The Women of Circus Artemis Portland, OR

The Women of Circus Artemis!

Taking a cue from a legendary “strong woman,” Portland’s most powerful, most talented female circus artists have united under a common goal.

Circus Artemis features the absolute finest female circus acts Portland has to offer, and it all takes place in a unique, supportive atmosphere where women artists can shine.

A-WOL Dance Collective (Aerial Without Limits) seeks to liberate audiences from traditional ideas of what it means to dance. Mingling the worlds of dance and aerial, they ignite a wonder and curiosity for what can happen when a human body takes flight. The physicality of their movement both on the floor and in the air conveys striking fearlessness and unmistakable rigor. http://www.awoldance.org (performed: 2009 & 2010)

Brittany Walsh competed nationally and internationally at gymnastics for 12 years. That segued into work with Do Jump! Extremely Physical Theatre, where she was been a company member and teacher since the fall of 2005. With Do Jump!, new avenues of physicality and creativity opened for her through dance, acrobatics, and work on various aerial apparatus. She has especially developed a passion for hand balancing and has been performing as a solo artist since 2006. Brittany can be seen performing at various fairs, festivals, corporate events, and theater venues nationwide. http://acrobritt.blogspot.com/ (performed: 2009 & 2010)

Daniela Steiner and Kyoko Uchida have been performing together for about 6 months. You may have seen them recently at Curious Comedy, in the Clowns Without Borders benefit, or in Pelu Theatre's "A Suicide Note From A Cockroach." Next weekend, you can see their solo acts in "Do Variete" at the Echo Theater. They are trying to switch from coffee to coconut milk, and they would switch noses too, if they could. (performed: 2009 & 2010)

Flamebuoyant Productions presents the finest in circus-style entertainment. Founded in 2005 from a need to play with fire, walk on stilts, fly through the air and share the love of movement arts, the company provides professional performances, high quality, comprehensive and personalized lessons, instructional DVDs and equipment for object manipulation. Two of Flamebuoyant Productions' fire performers, with a combined 21 years of experience, join Circus Artemis to present a glowing version of their newest fire dance:

shireen press has pursued her lifelong interest in movement arts through training in yoga, dance, circus arts and aerial dance. She is known for her fluid style, innovative movements and mesmerizing performances. An accomplished teacher as well as performer, she has taught poi spinning, fire skills and safety to students of all ages from the Portland Saturday Market to the beaches of India to the National Circus School in Cambodia. She currently teaches acrobatics and trapeze at Do Jump!, circus skills at various schools around Portland. shireen is a founding member and co-producer of Circus Artemis, and the owner of Flamebuoyant Productions. http://www.flamebuoyant.com (performed: 2009 & 2010)

Indigo Teiwes comes to fire performance with a passion for dance and flames. With dance interests ranging from modern to African and samba to swing, Indigo's graceful dance style uses her body and the fire to provide an inspired and sinuous performance. (performed: 2010)

In their spare time, shireen and Indigo can be found with other Flamebuoyant Production performers walking on stilts, flying through the air, climbing on friends and creating innovative fire performances. You may also spot them performing at music festivals, private events and clubs across the west coast and beyond.

Heather Pearl has perfected her hilarious, intelligent, intricate and outrageous style of physical theater and clowning through performances with Clown Conspiracy, Women Walking Tall, Make*A*Circus, The San Francisco Women's Circus, and the Prescott Clowns. In 1997, she graduated from the prestigious Dell-Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake, CA; from 1998-2001, she performed with Do Jump! Extremely Physical Theatre in Portland (and on tour), and in 2002, she began working with Michael O'Neill as the Nomadic Theatre Co. where she can still be found today. http://www.nomadictheatre.org/heather.html (performed: 2009)

Jack Stock Lynn - Jack is gender-queer performance artist who makes performances, art objects, hats, dances, and is co-director of Collective of Geniuses. Jack holds a BFA in Theatre and original works from Cornish College of the Arts, and has been creating original theatre and performance since 2000. Jack specializes in the strange and obscure, especially movement based expressive works and excruciating personal clown. Other skills include stilting, partner acrobatics, single-point trapeze, aerial rope, origami, and teaching children to go upside down at DoJump! (performed: 2009)

