When I was 12 years old, I discovered musical theater, which led to a life-long passion for the stage. That same year, on vacation with my family, I stumbled across my first mask at a flea market, which I promptly bought with my allowance money.
As the years passed, I ventured from musical theater into physical theater, circus, music, and contemporary dance. In 2001, after graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in Music and Theater, I began traveling extensively. As I performed, trained, taught and directed around the world, my passion for movement (as well as my mask collection) grew. I traveled to China to study Shaolin Kung Fu with the monks in a hidden monastery in the mountains. I went to Brazil to learn Capoeira. I attended physical theater conservatory in Belgium, and, while attending the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance for three years, I trained juggling and acrobatics in the evenings.
My work over the years has been delightfully diverse. Amongst other adventures, I worked as circus coach and personal trainer to Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan in India, directed a circus company and flying trapeze school in the Caribbean, and directed a solo mask theater piece in Brazil. I have performed, taught, and directed in over 20 countries, and particularly enjoy the intersection of different performance forms, which led me to attain my MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College. My thesis focused on the relationships between circus, dance, theater, and improvisation, with an emphasis on education. My most satisfying experiences in recent years have come from deep explorations into the interplay between these different realms, such as teaching mask technique to acrobats or physical theater to opera singers.
In 2014, after graduating from "Helikos: International School for Theater Creation" in Florence, Italy, I took on my most ambitious project to date. Working with my dear friend and long-time artistic collaborator Peter Adeney, we spent almost a year in three countries co-creating "BOOM!” (www.boomcircus.com), a two-man, six-character, mask / circus / live-music show. “BOOM!” was directed by my mask-making mentor, internationally renowned director Matteo Destro, and we toured the show for four years around the world, performing extensively across Europe, as well as in California, New York City, and Taiwan.
In addition to performing, I have recently created masks for multiple international shows, and regularly travel to teach masks and movement around the world.