workshop leaders
Ana Cerrato (Corde Lisse; Silks)
Ana joined the Circus Maniacs full time professional course in 2005, and specialised in aerial silks and corde lisse.
After a six-month tour of North India as an aerial performer, she is back in Bristol, where she teaches tissu to the full time students and develops new skills on the aerial hoop.
Also a professionally trained nurse, she is very much into hatha yoga, rock climbing and any kind of physical movement that involves strenghth and flexibility, and can look pretty and be good for you!
Drew Hewett (Aerial Bungies; Rigging)
Born in Libya and growing up between England and Africa, Drew has always had an interest in the air and flying. This eventually led to a general interest in gymnastics, trampoline, climbing trees and qualifying as a parachutist.
He co-founded Prometheus, a medium-scale circus, theatre, and fire company that performed at festivals and council events, and later went on to specializing in trapeze duo work with Higher Motion, best known for the popular and moving Tale Of The Cornish Mermaid that ran for three years at outdoor events around the country.
Following this, Streets Of The South West commissioned a crane performance for its Plymouth event after seeing the act in Brighton.
Not content with this, Drew invented a new version of bungees as Plastique. This double bungee act was created to give the maximum dynamic spectacle with simple setup requirements. The Bristol Harbourside Festival then commissioned The Sea Queen, which enabled more development of crane performance, using one of the dockside cranes!
In 2003, Drew created an oriental acrobatic- and wire- based martial arts performance for Tokyo Moon corporate parties at Circus Space. He has also worked for Opera North, Birmingham Rep and No Fit State Circus in acrobatic and aerial roles.
Skilled in trapeze, bungees and stilts, Drew is also an experienced rigger for aerial acts and loves designing new aerial ideas.
Saara Gould-Haines (Aerial; Youth Circus; Theatre)
Saara hails from the far away land of Canada, where she completed a Bachelor Degree in Theatre (Hons) before moving into the world of street theatre and giant puppetry. Through the course of her degree and various studies, Saara has studied clowning, physical theatre, Commedia Dell'Arte and Improvisation.
While working for the Clay & Paper Theatre Company in Toronto, Saara learned how to stiltwalk and subsequently became a stiltdancer for the company, participating in three years' worth of parades and shows including the annual parade, Night Of Dread!
She then decided to try her hand at aerial skills and fell madly in love with the Aerial Hoop, training at the Toronto School Of Circus Arts, Nimble Arts in Vermont, and the full-time program at Circus Maniacs. She has since performed on her hoop in various festivals and events including the Ottawa Tulip Festival, Winterlude and numerous nightclubs in the Ottawa area.
Saara is now living and working in Bristol while coaching both children and adults at Circus Maniacs.
Juan Herrera (Juggling; General Circus; Physical Theatre)
Juan was born in Buenos Aires. He studied and trained in Drama and Circus Skills both at CCRR Circus School in Argentina, and in England where he has been based since 1996. Whilst studying at Circomedia, he specialized in physical theatre and manipulation skills. He has taught theatre and clowning in both countries, and is also qualified as a playworker.
In 2000, Juan co-founded the Miren Theatre Company, his wish being "to explore the fascinating depths of clowning, pushing the boundaries of physical expression and expanding its vocabulary in order to communicate stories, exposing people from all backgrounds to issues not commonly addressed, in a way that resonates with humour and truth"!
Juan is also a very keen fencer!
Barry Grantham (Commedia Del Arte; Eccentric Dance)
Barry trained as a dancer with Idzikowski of the Diaghilev Company, appearing with the Monte Carlo Ballet and in the famous film The Red Shoes.
He is also the author of the book Playing Commedia: A Training Guide To Commedia Techniques, a must-have reference for anyone interested in studying Commedia Del'Arte!
Barry's wealth of experience in dance, mime, music-hall and theatre means that he is sought after world-wide as a performer, advisor, director and teacher.
Kate Waters (Stage Fighting)
Kate works as an actress, fight director, choreographer, and also as a freelance stage-fighting teacher.
She trained at Middlesex University, graduating with a BA in Acting, and then went on to train as a fight director with Jonathan Howell. She is only the second woman ever to become an Equity-registered Fight Director.
Kate has worked in film, TV and on stage, including many Shakespearian productions, and teaches regularly at the Welsh College Of Music & Drama. She has coached many actors through the BADC Foundation and other BADC exams.
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