GUEST ARTISTS

Alex Allan is an aerial artist with extensive international experience in teaching and performing aerial rope. With a background that spans several continents, Alex has worked with hundreds of students, offering a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the field.

 

Alex holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Australia and further pursued professional training at the San Francisco Circus Center’s professional aerial program. His diverse educational background is complemented by additional exploration in contemporary dance, contributing to a well-rounded artistic perspective.

 

In his pedagogical approach, Alex emphasises a personalized and supportive learning environment. His philosophy is centered on nurturing each student’s individual strengths while fostering a comprehensive understanding of technique, composition and creative expression.

 

Currently, Alex is engaged in innovative research that explores the interplay between horizontal and vertical space through the medium of aerial rope. This research integrates elements from theatre, dance, and circus, reflecting a commitment to pushing artistic boundaries and expanding the possibilities within the aerial arts.

 

Alex is dedicated to advancing the field of aerial arts and looks forward to contributing to the growth and development of aspiring artists and performers.

Coming from BC, Canada, Liesl Klaue considers 2017 to be the start of her aerial journey, but that was after 12 years of trampoline, so it's no surprise that drops and dynamics are among her favorite parts of any aerial discipline.

 

Starting with silks, Liesl took up rope soon after and fell in love with beats, windmill variations, and open drops. She started performing professionally and coaching in 2019 and never looked back.

 

Since then, she has published an online curriculum for the ping pong (a rebound skill) and loves teaching in a very safety focused and technical manner. Liesl is so excited to be coming to Denver Rope Meeting. 

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.

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.

Dana is an aerial rope artist with a rich vocabulary in sequences and creative pathways.

 

Inspired by semiotics and sensuality, their teaching encourages participants to explore personal expression and unconventional pathways to create their own unique movement language and connect deeper to their practise, cultivating both technical skills and authentic embodied movement.

Originally from New Orleans, Rachel Rees is a performer and coach specializing in aerial rope. 

 

While attending the ProTrack Program at the New England Center for Circus Arts, she began coaching rope in NECCA's recreational programs, and upon graduating in 2019 began coaching ProTrack alongside her own coach, Molly Graves. 

 

While currently pursuing a performing career, Rachel still loves coaching every chance she can, specifically introducing students to the worlds of C shaping, dynamics, and release skills. 

Known for an unconventional approach and artistic grit, Mimi Ke is an aerial artist and teacher based in Iowa. She approaches rope with both carefree ease and precise attention, blurring the lines between technical skill and embodied exploration.

 

Having taught aerial for over 11 years and immersed in movement most of her life—she combines the physicality of rope with elements of butoh, corporeal mime, contact improvisation, and other forms of dance that she studies in her free time. As a choreographer and coach, she is passionate about composition, rhythm and moving through spirals as a form of efficiency.

 

Mimi is a graduate of the Pro-Track Program at Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance in Boulder, Colorado, and later joined the Frequent Flyers Professional Company before returning to Iowa in late 2019.

 

As a geographically-challenged aerialist driven to push the boundaries of circus, dance, and visual art, she continues to craft her own works on rope and collaborate on interdisciplinary projects. 

 

She was awarded the 2023 Creative Catalyst Artist Grant and the 2024 Arts Project Grant for Individual Artists by the Iowa Arts Council, supporting her research for The Circus of Tensegrity, an experimental, site-based rope project-- her curiosity for improvisation fuels most of her practice, allowing her to develop tools that merge the freedom of dance with the spectacle of rope.

Mercury Bergren is a multidisciplinary artist, acrobat, and androgyne who found themself in circus after a lifetime (well, 20 years) of being too eccentric and and wiggly to be of much use to society though more conventional means.

 

Since they crashed onto the scene in a rock climbing gym on Lingít Aaní (Juneau, AK) they discovered that there is actually a world of good to be done through movement.

 

They've been the Circus Access Programs manager at SANCA in Seattle for three years, running all of the programs at the circus school designed for disabled or marginalized groups. From coaching adaptive classes for neurodivergent students, hemiparesis students, and trans students, to providing backend support for coaches for BIPOC circus and Postpartum Circus, their whole goal is to see more diverse stories on our stages and to live in a world where people have more options for moving through it.

 

To that end, they've had the privilege of traveling internationally to coach adaptive circus and consult with social circus programs in Japan and around the US. When they're not doing all that they can be found playing with a rope toy, sometimes for the audiences of SANCA/Emerald City Trapeze and Acrobatic Conundrum, sometimes in an empty room, and they're pretty happy about it either way. 

Lena Alani is a highly motivated and passionate aerial and circus arts professional with over a decade of experience as a performer and instructor.

 

Since 2012, she has performed with internationally recognized companies such as Cirque du Soleil (The Beatles LOVE), Paper Doll Militia, and Cherry Bombs and other companies, bringing powerful stage presence and technical excellence to every performance.

 

Her background encompasses a wide range of physical disciplines, including aerial arts, dance, physical theatre, yoga, and conditioning. Lena specializes in coaching students of all levels in vertical apparatus such as aerial rope, fabric, hammock, straps, and general strength and flexibility training.

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As an instructor, Lena is known for creating a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment where students can explore movement with confidence, creativity, and joy. Her teaching approach is rooted in compassion, patience, and encouragement, emphasizing proper technique and thoughtful progressions.

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Drawing from her strong foundation in dance, Lena’s movement style is dynamic yet fluid, powerful yet graceful. She breaks down complex skills into digestible steps; ensuring students understand the fundamentals of aerial movement before advancing.

 

Her classes often begin with dance-based warm-ups, preparing the body for aerial work while also developing artistry, transitions, and flow. Lena guides students not just to master tricks, but to connect movement seamlessly, cultivating efficiency, grace, and personal expression in the air.

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.

Amy's love for corde lisse runs deep and led her to launching Denver Rope Meeting in 2025.

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She loves the collaborative and community-focused nature of rope, as well as finding unique transitions and sequences.

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She loves helping rope artists tap into their unique creativity and find something that's truly their own.

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Amy is also a muralist who painted the mural at Boulder Circus Center, and a fine artist at willowaerial.com.

Sarah discovered the wonderful world of circus 20 years ago, when a good friend made her her first hula-hoop, starting a lovely journey down a rabbit hole of movement arts that has culminated in her aerial career today. 

 

Sarah adores the stage, bringing dynamic creativity to her performances.  She also has a deep passion for teaching and loves to share with others her aerial knowledge and commitment to physical, mental, and creative growth, inspiring them to lead healthy lives through circus. 

 

She has shared her unique performance style and her passion for education at circus schools, retreats, and festivals around the country and beyond. 

 

Sarah is a 2017 graduate of the Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Professional Training Program, specializing in corde lisse and fabric.  She spends her free time saving lives as an ER nurse, taming wild rivers on a SUP, and introducing her toddler to the awesomeness of life.

In 2015 Paul Yates got his aerial rope start in Munich where he saw his curiosity rapidly become obsession as he was absorbed and immersed in the circus world. A rope meeting regular, he has been lucky enough to be a student of all of his rope heroes all around the world, and is passionate about sharing the years of accumulated experience.

 

As an engineer by day, Paul prides himself on his ability to dissect a movement and to make it approachable from many different angles. His rope mentality is "it's impossible to do a trick wrong if no one knows what you were trying."