GUEST ARTISTS

Terry Crane has been practicing vertical rope since 2001, and performing and teaching rope for more than 15 years. He has taught workshops at the Fratellini Academy, FLIC Scuola in Torino, and across the United States in various circus schools and studios.

He is a respected leader in dynamic rope technique and convoluted knot work on this apparatus. A growing number of his students have gone on to be accepted at the National Circus School of Montréal, where he also graduated in 2006. He regularly performs his own fiercely unique style of rope for his circus company Acrobatic Conundrum.

Gaia Santuccio, originally from Sicily, is an aerial rope artist, teacher, and researcher dedicated to the exploration of movement through knots and sensory awareness. This focus lies at the core of her artistic investigation and the methodologies she has developed.

Structured improvisation and communication among practitioners are foundational approaches in her research.

Her teaching aims to empower participants to cultivate their unique styles and language, encouraging them to think through movement and engage intimately with rope for a more conscious and enriching practice. Gaia’s choreographic research fosters adaptive, creative, and artistic skills.

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After completing her Master’s studies in Contemporary Circus Practices at DOCH in June 2022, Gaia participated in the pilot year of ICCAR (International Circus Centre for Artistic Research), directed by Roberto Magro. Prior to this, she trained in Étienne Decroux’s mime technique at Moveo in Barcelona and graduated from Circomedia in Bristol and the National Centre for Circus Arts in London in 2014.

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Currently, Gaia is writing a book on her methodology of work Rope Manipulation, which is set to be published in 2025. She is also a member of NèonTeatro, a theatre company based in Italy that collaborates with individuals of diverse abilities. Additionally, she is in the process of creating her first solo show, Isola-Ta.

Cody Hayman found the circus in Olympia, WA in 2009, where he was a founding member of Airbound Underground and an instructor at SANCA. Though he started as a rope artist, Cody has picked up many other circus disciplines in the years since, including trapeze, hair hanging, and clowning.

He has always had a passion for community-based circus performance, producing countless shows in Olympia and New Orleans, as well as performing and teaching all over the country for events like Sh’Bang, Atlanta Aerial Arts Festival, InFringe Fest New Orleans, and others.

He has hosted NECCA’s rope meeting since 2023, and is the head rope and fabric coach for NECCA’s ProTrack program. Cody’s approach to teaching mirrors his approach to performing: always with a sense of curiosity, enthusiasm, and a dash of flamboyance.

Jenny Atomik (she/they) has been an aerial circus coach for over 10 years! Starting in the heart of her circus journey, the city of San Francisco, CA, Jenny began coaching aerial rope and silks while also embarking on her performance career.  Over time, she developed a huge love for aerial dynamic work as well working to help students achieve their own individual goals. 

While embarking on her own process and discovery of dynamic work and release moves, Jenny began to work with a few very talented coaches and friends to help build her knowledge for the skills she wished to attain.  While doing this and working a lot on her own and "going to the lab" and working skills out, she really began to attain the skills she wished to achieve through this process and self discovery.

Through this discovery, she was able to create ways to work on certain dynamic skills in moderation and to build in a safe and achievable way.  Jenny has always been a huge supporter of all students and their successes, and loves sharing her knowledge and information with each person she has the honorable opportunity to work alongside. 

Christine Morano dancer, aerialist, and acrobat, has over a decade of professional performance experience ranging from experimental to corporate events, from intimate venues and unusual spaces to theaters across the world. She is a freelance professional aerialist, and is the founder of MoDa Movement Co. 

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​Christine Morano has coached throughout the United States since 2009. Christine uses her education in biology and anatomy to help fuel her understanding and teachings.

She seeks to meet her students where they are, teach and verbalize in multiple ways, and listens with compassion to understand any questions so she may fully think out the best and/or alternative solution. She uses progressions and drills to make sure her students are ready to succeed at skills they are working toward.

Christine has experience in multiple dance styles, thrives on collaborative work, and excels at movement & choreographic education to almost any age. She is compassionate and dedicated, with a constant eagerness to grow as an artist, educator, athlete, and human being.