Jenn Cohen is the artistic/executive director of the Circus Project, a 501c3 in Portland, whose mission is to empower homeless and at-risk youth through intensive training in circus arts (www.thecircusproject.org). Prior to founding the Circus Project, Jenn performed extensively in ensemble theaters throughout the United States, and as a solo aerial artist throughout Europe. Her training includes: The Circus Space in London, Dell-Arte International School of Physical Theatre, sacred clown & buffoon with Sue Morrison, and Chinese acrobatics with Master Lu Yi at the San Francisco Circus Center. Jenn was a tenured instructor at the San Francisco Circus Center from 2001 to 2004 and has worked as a choreography consultant for companies including Teatro Zin Zanni (San Francisco) and UMO Ensemble (Seattle). Jenn holds a master's degree in Process-Oriented Psychology and utilizes the therapeutic approach embedded in that paradigm to create unique workshops for circus professionals around the world in both choreography and coaching. She is also a proud member of Portland's Amazon Dragons Paddling Club! http://www.thecircusproject.org (performed: 2010)

Kricket Caffery teaches trapeze, stilt walking, juggling, tumbling, and partner acrobatics classes and workshops to children and adults. Kricket has helped add circus and movement skills to the lives of students at Do Jump! Physical Theater, Fulton Park and Mt. Scott Community Centers, Portland Waldorf School (Milwaukie), Buckman Elementary, Portland Juggling Festival, Portland Children's Museum, Camas library, and many, many festivals and private events. Kricket also performs with the Girl Circus at Oregon Country Fair, seasonally at festivals throughout the West Coast, and is a co-producer and co-creator of Circus Artemis.

When grounded, Kricket is also a contraptioneer, peg stilt manufacturer, puppet maker, fire safety goddess, peace and environmental activist, wooden toy builder, nature enthusiast, community builder, and an "I can do anything" kind of a person! http://www.PegStilts.com (performed: 2009)

Mayra Acevedo graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a bachelor's degree in Theatre Education majoring in experimental theatre and devising work within a community. She was the artistic director of a project called Crearte, in which professionals bring and teach theatre to children of low-income families. Mayra has been working as a professional actress and director for the past five years. She directed plays such as La bicicleta del condenado and Esta noche juega el Joker. Her acting credits in Portland include, Bodas de Sangre (Bride), Oy: Call the Storm, and La Carpa del Maestro at Miracle Theatre. She most recently appeared in A Suicide note of a cockroach at Imago Theatre. (performed: 2009)

Night Flight - Gemma Adams & Stephanie Lopes first fell in love with aerial in a rope class taught by Lara Paxton of Circus Contraption. From their first class together, the duo became fast friends. Together they spent long hours training, hanging their equipment wherever they could find a branch strong enough or a ceiling high enough.

Soon, Gemma went on to study aerial, acrobatics and physical theater at Ciromedia in Bristol, England. During this time she performed at the Old Vic Theater and the Glastonbury Music Festival in England. Meanwhile, Stephanie helped Lara form the aerial performance company 'The Aerialistas, ' with whom she worked for the next 4 years. After finishing Circus School, Gemma reunited with Stephanie and joined 'The Aerialistas.' In 2007, the two left Seattle to work with Sarah and Karyn Steben of Cirque du Soleil's 'Saltimbanco' and 'O'. Gemma and Stephanie formed Night Flight in 2008. The duo has continued to develop their partner aerial acts as well as train students in aerial silks, hoop and trapeze. They hope to inspire others and assist their audiences in escaping the grips of gravity. http://www.nightflightaerial.com (performed: 2010)

Pie For Breakfast String Band is Caitilin Daum on Fiddle, Steph Noll on Banjo, Jillian Rhodes on Guitar, and Robin Wilcox on Bass. While Pie for Breakfast may be difficult to find outside the circus tent, individual members can be easily found wherever there's boot-stompin' old time music playing. Check the local old-time music calendar at www.bubbaguitar.com to find members of Pie for Breakfast playing vintage country in the band Ric Rac, old time fiddle tunes with the Salmonfly Stringband, or calling Square Dances at the Village Ballroom the last Monday of every month. (performed: 2009 & 2010)

Purple Monkey Dishwasher - All accomplished performers and artists in their own rights, Purple Monkey Dishwasher is a collaborative family effort consisting of Maria, Izzy and Matilda Thomas as well as Zephyr Brown. Believing that Juggling takes 4 things: hands, fun, toys and them these 4 ladies will leave you reaching for more of their delightful juggling! (performed: 2010)

