ABOUT CITY CIRCUS
City Circus is the professional circus ensemble and training program of AcroSports. City Circus has become the world's foremost training and performance program of "Urban Circus Arts" - a hybrid performance discipline that integrates traditional circus arts and modern urban street arts (currently traditional circus arts, capoeira, breakdance, parkour, and WuShu Chinese martial arts). Our annual performance run successfully brings together multicultural, multigenerational audiences to enjoy productions that combine these arts in innovative ways. At the same time, we give diverse artists at various stages of career development the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from one another to create a new urban circus form.
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE TRACK PROGRAM
Students and Folk Apprentices in our Performance Track Program work closely with world-class coaches and performers that are at the edge of contemporary circus arts. The Program provides multiple opportunities to showcase skills throughout the year, and culminates in a full theatrical circus production in the spring. City Circus alumni have have joined the ranks of the most celebrated circus arts performers in the Bay Area and beyond, such as Cirque du Soleil, the Ringling Brothers, Circus Smircus, the École Nationale de Cirque de Montréal, etc.
Jasper Patterson, Artistic Director
Jasper Patterson grew up during the height of the “Vaudeville-Nouveau” movement. His eclectic performance background includes studying with Director Joanne Akalaitis, ground breaking puppeteer Basil Twist, and physical theatre with master teachers Avner Eisenberg and Jim Calder. Jasper was also awarded a scholarship to further his formal training with teachers from the NY Metropolitan Opera.In 2006 he toured the Canadian street theater festival circuit with circus darling Jan Damm, as a two-man expressionist danger vaudeville duo. He next landed in New York as a clown accordionist in the post-modern vaudeville show Speakeasy with Janine Garafalo and Josh Lucas. Next was a casting as a Flying Karamozov in their version of Don Quixote . The new eccentrics were founded in the underground bohemian circus/cabaret scene of Portland and San Francisco in 2007, which was a perfect place to hatch their dada pop-up cabaret, which culminated this summer with a performance at the Comic Book Theater Festival in New York.
Serchmaa Byamba, Contortion
Master contortionist Serchmaa Byamba was born in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She attended the Mongolian National Circus School, and became a student of the contortion legend Madame Tsend-Auysh, touring with the Mongolian State Circus internationally from the age of 13. Regarded at the top of her field, she is a performer with over 24 years of experience whose unique art transcends the boundaries of all theatrical disciplines and endeavors, and is a highly respected and beloved mentor to her students. She was awarded the Golden Elephant Grand Prize from the Festival of the Festival of European Young Artists in Germany, the Gold Medal from the Professional Contortionists Festival of Mongolia, and a Gold Medal from the All Asian National Festival. Serchmaa currently teaches at AcroSports and privately throughout San Francisco.
Dominik Wyss, Speciality Acts
Dominik Wyss is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer. He competed in various sports (Soccer, Track and Field, Snowboarding) on a national level. This experience gives him a solid understanding of the focus, dedication and discipline that is required in the life of a professional athlete. He graduated in 2000 from Gymnasium Liestal in Switzerland with a degree in sports. The rich Swiss Circus Culture lent itself as the perfect platform to express himself. His exploration of the circus world brought him to the Circus Center in San Francisco in 2001. There, under the guidance of Master Trainer Lu Yi (Artistic Director and Director of Acrobatics) and Vladimir Nazarov (Three Time World Champion in Acrobatic gymnastics), he pursued his studies in Acrobatics. His mentors encouraged him to do more than just follow their teachings. Critical thinking, open discussion, analysis, and innovation was expected in order to fully comprehend the subject matter. This approach allowed him to grow over the years into a teacher, and he became part of the teaching staff for the "Youth Circus" and the acrobatic trainer for the Professional Aerial Program. Dominik is currently working for AcroSports where he trains the City Circus.
Chelsea O'Brian, Aerial Arts
Chelsea O'Brian has worked in the mediums of circus, dance, harness dancing, film, and theatre. She graduated from the National Circus School of Montreal where she invented the Aerial Kite, a unique circus apparatus. Chelsea toured her Aerial kite solo with the company Cirque Plume in France as an original cast member of the show L'Atelier du peintre, participating in the show's creation and performing from 2008-2010. She has also performed with companies such as: Cavalia, Sens Productions, and ReaÕson dÕetre productions. Chelsea has performed and taught in Canada, Europe, Iceland and Australia. She has also initiated numerous collaborations with professional cinematographers, composers, photographers and circus performers. Such collaborations include: Pordis (Icelandic film), Taryn Derlin (Bristol film), Sunlight Zone (Aerial dance performance), Chuckles (Circus hospital tour). Chelsea is very excited to be moving to San Francisco and joining the Acro Sports Community. Please see her website for more information about her work.
CITY CIRCUS IS A PROGRAM OF ACROSPORTS.