Bianca Sapetto: Artistic Director
My life long passion for the performing arts began with rhythmic gymnastics, claiming five US National Champion titles and was alternate for the 1992 Olympic Team.
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Cirque du Soleil’s recruited me for its production, “Quidam”, where I performed 1001 shows. I joined Debra Brown’s experimental performance company, “Apogee”, merging theatrical circus and extreme modern dance.
For nearly a decade I was a lead performer, choreographer and associate director at Teatro Zinzanni, an interactive and immersive theater company specializing in dismantling the fourth wall with some of the most renowned talents in theatrical circus, music, comedy, and theater. I’ve done motion capture for the films, “The Red Planet”, “Matrix Reloaded” and current game development for Sony.
I wrote, directed, choreographed, and performed First Ritual, the opening of Burning Man 2017, disassembling gender perceptions of the iconic Burning Man figure by having it give birth, pulling the audience into a sacred ceremony of midwifery.
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Other notable productions choreographed are “Carmina Burana” for the Michigan Opera, the Grammy Awards, Camerata Tango (the only aerial dance production to be endorsed by the Astor Piazzolla Foundation), the Tonight Show, Good Morning America, TJ Maxx National Arena Tour of the 2004 Olympic Gymnastic teams. I performed at the Summit of the Americas for all of the presidents and prime ministers of North and South America, Formula One, the American Music Awards, Teen’s Choice Awards, Sebastian World Tour, and the SAG Stunt Awards.
I teach “Physical Creative” workshops inspiring body as a creative tool at USC, Esalen, PEN USA, am a master teacher and program developer at cirque schools nationwide. I am a certified yoga instructor, studied comparative religion at Amherst College, and am an LA native.
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Christine Deaver
Christine is an actor, singer, writer, director and voiceover artist. She has headlined with Teatro Zinzanni for 15 years and has created and performed a plethora of unique and zany characters. She has worked extensively in theater, film and television in Los Angeles and abroad and is a recipient of numerous Garland, Ovation and LA Weekly awards for her work in the theater. She has written and performed several one woman shows and has toured them across North America, Asia, Europe, and Mexico.
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Robin Finck
Robin Finck is a renowned guitar player and composer, consistently headlining cutting-edge stages across the globe with Nine Inch Nails and with Guns N' Roses for more than twenty years. He was an original cast member of Cirque Du Soleil's Quidam. Robin lives in Los Angeles and records music for video games.
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Morgan Sorne
SORNE is an enigma. A true polymath in the highest sense of the word. A multi-disciplinary, award-winning, prolific visual artist, musician, actor and filmmaker, boasting an unparalleled vocal range with perfect pitch. He brings listeners to tears with his angelic falsetto, and churns crowds into a writhing frenzy with his other-worldly sound.
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Sorne has been featured in Rolling Stone magazine’s top 50 finds at South By Southwest in 2015 and Art in America for the 2009 Texas Biennial. He has performed and shown his work at some of the most prestigious venues in America and Europe, winning over the hearts and minds of audiences at Art Basel Miami, Irving Plaza in New York and Ableton's LOOP conference in Berlin.
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Having performed on the stage since the age of three, Morgan has passionately pursued his career at all levels, earning a BFA in studio art, and has achieved the critical acclaim of noteworthy musicians and creative titans of the performing arts. To date, he has received Avant Garde Artist of the Year by the Austin Music Awards, successfully funded and fulfilled a Kickstarter for his epic, six-album opera, House of Stone, currently developing a new live experience with Dolby and illustrating a 200-page graphic novel with actor, poet and musician Saul Williams entitled "Martyr Loser King" to be released internationally through First: Second Books in 2019.
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Stephan Choiniere
Stephan created and performed the featured duo, “Body2Body” in over 1000 shows for Cirque du Soleil in their Las Vegas production, Zumanity. After his competition years as an elite gymnast, Stephan became a principle performer with the troupe, AntiGravity, performing at The Metropolitan Opera House, Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, MTV's Video Music Awards, the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and a featured entertainer at special events for George Lucas, Richard Branson, George Soros and Paul Newman. Stephan holds a degree in fine arts from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. He collaborates as the subject for fine-art photographers, and is honored to be a favorite model for the world-renown sculptor, Richard MacDonald.
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Daniel Passer
Daniel Passer creates work as a performer, writer and director. For the over a decade, Daniel has been a lead Clown and Comedy Conceptor for Cirque du Soleil and Dragone Entertainment. He was the comedy and clown act designer for Cirque’s critically acclaimed Zarkana and comic performer and creator for Franco Dragone’s spectacle Le Reve which continues to run in Las Vegas. Credits include plays on Broadway and across the globe at venues such as Radio City Music Hall, The Beacon Theater, The Goodman, The American Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Madrid Stadium, Moscow Art Theatre and The Kremlin. He collaborated and performed in the opening ceremony for Burning Man with a world class ensemble of aerialists, acrobats and dancers. He has performed with the ensembles of The Actors’ Gang, Cornerstone Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company and is a founding member of the international clown companies Your New Best Friends, Gods of Sex and The Rotten Plantains. Daniel is co-founder of Darkstage Theatre Company, a company dedicated to touring the maximum-security prisons in California. Darkstage’s production of The Maids received the ArtsReach and William James Association Grants for its San Quentin Prison production.
