Alesya

Alesya Sasha Fayanova is an eight-year-old Eurasian red squirrel who is the title character of her namesake series. She is a very elegant ballerina and is inspired by Ahiru from the *Princess Tutu* anime, Soo from *The Sooty Show* and the squirrel from *А что ты умеешь?* (1984). Alesya also lives in a stately three-story home called Sunnyside Cottage in the village of Hazelnut Hills. She is voiced by Lola Shepelev.

## Alesya Fayanova

### Aliases

Chérie (Susan and Poppy), Darling (Kiki), Sweetheart (Ken and Eniko), Buddy (Rachael), Madamoiselle (Susan), Princess (herself and Pixel), Cutie (herself and many others), Cheeky squirrel (Declan), Little darling (herself), Protegé (Fifi and Anastasia), Adorable squirrel (Tilly, Chisato and Haloke), My dear (Tamara), Twinkletoes (herself and Tilly)

### Relatives

Ken (father), Eniko (mother), Derek and Rodney (brothers), Miranda, Juliet, Molly and Victoria (sisters)

### Affiliation

Elmhurst Ballet School, Hippodrome Theatre, Kiki, Susan, Pixel, Poppy, Rachael, her family and people who treat her well

## Appearances

### Appears in

All episodes of the series of the same name

## Notable info

Alesya became a ballerina when she was nearly four years old and was trained by her friends Kiki Ivanova (née Ferguson), Susan Somerstein (née Renarde) and her friends including Rachael, Poppy, Vera, Paloma, Svetlana and Charlotte among others. Alesya is also a very supple contortionist who is an excellent all-rounder who mainly does frontbends, although she also does backbends, splits, twists and other contortion poses.

Alesya's mother Eniko is a famous prima ballerina who was born in northern Hazelnut Hills.

Alesya is a very skilled ballerina and has performed in notable ballets including *Swan Lake*, *The Sleeping Beauty*, *The Nutcracker* and *The Star of Granada* among others. She will sometimes curtsy at an individual when greeting them and will sometimes do a little ballet dance when she feels like it.

Unlike most other squirrels, Alesya has purring capabilities and when Alesya does purr, she sounds very similar to a kitten.

Alesya's eye colour was going to be a gradient from blue to green before becoming solid blue.

Alesya has a teddy bear called Tutu that resembles a ballerina red panda in a pink tutu.

Lola Shepelev - Alesya's actress, also voices Zephie in the UK dub of *Chuggington* starting in series six.

Alesya's snoring sounds similar to Tillie from the 1991 adaptation of *The Little Engine That Could* by Watty Piper and a Furby Boom in the hyper personality.

Alesya has a powerful air conditioner in her bedroom that she turns on every summer, and puts it on the high speed when there is a heatwave.

Alesya often wears a pink and blue bow on her head when she is doing a ballet dance.

Alesya has a beauty mark underneath her crest - the crest being the fluffy bit of fur on her head.

Alesya has also been on various amazing adventures, such as the time where she went on a lucky streak (*Lucky Alesya!*), the time when she and Skippy sailed gracefully downstream in a boat they designed for a carnival (*Two Squirrels in a Boat*), when she saw a flying saucer that was apparently piloted by extra-terrestrials (*Close Encounters of the Furred Kind*) and the time when she navigated through a whitefly swarm on her way to the ballet academy she attends, all with her roller skates on (*Whiteout*) among others.

Alesya has a few catchphrases. Two of which, being "Glistening tutus!" and "Oh, nuts!" were heard in a few early episodes. In Circus Squirrel, Alesya gained a new catchphrase, which is "Shimmering catsuits!" upon seeing Rachael, Vera, Paloma and Poppy's catsuits for the first time, as well as her own in the mirror. Another catchphrase of Alesya is "Magnifique!" which is also "magnificent" in French.

Alesya will often act in a very adorable manner, and is very sweet. Sometimes, she will even kiss somebody on the cheek or wrap her tail around somebody, especially if she's being affectionate. Alesya will also act very cute especially when she's cuddling someone or something, mainly Tutu.

One of Alesya's best friends is a young chipmunk who is named Charlotte. Alesya and Charlotte have known each other since they first met at the ballet academy in 2019, and their friendship is inspired by the friendship of Angelina Mouseling and Alice Nimbletoes in the *Angelina Ballerina* franchise.

Alesya is loosely inspired by Angelina Mouseling, the title character of the *Angelina Ballerina* franchise, only that Angelina is a mouse and Alesya is a squirrel.

## Talents

Alesya has quite a few talents. The most notable ones being her amazing skill at ballet dancing and that she can do contortion.

Ballet dancing: Alesya is a very skilled ballerina and has the ability to do multiple glissadés and grand jetés in quick succession, which is something that she inherited from Marie, her grandmother. She also has the ability to do 32 fouettés in quick succession while staying in the same spot, which was inspired by the famous prima ballerina Pierina Legnani. Alesya is easily recognizable by her iconic ballet costume which consists of a blue leotard with a white "pancake-like" tutu skirt, white tights and blue ballet pointes, even though she also wears differently-coloured tutus with matching pointes including a violet one in *Alesya at the Fair*, a white one in *Prima Ballerina Kiki*, a pink one in *Lucky Alesya!* and a neon blue one in *Picture This!* among others. Alesya also wears a pink and blue bow on her head when she is wearing her tutu or wearing her dress.

Contortion: Alesya is as flexible as her friends Vera, Paloma, Charlotte and Svetlana, and is an all-rounder when she does contortion, even though her acts comprise mostly of frontbends and torso twists with some backbending and other contortion poses added in. Alesya wears a blue nylon catsuit when doing contortion.

Gymnastics: Alesya is very acrobatic and can do a handstand, especially on one hand only for about ten minutes. She can even do flips, somersaults and can even balance on her tail. She wears a light blue long-sleeved leotard when doing gymnastics.

Swimming: Alesya is a very good swimmer and wears a turquoise one-piece swimsuit when swimming. Her favourite style is synchronized swimming, although she also does swim around. She can also hold her breath underwater for 15 minutes whether she is stationary or on the move.

Yoga: Alesya is very good at yoga, meaning that she can do some impressive poses with ease. Alesya wears a pastel blue tube top and pastel blue yoga trousers when doing yoga, although she also wears her swimsuit or her catsuit.

## Personality

Alesya is a very sweet, civilized, almost princess-like squirrel and is a very easy individual to make friends with. When greeting an individual, Alesya will curtsy at said individual like the refined squirrel she is. Alesya is a great friend to everyone she knows, even her friends at the ballet academy she goes to. Even though she can be a really busy squirrel when preparing for one of her ballet performances at the theatre or one of her contortion acts at the circus, and especially when she is choreographing her ballet dances, Alesya is still good at heart and makes a great friend to anyone who attends the ballet academy. When doing ballet, Alesya stays focused and times her moves perfectly when dancing on stage. Even though she is of a young age, Alesya has mastered pointe techniques. Alesya is really cute, even if some people can't handle just how adorable she is, or can barely handle it. She is also a very calm and collected squirrel since her personality is inspired by Soo from *The Sooty Show* and its various incarnations.