Program Advisory Committee
Daniela Arendadova
Krin Haglund
Jedediah Wheeler
Board of Directors
Tamara Desai
Our diverse team contributes unique talent, insight and perspective from the worlds of theater, circus, and education.
Our Team
Our diverse team contributes unique talent, insight and perspective from the worlds of theater, circus, and education.
Shana is the Founder of the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, and the Executive Director of Circadium. She trained as an aerialist and a juggler at Circomedia, in England, and performed for many years in both capacities. She began teaching aerial skills in her home and backyard in 2001. In 2006 Air Play was founded as a performance and teaching company; and it evolved in 2008 to the full-fledged PSCA facility. From 2010-2014, Shana accompanied her husband, Greg, on tour with Cirque du Soleil’s Totem, and brought back a wealth of information and ideas from circus schools around the world. She is actively involved with the American Circus Educators Association, the American Circus Alliance, and the European Federation of Professional Circus Schools, and founded a Directors’ Roundtable of circus school leaders across North America. She is deeply committed to the growing influence of circus artistry and education in the U.S., and to furthering the sector as a whole.
L M Feldman is a queer, feminist, GNC playwright, educator, & circus artist who makes theatrically audacious, physically kinetic, ensemble-driven plays that are both epic & intimate. L’s work asks the hard questions, holds the tender spaces, upends traditional structures, and builds community along the way. In all her work, L seeks to create a live performance in which something TRANSCENDENT transpires – (something moving & luminous & just a little bit impossible) – for those both onstage and off.
L and her work have been nominated for the Herb Alpert Award, Wendy Wasserstein Prize, Stavis Playwright Award, Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award, and twice for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Her work was also shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Drama, the Jane Chambers Award, and the FEWW Prize. L is also thankful to have been a fellow at MacDowell, Playwrights Realm, InterAct Theatre, Dramatists Guild, and New Georges; a Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries winner; a member of Orbiter 3; and a thought partner with the 2022-2023 Artistic Caucus (Baltimore Center Stage, Woolly Mammoth, Long Wharf, & St. Louis Rep).
L is an alum of both the Yale School of Drama (M.F.A. in playwriting) and the New England Center for Circus Arts (major in duo trapeze, minor in handbalancing). As a contemporary circus artist, L performed duo trapeze at festivals around the world. She continues to teach & dramaturg for circus artists around the country. She is passionate about theater that MOVES, and circus that DELVES.
L has lived in seven cities and is now based in Philadelphia, where she writes & performs, devises & dramaturgs, consults & advocates, teaches (all over the place), and handstands (also all over the place). She’s currently writing a trilogy of circus plays. And she is over the goshdarn moon to be a 2023-2025 Venturous Playwright Fellow through The Playwrights’ Center.
Annie Wilson is a Philly-based choreographer, videographer, and death doula. Her performances and short films have been described as animistic, pop-magic church services focusing on the experience versus the appearance of the body. She graduated with a BFA in Modern Dance Performance from University of the Arts, and obtained a certificate in experimental devised dance and theater from Headlong Performance Institute. She is a Pew Fellow in the Arts, an Independence Fellow, and two-time Barrymore award nominee. Her work has been presented by JACK, Fringearts, Bryn Mawr College, Műhely Alapítvány, CounterPulse, and others. She has directed shows for MK Tuomanen and Almanac Dance Circus Theater, choreographed shows for the Arden and Applied Mechanics, and performed in the work of Nichole Canuso Dance Theater, Meg Foley/moving parts, Lucinda Childs, Pasión y Arte, , among others. She is also a low-cost videographer for nonprofits, death doula, and dues-paying member of the Debt Collective. Ask about her recent trip to Scotland! www.theanniewilson.com / www.sunsetcompanions.com
Rachel Mae Lancaster is a versatile performer and coach who specializes in aerial acrobatics and circus arts. She began her dance career at the age of 3 and quickly discovered her love for performing. Through her journey in the dance world, she found a passion for theater and decided that she wanted to learn more about acting and directing. She received a BFA at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in theater arts. After graduation, she continued to develop her talents while traveling and performing with a variety of different companies such as Touch Performance Arts, Innovative Juggler, and Airplay Entertainment. In addition to regular performances, Rachel has recently become the head coach at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts. She teaches a variety of classes for students of all ages and skill levels. Rachel has directed a number of showcases, staff shows, and youth performances at PSCA.
Luther is a juggling teacher and performer specializing in expressive ball technique and movement. He began juggling in 2005 while studying philosophy at the University of Iowa. After graduating in 2010, he performed with the Great Bombay Circus in India. In 2012 he encountered the worlds of both contemporary circus and street performance while performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. From there, between 2012-2016, he used street performing as a means to travel the USA, Europe, Australia, and Asia, interacting with contemporary circus and dance schools, communities, and various performance and arts festivals along the way.
