Values of salt City Circus

Kate has been performing and teaching circus arts for over 18 years. Her background as a professional dancer and her childhood full of dance, gymnastics, and an obsession with general frolicking inform her work and the joy she takes in it. She specializes in dance trapeze, contortion, cyr wheel, Chinese pole, and harness based aerial dance, as well as invented apparatus, and loves partner and group collaborations in the air and on the ground.

​

Kate is a graduate of the New England Center for Circus Arts and has a long list of teacher certifications. As a coach she loves finding supporting moments of growth and discovery for students and sharing her knowledge of circus arts. As a co-founder and co-director of Salt City Circus Kate is passionate about creating a community and joining her love of nature with her love of circus.

Rachel is a dynamic movement artist whose training includes both technical and street dance styles, contortion, partner work/acrobatics, and aerial arts.  She specializes in aerial hoop, loves invented apparatus or anything that spins, and has a knack for weaving different disciplines together. A collaborator with an insatiable desire to learn, she will try just about anything once and is constantly baking treats for anyone that will eat them.

​

As a coach and co-founder of Salt City Circus, Rachel is passionate about creating a supportive community that helps students  build confidence and find their movement voice. Her classes incorporate a fusion of energized play, mobility, Pilates, mindfulness, expression & connection.  Home is the Pacific Northwest where she adventures with her wife and pup. 

PJ is a corde lisse specialist who approaches aerial with a slow and dissective mind, curious to understand the mechanics of how things work in addition to exploring the infinite space between skills.  She relishes the creative process and exults in the opportunities to perform her work locally, nationally, and internationally.

​

PJ's background as a kinesiologist and pilates teacher lend to her an analytical eye and extensive creative cuing vocabulary as a coach.  Balancing coaching, training, and performance not only gives her plenty to do, but is her dream job.  PJ is phasing out of international performance contract work to focus on coaching and local community building. She lives in Bellingham, WA, and is currently homesteading near Mount Baker with the love of her life, Ramona, her herding mutt.

Mykelle is a multidisciplinary performing artist and researcher who strives to combine her intellectual and physical curiosity. In her primary discipline of aerial acrobatics, Mykelle has performed internationally through varieté shows, artistic festivals, and cruise ships in aerial hoop, hair suspension, and aerial straps. She often ventures out of the circus tent and explores other areas of performance including modern dance, durational performance, and devised theatre. Mykelle deeply informs her practice making connections between philosophy, critical theory, and aerodynamics. Using a foundation in metaphysics she transforms the critical thinking of philosophy into a movement based practice to create complex, layered work. 

​

Originally from rural Idaho, she has worked with organisations such as Animate Objects, AIDA Cruises, Virgin Voyages, and the New England Center for Circus Arts. She has been supported by the Idaho Arts Commision, Alexa Rose Foundation, and the Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance program. After founding the Boise Circus Guild and serving as president and artistic director for five years, she is currently matriculated at Mount Holyoke College on full scholarship to study philosophy and dance. She lives with her wife and loves to hike in the mountains.

Shannon McKenna was never a dancer, never a gymnast, but one hell of a tree climber.

She earned her B.F.A. from NYU with a concentration in physical theater and decided the summer after college, without much idea of what it meant, to become a circus artist. She packed her life in a suitcase and traveled the globe in search of the best coaches to teach her and put her work on any stage she could. Her performance work has spanned from traditional shows in large arenas to intimate contemporary pieces in small black box theaters. She performs as a solo artist, a part of artistic duos, and ensembles. 

​

As a coach, Shannon has a reputation for  innovative choreography and progressions on aerial silks as well as for making aerial technique accessible to a diverse student population (particularly aerial straps). She believes that artists at all stages of their aerial journey have unique and valuable perspectives to express. She is internationally sought after for workshops, both technical and creative, and has been a featured instructor at retreats and festivals including The Aerial Dance Festival in Boulder and The Irish Aerial Dance Festival. 

​

In 2018, Shannon launched The Artist Athlete Podcast interviewing professionals in the industry as a resource to start conversations in the circus community. It is available on Spotify, Google Play, and iTunes. She currently lives in Montreal with her cats Puppy and Hervé.

Amaya Alvarado is a multidisciplinary circus artist and lover of movement. Amaya has performed with a number of renowned companies including Comedy Central, Summer Stage NYC, Nimble Arts, and Aerial Angels, and she is the founding director of Aiya Productions. Amaya is a movement storyteller and her work has been called “hilariously vulnerable” and “beautifully touching.”

Amaya specializes in Trapeze, Chinese Pole, Hand to Hand, Aerial Partnering, and Handstands. She has studied with incredible coaches and innovators at NECCA, Cirque du Soleil's ArtCorps in Montreal, and at the Beijing Acrobatic School. Currently, Amaya is an Executive Director of the Wise Fool New Mexico circus school.

Pneumatic Arts is a flying trapeze entertainment and education company. Our mission is to increase the awareness and appreciation of flying trapeze throughout the world with unforgettable performances and all levels training and workshops. Pneumatic Arts was founded in 2018 by renowned flyer Jordan Tribble. Blair Aued then joined the team and has taken Pneumatic Arts to new heights. Jordan and Blair have traveled around the world performing, teaching and producing one of a kind acts and shows. 

 

Their coaching philosophy is focused on teaching trapeze theory and the physics of flying so they can provide their students with the autonomy to objectively examine their own flying when they return to their home rigs. They aim to leave their students feeling empowered, confident, informed and fulfilled! 

Chef Evan Schutt has always loved the culinary arts, a talent inspired from family traditions. Drawing from years of experience working in restaurants, catering, backcountry cooking and international work, Peak Season Catering was born. With a vision to bring delicious, well-sourced food to clients far and wide, Evan and his team combine unique flavors with beautiful presentation to create a one-of-a-kind experience and ambience you won’t soon forget! 

Website