Titarenko is the extraordinarily athletic acrobat who performs the female role in  Totem's Rings Trio act, in which she soars over the heads of the crowd up to 12 metres in the air.

Watching her, you'd never guess she's afraid of heights, and that she prefers not to know her exact distance from the ground when she's working aloft.

Speaking to S during rehearsals for Totem, Ukrainian-born Titarenko revealed her latest height-related anxiety: watching her 10-year-old daughter, Alisa, perform aerial acts.

"She came on tour with the show last year and took circus lessons," says Titarenko. "And she excels at aerial. She likes it best, which is unfortunate for me! I am terrified to watch her up there. I'm saying: 'hold on! Don't let go!' It's very different when it's your child doing the things that you do."

Alisa, says Titarenko, does not share the fear that causes her mother to avoid roller coasters and bungee jumps and even, sometimes, to close her eyes during her spectacular  Totem   performances. "She thinks it's embarrassing," says the 34-year-old veteran of four Cirque shows.

Titarenko's mother wanted to be a trapeze artist, but became a fashion designer instead. "She was able to realise her acrobatic dreams through me," says the performer, who is also an international bodybuilding champion. Now the next generation looks set to take the high road, too. " I will support her of course, all the way," says Titarenko. 'Although my heart will be pounding and I will be praying!"

TOTEM is at The Showring, Moore Park, from Oct 28  to Jan 4.