In 2016 he moved to New York City to perform and teach and began studies of qi gong and dance with Daria Faïn in her C O R E M O T I O N program. Luther debuted his solo stage show, Distillations, in May 2022. He began teaching at the Circadium School of Contemporary Circus in September 2022.
Luther currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Juggling Association (IJA) and is devoted to bringing juggling to new places in his own practice, in his teaching, and in the world.
Sarah has craved being upside down and moving her body ever since she can remember! Growing up a competitive gymnast and followed by years of coaching, Sarah started her training in partner acrobatics and handbalancing in 2011 and has been totally enamored by the movement practices ever since; there is always another skill, a new challenge, and more creativity to be unlocked!
Sarah has taught partner acro classes to the Philadelphia acro community since 2017, and in early 2021, she co-founded a recreational ground acrobatics company, Acro&. That same fall, she also began coaching at Circadium! She believes that handstands and partner acro (and circus in general) are the ultimate movement arts; beautifully challenging, playfully collaborative, and trusting changes in perspective.
Andrew is from Rochester, New York State, and as a child spent seven summers touring with Circus Smirkus. Later, he switched from a degree in engineering to theatre studies and modern dance. He performed in a double straps act with Erika Gilfether, and also appeared in Soleil’s Zumanity, and in Spiegelworld’s Absinthe, both in Las Vegas. He once did a week’s fill-in in a Louie Knie Jr show in Salzburg, Austria, about which he says: “I was on after the donkey act and before the goats… lots of farm animals in that show!” In February 2017, in Sarasota, Florida, Andrew was part of an eight-person high-wire pyramid, including Nik, Rijana and Rietta Wallenda. In training for a show at Circus Sarasota. The pyramid became unstable and five of the performers fell 30 feet from the wires. Andrew broke both feet and his pelvis. After almost a year of recovery, he and his then-partner Sasha Harrington competed with a double straps act at the 39th Cirque de Demain festival at Cirque Phénix in Paris, where they won the Arte Special Prize.
A pioneer in the physical-theatre scene of the UK since the 1970s, Bim Mason is the Founder and Artistic Director of Circomedia. http://www.circomedia.com
Bim trained with Jacques Lecoq and Desmond Jones. A professional performer since 1978 with pioneering circus-theatre groups Kaboodle and his own Mummer & Dada. He has also acted with the Bristol Old Vic Company and toured three solo physical comedy shows to events such as the London International Mime Festival. Of the many physical theatre shows he has directed, three have received Fringe First Awards at Edinburgh – with Talking Pictures (1989) and with Relects Revenge (1995 & 1997). In 1999 he founded Dark Horse, which won the Herald Angel Award in 2000.
Other directing work includes Welfare State International, Peepolykus, Macadam Theatre, Wall Street Theatre, Green Ginger Microtheatre, solo mimes and large scale international projects. Bim has taught courses in Jerusalem, Rio de Janeiro and British universities. He was one of the original teachers at Fool Time 1986-1993. His writing work includes the book Street Theatre (Routledge 1992).
Director of Higher Education, National Centre for Circus Arts (UK), & Vice-President of the Fédération Européene des Ecoles de Cirque Professionelles https://www.nationalcircus.org.uk
Tim was a professional juggler and comedian in Europe who then became involved in the growing higher education sector of circus schools in France. Tim’s contribution to the art form is also recognised internationally through his involvement with the European Federation of Professional Circus Schools (FEDEC) where he held the role of President for six years. With FEDEC he is involved in creating a pan-European teacher training programme for Circus Arts as well as lobbying for increased mobility opportunities for all those involved with the arts; from students to teachers, through to artistic directors, educational directors and administrators.
Eric is decidedly passionate about the tight wire, slack lining, the flying trapeze, riding his unicycle, playing the ukulele, trekking, and balancing rocks, often in various creative combinations. When he grows up he aspires to be a member of Kiva’s pirate ship monkey crew (preferably 1st mate).
Kitsie Lundell O’Neill first became fascinated by circus arts during her junior year at Moore College of Art & Design. Her Thesis focused on using traditional circus characters as a visual narrative to discuss individual and cultural identity. She took a sample aerial class in Shana Kennedy’s backyard for a fun stress-reliever during her Thesis development- and she was hooked. In the meantime, she graduated with a dual major in Fine Arts Photography and Graphic Design from Moore. After 5 years working in the corporate design world, Kitsie took the exhilarating circus leap and began working at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts in 2008. She currently serves as the school’s General Manager.
