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> About Us > Instructors
Instructors
Our teachers come from all over the world with diverse backgrounds coaching, performing and choreographing in circus as well as dance, gymnastics, stunts and theater.
Important to NECCA and our teachers is that all classes & training focus on body awareness, self confidence & fun so whether the acrobat is a budding professional or recreational beginner they can learn life skills. Through the medium of circus we hope to teach that determination, hard work & team building can lead to healthier & happier bodies for every day life, as well as how to be a skillful artist & athlete.
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Tony Duncan
has entertained in many venues all over the world from circuses & nightclubs to corporate shows, colleges, & cruise ships. He received rave reviews in the Broadway show Sugar Babies & has opened for such comedic stars as Jeff Foxworthy, Tony Randall & Henny Youngman. He recently worked with Martha Stewart both on her K-Mart commercials & in her TV show. Tony is the winner of the 1994 World Juggling Championship & took home top honors at the Variety Artists World Cup in Japan by being named most original act in 1995 & most impressive act in 1996. www.jentony.com. |
Bill Forchion
was born & raised in New Jersey & has spent most of his life persistently seeking attention. Bill attended Ringling Bros. Clown College after graduating from the American Musical & Dramatic Academy. He toured with Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus, clowned for sick children with the Big Apple Clown Care Unit, joined San Francisco's Pickle Family Circus & toured for 4 years with Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco as an acrobat & character. He also works as a stuntman & actor in TV & film including appearing as an elf in the movie The Polar Express & as Yankee Elston Howard in ESPN miniseries The Bronx is Burning. Currently he can be found performing for Nimble Arts, teaching at the New England Center for Circus Arts, or writing & directing films. |
Serenity Smith Forchion
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Executive Director & Instructor
Serenity Smith Forchion is a founder of Nimble Arts and Gemini Trapeze. Together with her twin sister she performed for Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco for 4 years as a duo trapezist. Her other performing experiences include Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus, Circus of the Kids, the New Pickle Circus, Cirque Productions, Cirque Voila, Sandglass Theater and numerous television and corporate appearances. Serenity has taught and choreographed for many companies including Pilobolus, Cirque du Soleil, Canopy Aerial Dance Studio, Air Dance Bernasconi, AirPlay, Circus Smirkus and Canobie Lake Amusement Park. Serenity also performs duo acrobatics with her husband Bill Forchion, and with Gemini Trapeze and the Nimble Arts performing troupe. Serenity helped found the San Francisco School of Circus Arts & was Pilates captain for Satlimbanco where she worked closely with physical therapists to promote injury prevention & rehabilitation. Serenity and Elsie have developed a unique curriculum and teaching methodology for aerial circus arts. They maintain parallel teaching, coaching and performing careers. Serenity reside son a farm in Guilford, VT where she gardens and runs with her family, including sons Zeb and Quin.
trapeze@sover.net
www.trapezetwins.com |
Deena Marcum Frank
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Deena comes to the circus world through her extensive training in dance and acrobatics. She has trained with the Oakland Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Boston Ballet, the Henry Jurriens School of Dance in
Amsterdam, and holds a BFA in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College in NYC. She has trained as an aerialist with Chelsea Bacon and at the Aerial Dance Festival in Boulder, CO, where she first met Elsie and Serenity. Deena has performed as an aerialist in New York City's
Webster Hall, Galapagos Arts Space and at the Clemente Soto Velez Theater, in Boston's Clubs Avalon and Felt, with Pendulum Aerial Dance Theatre in Portland, Oregon, and at the Dell'Arte School For Physical Theatre in Northern California, and as a clown in The Clown Festival at The Brick Theater, in Brooklyn, NY. Deena taught for Circus Smirkus Summer Camp for three years, where she met her husband Danny.
