or, given Alekhin’s size, maybe it was the other way around. Keppel’s friend and “Mr. Robot” actor Jeremy Holm, who lives in Vergennes, had emailed him about the Russian giant, encouraging them to meet. When they did, Keppel invited Alekhin to join him in a show he’d booked in Burlington later that week. They spent about four hours working out material and made their informal debut together in mid-July at the Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge with the Hokums’ Terri Conti on accordion.

“It was one of those things where you’re so comfortable onstage with the people, it doesn’t matter what you do,” Keppel said. “The chemistry felt good, and we had fun.”

The strongman challenged audience members two at a time to a tug-of-war, using only one arm to best them.

For that show, they relied largely on loosely scripted slapstick-comedy bits based on Alekhin’s strongman routine. The Russian, clad in a black bowler hat and wearing his long brown-and-gray beard tied at the bottom, pounded large nails into a board with his bare hands. That’s one of his signature tricks — though he prefers to light the board on fire first. He challenged audience members two at a time to a tug-of-war, using only one arm to best them. And he tossed the wiry Keppel around like a rag doll.

The new show the duo has worked up with the Hokums for the Fools Block Party will most assuredly mine the comedy of their size disparity: Alekhin stands more than foot taller than Keppel and is nearly three times his weight. It will also include a singing performance by Alekhin with his wife and daughters, whom Keppel described as “like the Russian von Trapps.”

And if you’re lucky, you may hear Alekhin sing “Eto Zdorovo,” a mournful Russian-language song about longing, in his powerful basso profundo. Alekhin plays up his fearsome image in his act, but the song offers a glimpse into the kind and gentle soul beneath the burly surface.

Maevskaya said she and her family do miss home, and being away has been hard. “But for us it was difficult to be there, as well,” she said. “If you are against the war which your country started, and there are people who are in favor, it’s very hard to feel at home, because our core values are so different.”

“That sounds familiar,” Keppel said dryly, referring to current political divisions in this country.

Maevskaya said she and her family are grateful for the welcome they’ve received in Vermont. She’s looking for work in her field of linguistics, and the family hopes to remain in the Vergennes area if they can find a reasonably priced apartment.

After the block party, Keppel plans to take the new act on the road, with performances around Vermont and potential festival dates farther afield. They’ll likely keep adding new material along the way.

“Do you think you could lift me over your head?” Keppel asked Alekhin.

“Yes,” the Russian replied, smiling, before turning serious and shaking his head. “But I never would. Too dangerous.”

Hokum and the Russian Strongman perform at Fools Block Party, Friday, August 1, 3 to 10 p.m., and Saturday, August 2, 2 to 8 p.m., on Church Street Marketplace in Burlington. Free. vtfools.org

The original print version of this article was headlined “Strength of Conviction | Unable to return home, a Russian strongman and his family find refuge — and a new act — in Vermont”