Brett is a lifelong Philadelphian, very active in city politics and culture. He was most recently the Executive Director of a non-profit organization working to help finance local public school districts. Previously, he was Executive Director of a Philadelphia citizens’ organization promoting tax, government, and ethics reform. He was Director of Financial and Policy Analysis under former City Controller Jonathan Saidel, and had a few other roles in local government. He has written two books on baseball and one book on Philadelphia government.
Kirsti Bracali is an architect turned project manager who works with cultural non-profits to manage their construction and exhibit projects. Museum, Theatre and cultural non-profits often hire consultants for the specialized expertise they need to oversee the design and construction phases rather than search for a short term employee. Kirsti builds the team, establishes the budget and monitors the overall schedule. She will oversee grant compliance and has applied for State RACP grants for clients. She enjoys breaking down a complex process into manageable tasks so that all stakeholders can participate in realizing the project success.
Kirsti’s three children have all participated in classes or camps at the Philadelphia Circus School. Her oldest daughter, Mia, loves aerials and now has a silk and a rope hanging (securely) in their yard. Circus has been great for building strength and confidence while providing an outlet for her creativity.
Vanessa Gennarelli is the Chief Operating Officer at Raise.dev, a venture-backed technology platform focused on helping professional developers advance their careers. An instructional designer by training, Vanessa has worked with Mozilla, Scratch, littleBits, Flat World Knowledge, Stellar.org, and Guru to develop content that teaches and delights customers. As the Senior Director at GitHub Education, she led a cross-functional team and a line of business for a company that was acquired by Microsoft. She has her Master’s from Harvard in Technology, Innovation and Education, is a former Research Intern at the MIT Media Lab, and graduate of the LEAD program at Stanford Business School.
Julie Goodman is an Associate Professor at Drexel University, where she conducts research and teaches courses in arts advocacy, cultural policy, and organizational strategy. She was previously Executive Vice President for the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.
She also works on consulting projects with arts organizations and artists such as Spiral Q and Fleisher Art Memorial. Goodman is a board member of the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE), Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania, Tribe of Fools, and the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation. She currently serves as Chair of the Mayor’s Cultural Advisory Council for the Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy. Julie earned a BA in Public Policy from Duke University and an MFA in Dance from Temple University. She is a former member of Trapezius Aerial Dance Company who has also performed with Leah Stein Dance Company, and developed choreography for Dancefusion’s fusion2. Her research examines arts advocacy and the value of arts and culture to individuals and communities. Recent publications include articles in the Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society and the American Journal of Arts Management, as well as the international urban studies website Metropolitics.
Kermit Roosevelt grew up in Washington DC and attended Harvard University and Yale Law School. After graduation, he clerked for Judge Stephen F. Williams on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice David H. Souter on the Supreme Court. After practicing law for two years in Chicago with the firm of Mayer, Brown, he came to Philadelphia in 2002 to begin teaching constitutional law at Penn. He discovered PSCA in 2013, while looking for summer camps for his then-five year-old daughter, fell instantly in love with it, and has taken classes with his daughter steadily since then.
Ali Rogers is a translation professional with over five years of industry experience translating everything from doctoral dissertations in chemistry to haute couture advertising copy. She is a member in good standing with the American Translator’s Association and has translated for large international corporations, NGOs, international organizations, and the French Embassy to the United States, among others. Since earning her MA in French translation and interpretation from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 2014, she has continued to reinvent herself both personally and professionally.
Despite spending her college years attending classes in Ringling family mansions in Sarasota, Florida, Ali’s circus journey did not begin in earnest until she wandered into an aerial fitness class in Atlanta in 2015. She was immediately smitten and went on to attend circus schools all over the United States and Europe. Her travels often take her to Ireland, where she has a number of contacts with leading circus professionals and artists, including the Fidget Feet aerial dance company and Taking Flight, an aerial studio in Dublin. Although she is a relative newcomer to this world, she is committed to advancing the profile of circus as an artistic discipline in its own right.
Vanessa Thomas Smith was born and raised in Philadelphia. She graduated from Temple University with a BFA in Dance performance and education. She was a performer for three years at Walt Disney World, dancer and administrator with The Philadelphia Dance Company (PHLADANCO) for a total of 16 years, and toured with American circuses from 1979 -1998. She was the First African American Female Ringmaster in American circus history. She is currently the Business Manager for Your Part-Time Controller, LLC, an accounting firm specializing in nonprofits with offices in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, New York City, Houston and Phoenix. She continues to teach ballet and Zumba 4 times / week.