Jules is an Australian NICA graduate and a multiple award winning Aerial Rope Artist, whom has performed in competitive festivals in Russia, Italy, and China.

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He was one of the first people to do pirouettes + back to back pirouettes on the Rope and is Cirque du Soleil’s first Aerial Rope solo Artist.  Jules fell in love with Rope at NICA where we he developed his style combining acrobatic movements with an emphasis on movement quality.

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Jules is a technical coach who excels at deconstructing skills into manageable progressions, and wants to showcase a systematic approach to make release skills more safe and approachable!

Madi is a multidisciplinary artist from Austin, Texas. She attended the Ecole Nationale de Cirque in Montreal ('ENC', 2019) specializing in corde lisse and acrobatics. Since graduation, she has been lucky to perform worldwide on stages spanning warehouse floors to Broadway. Madi has worked for Cirque Eloize, Midnight Circus,Strut n’ Fret, and more.

Kelsey, also known to friends as KP, is a Philly girl at heart, though she has called Virginia Beach home for the last decade. In 2011, she found her love for aerial silk with coach Julianna Hane in Charleston, SC and since then has traveled to train with the best coaches across the US, Mexico, Canada and Europe.

KP specializes in coaching the athletic & strength aspects of aerial arts. Her apparatus of choice has always been silk; while dabbling in sling, straps, and rope, over the years she has been using all of these apparatus' more recently for a multi-apparatus approach to things she loves to do in the air like dynamics and rolling.  A new passion and love for rope has blossomed over the last few years especially after meeting so many new rope friends, she feels like she found her squad within this apparatus group.

KP is the proud owner of an aerial studio in Virginia Beach and takes pride in the work she does with beginner & intermediate aerialists finding their strength and confidence in the air. Before finding aerials she was a personal trainer and believes in the importance of strength training, not just for regular human life, but very much for unlocking your capabilities in the air.

Jessica Perry is an internationally recognized circus artist and entertainer. After touring Europe, Australia and the US, with AIDA Cruise Productions, Creactive by Cirque du Soleil, Stufish Productions, Acrobatic Conundrum and Dream World Cirque, she is now based in Las Vegas.

She frequently travels to Colorado, Seattle, California, and beyond for artistic projects, training, and good people. 

Amy is a multi-disciplinary circus performer specializing in aerial rope. She loves the challenge of the vertical apparatus and the freedom of dynamic movement.

Her circus expertise includes fabric, sling, hoop, single-point and duo trapeze, stilting, juggling, fire and tap dance. She is co-founder of The Disco Belles, (some might say “the personality”).

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This fearless Seattle native has always been athletic. She enjoyed years of basketball, cycling, yoga, and dance, then started exploring aerial arts in 2012. In 2019, she fully committed to circus arts, studying with renowned aerial coaches including PJ Perry, Alex Alan, Emiliano Ron, Liza Rose, and juggling master Nickolai Pirak. She has performed at the Woodland Park Zoo, Fred Wildlife Refuge, Seattle Erotic Arts Festival, and Open Air Vashon.

When not dangling from or balancing atop things, Amy can be found gardening, volunteering at a local food bank, and playing with her cat Danko.

Janelle (Dinosaurs) Peters (they/them) is a queer circus artist, circus coach, and psychotherapist who shares their time between Colorado and the SF Bay Area. A founding member of Oakland-based Hypothetical Circus, and the producer/facilitator of Denver Scratch Works in Progress Showings, Janelle collaborates across disciplines and geography to help weird queer art grow and thrive.

Janelle's solo performance work is dedicated to the wholeness and humanity of themself and their audience, and they also offer workshops and materials around mental health, wellbeing, and systemic change in circus and the performing arts as @Cirque_Psych . 

Anastasia has been a professional aerialist since 2013.  Her movement style is dark and dramatic, a mixture of slow hypnotic movement and fast dynamic sequences. Her emphasis is on fascinating shapes and clean lines all while upholding the illusion of defying gravity.

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She loves storytelling-through elaborate costuming, body language, and music selection. Just like her oil paintings, she likes her aerial acts to visually make a statement.

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In her free time, Anastasia can be found drawing, making costumes, and cuddling with her cats.