OPEN GYM, PRIVATE CLASSES & SHOWCASE INFORMATION

THE COACHES

Alysia Marie Colon:
Alysia was born and raised in Portland, Oregon where she started in dance at the age of 14. She trained intensively for a year before she was introduced to aerial and contortion at Pendulum Aerial Dance Theatre. She quickly found a passion for circus and devoted her life to becoming a circus artist. Alysia trained and performed with Pendulum for two years before continuing on to perform with a large part of the circus community in Portland including: Wanderlust Circus, Circus Artemis, Kazum, and A-wol Dance Collective where she was a company member as well as a founding member of the youth company called the A-wol Aeros. She was then accepted to l'Ecole Nationale de Cirque, Montreal where she trained for a year in Tissu by two of the schools most experienced coaches, Jacinthe Tremblay and Sarah Poole. Alysia now performs internationally and has performed, taught, choreographed, and directed in many different forms of circus arts such as Aerial, Acrobatics, Partner Acrobatics, Contortion, and Dance. Her training and experience in different forms of circus gives her a unique mix of athleticism, grace, and creativity in the air with a strong and solid knowledge of body technique and form.

Stefan Furst:
Stefan began competing in gymnastics at an early age in Vienna, Austria, where he was born and raised. He attended the Coaching School for Gymnastics while simultaneously embarking on a career as a massage therapist.After competing in several National Championships as part of the Austrian National team, Stefan moved on to Sports-Acrobatics. Stefan was a National champion in men's pair and men's four, placing at many international sports-acrobatics competitions. He made it to the top twelve at World Championships (1988) in Men's Pair, after placing 6th at European championships in 1987. He is a co-founder of the Austrian Sports-Acrobatics Federation, and coached the Austrian national team from 1987-1989. His experience teaching and performing for the National Theaters in Vienna, Austria, and the ATTIC Circus School eventually led him to the field of circus arts. 
Stefan brought his acrobatic mastery to the U.S. in 1989, coaching gymnastics and sports acrobatics at Gymnastics Plus in Maryland until moving the Pacific Northwest in 1996. Currently, Stefan coaches gymnastics and acrobatics at VEGA Gymnastics (Camas, WA), Do Jump!, and the Circus Project, in addition to practicing massage therapy at Back in Motion, a chiropractic clinic in Beaverton. Stefan's intimate knowledge of anatomy and physiology, coupled with his 30 + years of experience as an acrobatic champion and coach, have enabled him to develop a unique training methodology for partner and sports acrobatics, tailored to both children and adults, beginning through professional levels.

Meg Russell:
Meg Russell stumbled upon the wonderful world of circus arts in late 2009 while at a musical theater workshop with Staged! Musical Theater Company, by finding a business card for the Circus Project. She is a graduate of the Circus Project's 2010 Intensive Training Troupe, and has since been performing professionally as an aerialist and contortionist with the Circus Project Performance Troupe, and as a human marionette for Dreamescape Theater. Her passions lie in contortion, trapeze, and marionette. Meg has studied circus and performing arts under Jenn Cohen (the Circus Project), Mizu Desierto (Water in the Desert), Sue Morrison (Clown Through Mask), The Oregon Children's Theater, and Staged! Musical Theater Company. Prior to her circus career, Meg did noncompetitive gymnastics for four years as a youth, which lead her to join her high school cheerleading team as a freshman Varsity member. She stayed on her high school team, maintaining a leadership position for three of the four years, and eventually joined Oxford Premier All-Stars, a national championship winning team. In 2008, Meg joined Columbia Extreme All-Stars as a member of the Senior Co-Ed team, as well as a coach for the Tiny's team (ages 4-7), helping to lead the Tiny's to a first place trophy in a national competition. In 2009, Meg acted as coach and assistant coach for multiple cheerleading levels for Westside All-Stars, working with ages 6-16 and teaching everything from basic technique and safety to intermediate tumbling.

Noah Veil:
nOah VeiL was raised on stage since age four and throughout his youth he co-created, performed and directed highly stylized physical theater shows that toured to international festivals in Germany, Jordan, Scotland, Italy, and throughout the U.S.. After graduating from Dell'Arte School of Physical Theater in '98 and performing original sketch comedy for Royal Caribbean Cruises he then formed his own production company, DreamAwake Prod., to host his theatrical circus shows, working with HBO, Cirque du Soleil, director/producer James Cameron, and countless music and art festivals. In addition to performing and directing, nOah has been joyously teaching adults and children the myriad styles of theater, circus, and act creation for over fifteen years. He is a co-designer of the pedagogy for the children's arts education non-profit, Vagaboom, in San Francisco and just arrived here in portland in 2010. For nOah, teaching is a great way for him to give back to what, he feels, saved and guided him as a child. All classes are specifically tailored to each group’s abilities to help them shine and grow through play. For the full scOOp On nOah's Latest shOws visit www.dreamawakeprod.com

THINGS TO KNOW

Registration:
To register, please call (503) 764-9174 or send an email to:
jenncohen@thecircusproject.org
Class spots are reserved once payment has been received.

Payment Policy:
Payment may be made by cash, check, or credit card (check is our preferred method).
We do not offer refunds once payment has been made. You may however, transfer your enrollment to another student if you cannot attend the full session and can find someone to take your place, provided they meet the class qualifications.
The Circus Project does not offer make-up classes for dates missed or partial payment options.

Paperwork:
Everyone must sign a Circus Project liability waiver in order to participate. Parents & guardians must sign waivers for children under 18. Waivers will be sent via email once registration is complete and must be brought to the first class in order to participate.
Open gym participants must sign an additional wavier in order to attend.

What to wear:
Form fitting clothing that covers the full legs, belly and armpits are ideal to protect the skin and avoid getting caught.
Please do not wear tights with feet. Socks are fine so long as you can take them on and off.
Layers are helpful to stay warm.

What to bring:
A water bottle (we do not have cups available).

Location:
All classes take place in the Activities Building Gym at Friendly House Community Center: 1737 NW 26th, Portland, OR 97210. Directions provided upon registration.

Parents, Guardians, & Guests:
To minimize distractions, we request that parents, guardians, and guests do not sit in on classes.

Non-Discrimination Statement:
The Circus Project strives to provide an atmosphere of safety and creativity in which people feel able to participate, express themselves, and be heard independently of their gender, race, color, religion, physical handicap, mental diagnosis, national or ethnic origin, social status, age, size, sexual orientation, or gender identification.