One Day Circus Festival
Sunday March 12th, 2023
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Ever want to try all those amazing tricks you see at Cirque du Soleil?
This one day Circus Festival is a great opportunity to try exciting circus
skills in a fun and non-competitive environment.
Join us for 4 rounds of Workshops
Your choices of Aerial Silks, Aerial Cube, Aerial Hammock, Aerial Dance Trapeze, Juggling, Contortion/Flexibility, Handbalancing, Acrobatics
& Stiltwalking
WOW!!!
Hosted by Dance & Circus Arts of Tampa Bay
Cost $85
Ages 8+ (Adults, too!)
Beginner-Advanced Levels

Steps to fully Register:
1. Set up a Student Account for Festival below
(If you are already a Student with us, no need to do this step)
Everyone needs to pay the Workshop fee of $85.00

 ​2. Look through the Workshop Schedules below
3. Read through the Descriptions of Workshops below
to decide which are the best workshops for your skill level
​3. Email us with the NUMBER of the 4 workshops you want
and the name of the workshop listed below
(for example #1 Aerial Cube, #6 Aerial Silks,
​#13 Dance Trapeze, #18 Juggling.)
​Note: there are 4 rotations of workshops and
you pick ONE workshop per time slot.
4. We will then send you a confirmation of your choices
and further Festival information

PLEASE NOTE: You choose ONE Workshops from each time slot

 
​​"I would love to have this experience again. It was amazing and very exciting to learn something new!" -KR

"It reminded me that there are so many fun, new things to learn and try. I enjoyed the Instructors' skill and enthusiasm.  -MJ

"I had tons of fun!" -JB
​

COACHING STAFF for 2023 Festival

Amanda Renaud
Stiltwalking/Handbalancing/Acro 
 Amanda made her grand stage debut with the 1965 Academy Award winning Rogers and Hammerstein classic, "So Long, Farewell,” in her three year old ballet recital and has been looking for excuses to perform in front of audiences ever since.
Dance, renaissance festivals, and theatre productions filled her childhood(once all of her homework was done, of course).
After acquiring her master’s degree in education and producing 30 shows per week for a captive audience of public school teenagers, she realized that there had to be something out there that would get more cheers
than theoretical geometry.
In pursuit of the elusive standing ovation, she has fire danced in the Bahamas, sword fought all over the state of Florida, mermaided in Michigan, and masqueraded as every bit Shakespeare role left vacant after casting.
She sewed endless costumes and even directed a couple of original shows before Lily reached out the hand of partnership and the Topsy Turvy Show was born.
Now, Amanda’s lifetime of festival experience and arsenal of stupid human tricks have a focused direction until she is too broken (or broke) to continue and will return once again to being responsible for the education and betterment of your impressionable youth.
Katarina Danks
Flexibility/Contortion/
​Acro Choreography for Acts

Katarina Danks is a dancer, educator, coach/trainer and world-class performer trained in contortion, jazz and contemporary dance. Her performances are nothing short of eye-popping. Blending an artistic mix of body-bending contortion skills (she’s accomplished in Mongolian, European and contemporary contortion) with jazz and contemporary dance choreography and stage presence, Kat creates unique shapes in elegant inverted ways. She has appeared at numerous venues throughout Southwest Florida, including Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre (with Circus Transformus), Art Walks the Runway Fashion Show at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center and at the Fort Myers Film Festival’s T.G.I.M. screenings.
During her five-week tour of venues throughout Germany and Australia, she performed at well-attended variety shows produced by Ska Von Schoning’s Showbiz Productions, which now hosts contortion conventions and competitions in Las Vegas and other locations in the United States.
Since turning professional, Kat has won numerous awards in various recreational and professional competitions for performance, technique, stage presence, choreography, and the difficulty of her routines. She has performed for Showbiz Productions, National Geographic, Royal Hanneford Circus, International Contortion Convention, and Que Noche for Telemundo.