Revolva - After a lifetime of dancing, acting and word slinging (she doubles as a writer), Revolva added hoops to her repertoire in 2002. Audiences as far away as Germany and South Korea have never been the same. Over the years, she has thrilled corporate clients, opened for rock bands, riled up the crowd during halftime shows, made kids laugh and brought crowds to standing ovations. Vaudeville is her game. While she can blow you away freestyling to live music, she really shines with her over-the-top character numbers. Co-founder of the country's first hoopdance conference, Hoop Convergence (Carrboro, NC), and repeat teacher at the Santa Cruz, CA Hoop Camp reatreat and other large festivals, this Detroit native has sought-after moves. No wonder she has been called on to twirl her sparkly (and sometimes flaming) hoops with Clowns Without Borders, Oregon Country Fair, Nomadic Theater Company and more. Now fully healed from the broken foot she acquired rehearsing for the first Circus Artemis, Revolva is once again ready to fuse hoop skills with writing chops to prove that storytelling and the movement arts are a truly dynamic duo. http://www.revolvahoopdance.com (performed: 2009 & 2010)

Sarah Farrell is a graduate of the Portland Actors Conservatory. She has performed with defunkt theatre, Miracle Theatre and was most recently seen in "Desperation" at Imago Theatre. (performed: 2009)

Sarah Liane Foster trained in physical theatre and clown at the Dell-Arte International School of Physical Theatre, at the Celebration Barn Theatre, and with Giovanni Fusetti. She creates, performs, and teaches clown and physical theatre in Portland, around the United States, and internationally. She has created six original shows with the Nomadic Theatre Co in Portland. Sarah has been an active Clowns Without Borders performer since 2005. Her most recent theatrical project is her solo clown show, The Last Show You'll Ever See, an apocalyptic piece featuring herself and a trombone. She enjoys walking on stilts, eating ice cream, and riding bikes.

Learn more about Sarah and the Nomadic Theatre Co's upcoming shows and workshops, including Nomadic's mask production of Alice in Wonderland in June, at http://www.nomadictheatre.org. (performed: 2010)

Shersten Finley discovered trapeze studying aerial dance with Do Jump Movement Theatre in Portland Oregon. She appeared as an aerialist in shows with Do Jump including: Now (2002) and Gaviotas (2004). In 2005 she went to the San Francisco Circus Center where she was introduced to aerial straps. While training at the Circus Center Shersten performed at the Supperclub in San Francisco and the Oakland Metro Opera House, as well as participating in the 2007 and 2008 Circus Center student showcases. From September 2008 through February 2009 she performed for Palazzo in Berlin and then Amsterdam. She performed in the debut of Circus Artemis in October 2009, and spent the winter holiday season touring the US east coast with 'Cirque Dreams Holidaze'. Shersten has also recently appeared as a guest artist for Rainbow Dance Theatre. (performed: 2009 & 2010)

Sophie Bloch took to the stage at age four with her eager pursuit of the violin. Throughout her youth she explored various musical genres and instruments and has played in bands from Oregon to Israel. Sophie has sung with the Girl Circus Orchestra at the Oregon Country Fair (OCF) for the past 6 years and sung in this summers Carmina Burana Fire Opera at OCF. Stilting is Sophie's most recent addition to her bag of tricks, and she loves balancing, climbing and dancing on and with people. (performed: 2009)

Sy Parrish is a Portland based actor, movement artist, and choreographer. As a performer, she specializes in physical theater and dance trapeze, often melding the two disciplines to create innovative works that explore story and character. Sy's ensemble work includes performances with Sojourn Theatre, DO JUMP!, Hand2Mouth Theatre, Ten Tiny Dances, Daniel Addy, New House Theatre, Cirqulous, and Pelu Theatre. Always embracing and exploring inventive ways to climb, dance, and soar, Sy has created movement for bungee, aerial hoop, hand loop, cargo net, staircases, folding ladders, doorways, windows, cars, concrete walls, rooftops, office partitions, grain silos, a large wooden box, chairs, tables and tightrope. She is delighted and honored to be included among the many inspiring artists of Circus Artemis. (performed: 2009 & 2010)

Tera Nova Zarra is an acrobat, an opera singer, an aerialist, and an
authentic telephone book ripping strong woman. She is an Imago Theatre Associate Company Member, and has performed with Do Jump, Pelu Theater, Clowns Without Borders, Wanderlust Circus, and Troma. Tera is the co-creator and front woman for Portland's ninja rock band Fist of Dishonor, and a teacher at The Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls. Photo by: Rhett Jackson http://www.terazarra.com (performed: 2009 & 2010)