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Cirque & Dance Up-Close
Summer Heat
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Come see our amazing dance
and circus faculty and staff perform in an
intimate atmosphere!
Location:
Charlotte Cirque & Dance Center
9315-E Monroe Road
Charlotte, NC 28270
Saturday, June 25
3pm & 7pm
Caroline Calouche
Floor Partnering
Elly Craig
Cyr Wheel & Floor Partnering
Rebecca Starr
Lyra
Shaun Wilson
Trapeze, Acrobatics
Nicole Muse-Dennis
Contemporary Dance
Kiana Pieters
Aerial Silks
Kristin Bridges
Aerial Silks
Kristin Bridges is from Winston-Salem, NC and discovered her passion for the arts through community theatre. She attended UNC Greensboro for Theatre and The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York for Musical Theatre Performance. While in New York she worked with HHC Marketing, Telsey Casting, and was Marketing and Creative Director for Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival. She moved to Charlotte in 2016 and discovered her love of Aerial Arts with Aerial CLT and currently trains at Bloom Movement Artistry. While aerial silks is her apparatus of choice, she does enjoy training other disciplines like sling, lyra, trapeze, hand balancing, contortion, and a variety of dance styles and is so thankful to be a part of the circus and dance community.
Kristin Bridges Bio
Caroline Calouche has taught contemporary dance, Pilates, Gyrokinesis and ballet at UNC Charlotte, Winthrop University, The Belmont School of Ballet, Gaston Dance Theatre and The School of North Carolina Dance Theatre. Her dance and fitness teaching background has allowed her to become a sought after aerial dance instructor. Not only has Caroline developed a safe method and syllabus of teaching Aerial Silk, Sling, Trapeze, Lyra, Corde Lisse and Spanish Web, she is able to teach students how to incorporate floor work with their apparatus to seamlessly move from the ground up and back again. With her strong anatomy and physiology background, Caroline focuses on proper alignment in the air and on the ground to prevent injury and promote efficient movement. Caroline’s aerial and dance training is diverse. In the air, she has worked with Juliana Hane, Nicole Merman, Elsie and Serenity Smith, Christine van Loo, Caroline Wright, Jamie Hodgson, Tanya Burka, Cheetah Platt, Kevin O’Connor, Allie Cooper, Nancy Smith and Susan Murphy. While on the ground, Caroline’s influential teachers range from Leah Cox (Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company), Elizabeth Corbett (Forsythe Composition), Libby Farr (Ballet), Andrew Harwood (Contact Improvisation), Fernando Bujones (Ballet), Elizabeth Gillaspy (Ballet), Susan Douglas Roberts (Contemporary), Brenda Daniels (Modern Dance) to name a few on an endless list of amazing teachers!
Caroline Calouche Bio
Elly Craig Bio
Elly Craig is an enthusiastic, driven, and sparkly person who has a wonder for the world and is always trying to find ways to make it a happier, healthier place. They began circusing at just 3 years old in a family trapeze class; since then, they have always found their happy place within the circus community. They followed their passion and air for adventure by moving to Norway to attend a circus boarding school, then returned state side to attend NECCA’s Pro-Track program. Elly’s performance specialties include Cyr Wheel, Partner Acrobatics, and German Wheel. They are so very pleased to get to share circus with the world through coaching and give others the opportunity to experience all the joy that comes with movement expression.
Nicole Muse-Dennis Bio
Nicole Muse-Dennis is originally from Queens, New York where she began dancing at the age of 3. Nicole has studied tap, jazz, ballet, modern/contemporary, pointe, and African forms of dance. Nicole’s teaching and choreography first began as a teenager where she and two other students were given the opportunity to compose all choreography and all instruction for the dance class at her high school. Nicole continued this into college where she was the principal dancer and choreographer for the Association of Rhythmic Talent on the campus of Winston-Salem State University. Nicole also served as the assistant to the director of The Artistic Studio in Winston-Salem State University. She taught for the Performing Arts Center in Charlotte, NC. Nicole is also the co-founder FLOW liturgical dance ministry. Nicole’s resume is full of guest teaching tenures at studios, schools, churches, and workshops as her company Muse Inspired Arts. Her performance experience includes theatrical dance performances including being cast as Mary in the National Black Repertory Theater’s production of the Black Nativity. Nicole is the mother of two daughters. She is a licensed teacher for the State of North Carolina. Her friends and family describe her as loyal, passionate, and creative. Her passion is in helping dancers reach new heights by actualizing the beauty and power that they have in themselves.
Kiana Pieters grew up in Mexico and moved to Charlotte to pursue arts and performance after graduating from Messiah University (PA) in 2021. She grew up dancing and dabbling in gymnastics, karate, and a bit of aerial silks whenever she got a chance. When she moved to the U.S. for college, she got involved in theatre and musical theatre, and after graduating decided to dedicate herself to fully pursuing aerial and cirque. She trains at Charlotte Cirque & Dance Center, focusing on silks, lyra, German Wheel, and contemporary dance, and continues to enjoy learning and discovering new disciplines and skills. She loves to bring joy to others through music, movement, and performance, and is passionate about encouraging and inspiring others.
Kiana Pietes Bio
Rebecca Starr got her start in gymnastics at the age of 3 and has been moving ever since! After years of competing she found her true love, performance and the Circus Arts. In the early 2000s Rebecca studied dance and movement at San Diego State University, while performing with the Fern Street Circus and Cirque de la Mer. Rebecca is the co-founder of Lyralicious, a duo specializing in aerial hoop. She performed worldwide as part of Lyralicious for many years. She has been featured on MTV’s MADE, NY Ink, and CBS This Morning; and performed with Cirque Dreams, “The Girlie Show”, L.A Circus, Quixotic Fusion, Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Festival, San Diego Symphony, Middlebury Opera Company, and countless more special events, corporate productions, and galas. Rebecca was an integral part of the emerging world of Pole Fitness in the early 2010s; she competed, performed and judged internationally for several years. Recently, Rebecca has been traveling the world as a master instructor, doing tours and residencies at circus schools and studios across the globe. Since 2016 she has coached and choreographed for the Circus Smirkus Big Top Tour. She is currently the Head of Aerial Arts at Circadium School of Contemporary Circus, where she teaches Lyra, Pole, Contortion, and Acrobatics.
Rebcca Strr Bio
Shaun Wilson Coming all the way from sunny Melbourne, Florida (where NASA is located), Shaun Wilson is a cheerleader gone dancer gone aerialist. With over 12 years of performance experience under his belt, he has trained in ballroom, jazz, hip-hop, gymnastics, and aerial arts. With a passion for teaching and sharing, Shaun has coached dance and tumbling at various dance centers, with students ranging from kindergartners to adults. In his free time, Shaun enjoys all types of outdoor activities, including skating, swimming, hiking, and kayaking. When he is not outside, he is either playing Mariokart or binge-watching Netflix dramas.
Shaun Wilson
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