Katie Skiba
Aerial Hammock/Sling
At the age of 25, Katie began her aerial artistry at Dance and Circus Arts of Tampa Bay based in Clearwater, Florida. 3 years later, she then moved on to begin her professional journey on the Space Coast of Florida. In Melbourne, she acquired a teaching position at a local studio. In this environment, she was able to develop skills including but not limited to: Acting, Dance, Choreography, Class Development, Costume Design, Directing, and Stage Management. By participating as a performer as well as working on production teams, she became well rounded in what happens on both sides of the process. After deciding to pursue her circus career, Katie opened her own Aerial/Crossfit gym named ‘Cirque Athletics’, located in Melbourne, and began training daily in different types of aerial, flexibility, weightlifting and general fitness. With this opportunity, she had the ability to train and gain strength with experts in their respective fields. Her specializations are Aerial Sling and Aerial Hoop, but has also been formally trained in Silks, Single-Point Trapeze, Contortion, and Olympic Weightlifting. As soon as her gym opened, Katie started producing and directing her own shows with involvement from members and local artists. Having also done private events, corporate gigs, and competitions, she has acquired the versatility to perform in many different manners of production. When Katie’s not busy running a gym or performing, she loves going out and trying new restaurants and buying things she doesn’t need at Target.

Tori Bryan
​Aerial Cube
Tori’s aerial journey began in 2019 at the age of 26, when she took her first class at Cirque Athletics in Melbourne, Florida. What was originally supposed to be a fun hobby, ended up changing the entire direction of her life. Having such excellent coaches inspired her to share her love for aerial and become a coach as well.  Tori now specializes in Aerial Cube and Aerial Sling, but she has also been formally trained in Silks, Single-Point Trapeze, and Lyra. In addition to being a performer, she has also contributed creatively to productions hosted by Cirque Athletics. She is responsible for creating character makeup looks, training cast in makeup and hair techniques, and choreographing aerial routines. Today you can find her coaching intermediate-advanced aerial, CrossFit, leading the Front Desk team, and organizing performances both in and outside of the gym. Tori’s favorite ways to spend her time outside of the gym are roller skating and traveling to music festivals.

Carlynn Kenna
Aerial Dance Trapeze
We're very fortunate to have found Carlynn after she relocated here from Georgia!
Trained at Canopy Studios in Athens, GA.
Carlynn has extensive experience in all things aerial, performing & teaching.
She is also an Occupational Therapist who has enjoyed blending art and science, facilitating the development of children with special needs through Circus Arts therapy.
We'll be introducing her spunky personality to the Tampa Bay area with her flying aerial dance trapeze workshops for beginner and intermediate/advanced level trapeze students.
​
Noah Royak
Juggling & Utter Silliness
From Las Vegas to Dubai, Nerdy Noah's unique interpretation of the art of juggling will bring him fame and fortune. Genius like this is rarely appreciated until it's too late. But luckily, you're ahead of the curve; one of the few to recognize that these zany stunts are perfect for ages 1 - 100! You're under 100 right? GOOD, because this show is sure to shock and awe anyone who gets too close when Noah juggles tazers. You want singing and dancing? Well, sorry, that's tomorrow night... but if you want to have a duel with a man on a mini-bicycle, you're in the right place! So what are you waiting for? Tuck in your shirt, brush that tooth, and come get Nerdy!
 
See more of Noah:
https://www.nerdynoahshow.com/
 

Marina Petrano
Handbalancing/Acro
Marina is a contortionist, actor, and aerialist. Her job as  actorbat has thrilled audiences from Key West to Kuwait with her zany onstage personality. Marina began her journey to the stage when she joined a weapons performance ensemble at 13 years old. After graduating The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts in 2010 she was introduced to circus by being cast in a production of Carnival. When the production ended Marina began studying at the New England Center For Circus Arts. She graduated NECCA in 2013 and has been on the road full time ever since performing for The Avenues Kuwait, M. Night Shyamalan Foundation, Victoria Buskerfest, Dundas Buskerfest, Greenies, Bush Gardens, Boston Circus Guild, Hendricks Gin, Aerial Angels, countless festivals, and many more! Marina has also coached nation-wide at thespian festivals, art schools, dance programs, circus schools and over 20 full sized productions coast to coast with Starfish Circus, an outreach circus program. But mostly, Marina aims to turn the world upside down, inside out, and tangled with laughter! 

Looking forward to circus-ing with you this year!