Deena is also a Certified Yoga Teacher, Certified Gyrotonic Teacher, and a trained Birth and Postpartum Doula. She is thrilled to be living in Brattleboro with Danny and their baby Ruby and working for NECCA. |
Mark Harding
has been coaching, training and performing circus arts for the past 8 years. He studied clowning, flying trapeze and acrobatics at The San Francisco Circus Center, and was a certified USGA coach, levels 1 8. He has established and administered workshops for specialty programs and institutions throughout the nation, developing acrobatic and clowning opportunities for Chicago's inner city youth, and other programming geared to students with special needs. He has been teaching flying trapeze and acrobatics with Nimble Arts since 2005, and has recently created and begun performing a unique duo aerial act created with Nimble Arts. He continues to teach for the New England Center for Circus Arts when not performing. www.cirkadence.com. |
Arlie Hart
began swinging on things as soon as he was old enough to walk and has reveled in a lifetime of adventures. Arlie builds circus equipment and teaches flying trapeze. He has headed the Nimble Arts flying program since 2003, after he left Trapeze School New York for the quiet of Vermont. He continues to teach for the New England Center for Circus Arts. Arlie has greatly enjoyed expanding his aerial repertoire by choreographing and performing with the other artists in the burgeoning circus community in Southern Vermont. |
Tammy Keeney
is a Chicagoland area native that began her circus career at Illinois State University's Gamma Phi Circus while obtaining her Physical Education teaching degree. She has over 25 years experience in teaching circus arts throughout the US. Her circus background includes performing and teaching with Circus of the Kids, Royal Lichtenstein Circus, Little Top Circus and Juggler's Jam Circus. Other performing experiences include animating as Odie, Jay-Jay the Jet Plane and as Garfield with it's creator Jim Davis. Her puppeteer experience includes Arnold, Liz & Wanda on the Magic School Bus. National Geographic's World Tour, Disney World & The Early Show were some of her highlights. Tammy now resides in MA with her family. |
Suzanne Rappaport
was born and raised in New Jersey. She had an average suburban childhood with art lessons and Girl Scouts. She enjoyed the arts so much that when she went on to college she attained a double degree in painting and photography. She never considered herself a performer in any capacity, until she discovered circus on a Club Med vacation when she went on the flying trapeze. It was love at first flight and she started to research and train on other aerial apparatus. Since her humble first days in a knee hang, Suzanne has studied with Nimble Arts in Brattleboro, VT, Laura Witwer in Brooklyn, NY and the Aerial Dance Festival in Boulder, CO. |
Cody Schreger
graduated from Bard College with a degree in dance choreography. She moved to Brattleboro to teach and train at Nimble Arts. Cody has taught flying trapeze, acrobatics and circus skills at TSNY, Future Stars, Kidfit, Independent Lake Camp and a community outreach program through Bard College. Cody started performing with Cirque Boom in 2003 and currently performs both solo and duo acts for Nimble Arts and continues to teach for the New England Center for Circus Arts when she is not on tour performing. www.cirkadence.com. |
Bronwyn Sims
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is an actor, acrobat and educator. She has appeared in movies (Next Stop Wonderland, Dischord, Enough Already, Trial by Fire) and on television including a role in the Emmy award winning first season of The Sopranos. Her NYC stage credits include productions with The NYC OPERA at Lincoln Center, La MAMA E.T.C, The National Black Theatre, The Kitchen, HERE Arts Center, Blue Heron Theatre, Galapagos, One Arm Red, The Slipper Room, Artists of Tomorrow Festival with Six Figures Theatre, The NYC Clown Theatre Festival at The Brick Theatre & The International Dance Festival at The Duke Theatre. Regional stage credits include The American Repertory Theatre, Raven Theatrical, Speakeasy Stage Company, and a European Tour with Sandglass Theatre. As an Acrobat and Aerialist she has performed with The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, LAVA, Odonata Dance Project, Cirque Boom, Wise Fool & Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Festival. She is a Founding member of The NYC Circus Theatre company KIRKOS. As an educator Bronwyn has taught classes and workshops at Colorado College, University of New Hampshire, University of Florida, Streb/ Slam, The Trapeze Loft and numerous other yoga, dance, and aerial studios throughout New England and NYC. Bronwyn currently performs with the Nimble Arts Touring Company and teaches aerial and circus arts at The New England Center for Circus Arts. She is also in collaboration on a new work to premiere Fall 2008. www.bronwynsims.com |
Elsie Smith
Artistic Director & Instructor
Elsie Smith is a founder of Nimble Arts and Gemini Trapeze. Together with her twin sister she performed for Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco for 4 years as a duo trapezist. Her performing experience includes Cirque Productions, Cirque Voila, Women Who Fly, Sandglass Theater and numerous television and corporate appearances. Elsie has taught and choreographed for many companies including Pilobolus, Cirque du Soleil, Canopy Aerial Dance Studio, Air Dance Bernasconi, Umo Ensemble, Circus Smirkus, Actor's Gymnasium and Sea World San Antonio. She has a Coaches Certification in trampoline and she and Serenity have developed a unique curriculum and teaching methodology for aerial circus arts. They maintain parallel teaching, coaching and performing careers. Elsie resides on a farm in Guilford, VT where she relaxes with her husband in between harvests.
trapeze@sover.net
www.trapezetwins.com.
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Adam Woolley
A recent graduate of the theater conservatory at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Adam moved to Brattleboro in 2007 to pursue training at the New England Center for Circus Arts. He has studied movement and theatre all over the country: he was a Musical Theatre major at Emerson College for two years, during which time he studied theatre abroad in Europe and Indonesia. He trained briefly at the San Francisco Center for Circus Arts before finishing his degree in directing at NC School of the Arts. Since moving to the area, Adam has become deeply involved with both NECCA and NEYT, and continues to deepen his devotion towards bringing theater and circus together. |
Caroline Wright
started doing circus as part of her school's curriculum in 7th grade. She performed with Flying Gravity Circus for 3 years, helping other Waldorf schools start their own circus programs. Caroline taught circus skills, acrobatics, various aerials and flying trapeze at Camp Lindenmere. Caroline began training with Nimble Arts in 2002 and continues to work with NECCA as an instructor. |
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"Thank you for making trapeze available! The class this weekend was amazing, and I can't wait to get back up there. Arlie is a fantastic teacher - he doesn't give you the chance to be indecisive, he really pinpointed those little details that make all the difference and thereby instills confidence, and I think even if I fell flat on my face he would find something positive to say about it! ...Anyway, I'm still flying inside..."
Kate Guerrina
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