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Andrew Adams and Sasha Harrington
Andrew Adams and Sasha Harrington began their circus careers on opposite sides of the country with opposite disciplines: Andrew as a juggler in New York and Sasha as a gymnast in California. Andrew later became an aerial straps artist and went on to perform with Teatro Zinzanni and Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity. They came together in Las Vegas where Andrew was doing high wire in Spiegelworld's "Absinthe" and Sasha was doing straps in Cirque du Soleil's "Love". There they created a duo straps act with an umbrella and competed in Cirque de Demain in Paris, France- winning a special prize, the Artè Award. They have also both performed with Circus Flora in St. Louis and Circus Roncalli in Germany. Sasha and Andrew are both thrilled to be involved with Tails from the Menagerie.
Alicia Cutaia
Alicia Cutaia, Co-Director of ARC in Movement, earned her BFA with honors in Ballet and Jazz dance from Point Park University Since then she has toured the world working for a multitude of some of the finest dance companies and studios in the world. Along her journey she fell in love with circus performance and became a professional fire dancer and harness aerialist. Alicia has performed these skills with The Circus Project, Rose City Circus, Flamebouyant Productions, BodyVox and many more. In the Summer of 2014. Alicia and Russ Stark formed ARC in Movement after years of collaboration in a variety of productions. Using Cutaia and Stark's complementary artistry and joy of movement, ARC gracefully combines the dance, fire and circus performance worlds to create an awe-inspiring synthesis of artistic mediums. Teaching and creating choreography is also a large part of Alicia's life. She teaches youth through adults helping them understand and refine movement. In addition to teaching all forms of dance Alicia teaches specialized dance and movement creation classes for aerialists, acrobats, prop manipulators, rhythmic gymnasts and figure skaters. She has also set works on companies and studios across the country with choreography that have won many awards.
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Russ Stark
Russ is an Aerial Acrobat, TV and Film performer, Gymnast, Acrobatic Instructor, and Aerial Apparatus Rigger. He received his training from Bitterroot Gymnastics Center, University of Montana and Cirque du Soleil.
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Mr. Stark's live performances and industrials have included Target, Wal-Mart, Rite Aid, American Music Awards Enrique Iglesias), Grammy Awards, Fiat International, Olympic Tour of Champions, Cirque du Soleil (Quidam and Dralion), Detroit Opera House, Lady Gaga, Cirque Berserk, Ledzaerial, Cirque Mechanics just to name a few.
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His TV and Film performances have included Water for Elephants, Chronicles of Riddick, Walt Disney’s Zack and Cody. He is also trained in teaching Aerial Harness, Silks, Corde lisse, Spanish Web, German Wheel, Trampoline Wall, Artistic Gymnastics and Acro for Dancers. Mr. Stark has also traveled throughout SoutAmerica to do Community Outreach. He also enjoys traveling nationally conducting Acro and Gymnastics Master Classes, Workshops and Intensives.
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Kate St. Pierre
As an interdisciplinary artist and director, Kate has recorded multiple film scores and soundtracks. Kate's voice and composition were nominated for a 2004 Drama Desk Award for Music. Kate was the original singer for La Reve and has sung with Cirque du Soleil as the lead soloist in KA.
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Kate is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Theatre Director's Lab and Artistic Director of the award winning The LAB LVC, an experimental, interdisciplinary theatre company in Las Vegas. Kate loves to create through immersive, physical storytelling, often in found or pop-up spaces.
Kate is an artist in residence with the Nevada Arts Council. A specialist in arts integration in education, Kate has worked with educators of Pre-K thru grades 12 for over 10 years. Through The LAB LV, Kate teaches and brings world renowned artists to Las Vegas to offer unique, affordable, challenging opportunities for professional and emerging artists of all backgrounds including dance, circus, theatre, music, video and design.
Martin St-Pierre
A front man in both violin performance and composition, Martin St-Pierre is renown for his versatility, specializing in Classical, Rock and World Music. St-Pierre has extensive knowledge of traditional Chinese, North Indian Classical, Turkish and various Middle Eastern styles of music. St-Pierre collects and plays stringed and bowed instrument from all over the world including Mongolia and Eastern Europe. Martin’s erhu and yailli tambur solos were regularly featured on Bear McCreary’s Battlestar Galactica’s score, soundtrack and Socom 4 video game.
As a classical and contemporary violinist, St-Pierre has performed with multiple orchestras including the world renown Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and I Musici. St-Pierre’s many projects have included members of White Zombie, NIN, Perfect Circle and Primus, to name a few. His own group, Opium Machine, performed at Coachella 2007. St-Pierre has recorded, arranged and performed with Trent Reznor, was the original violinist for Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam, performed with Cheval Theatre and currently performs as a violinist and assistant band leader in Cirque Du Soleil’s original Las Vegas masterpiece, Mystere.
Peter Fand
Peter Fand is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator from New York. He is a 7 year Cirque du Soleil veteran, as an original cast member of their production “Zarkana,” and bass player in the touring production “Kooza.” He's performed for decades as an instrumentalist and singer with his own ensembles and as a percussionist in the Broadway production of “The Lion King”.
Peter has appeared at many of New York’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Symphony Space, The Apollo Theater, and countless smaller venues. Additionally, he has appeared on many of the great stages of the world, including two-month residencies at The Kremlin Palace Theater in Moscow, Russia, and The Madrid Arena in Madrid, Spain, as well as many other theaters and venues around Europe, South America, Australia and Africa. Peter has appeared on over 40 CD’s as an instrumentalist, songwriter and composer, and has composed/performed music for films and television.
