The Artist Athlete Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode #24-Part 1: Directing Ringling Brothers with Steve Smith Sep 24, 2018

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Please won’t you be a Patreon?: http://www.patreon.com/theartistathlete

Steve Smith, clown name TJ Tatters, is in the Clown Hall of Fame, won 5 Emmy Awards, served as Dean of The Ringling Clown College, and directed for Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey, The Big Apple Circus, and many other notable productions. In part 1 of this interview, he talks about his beginnings as a clown, and provides insight into what is necessary to direct circus on a large scale.

This podcast is dedicated to CIRCUS. Aerialist, Shannon McKenna interviews guests from acrobats in Cirque du Soleil to circus therapists and everyone in between. Learn the backstage lives of those who flip, twist, sparkle, and shine under the big top.

Shannon McKenna is an internationally recognized circus performer and coach. For the past decade, she has been a freelance artist: giving workshops and classes across 7 countries and worked on both traditional and contemporary circus shows in the US, Portugal, Germany, and Australia including the Shrine Circus and SOAP. She holds a BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with a concentration on post-modern physical theater (how's that for a mouthful?). She founded The Artist Athlete in 2018 as a means to produce educational materials about circus arts including a line of e-books to help aerial artists train safely and a podcast in which she interviews experts in the industry about their careers. If you're reading this, you're probably listening to it. Thank you! She currently lives in whichever circus community is the warmest. Find her online: www.theartistathlete.com Facebook: The Artist Athlete Instagram: @the_artist_athlete

Episode #23: Traditional Mongolian Contortion with Serchmaa Byamba Sep 17, 2018

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Please won’t you be a Patreon?: http://www.patreon.com/theartistathlete

My guest today is contortionist and contortion instructor Serchmaa Byamba.

As a young girl, Serchmaa was inspired by a Contortion act she watched on Mongolian National TV. She began her performance career as a state sponsored artist in 1989 when Mongolia was still a communist country. After the Monogolian Revolution of 1990, she was free to work with whatever company she wanted and chose to work with a traditionally ethnic Mongolian folk art troupe following her belief that contortion is not just a circus act, but an ancient cultural artform. She was and still is, Asian ever to be invited to participate in European Youth Circus Festival where she won the “Golden Elephant” award and was named the golden girl of Contortion.

In 1998, Serchmaa moved to USA. She toured with a circus for a year toured, and then decided to stay close to her family in San Francisco, CA. After settling in, Serchmaa started performing as an independent contractor and has even appeared in the movies, “Minority Report”

Serchmaa teaches private and group contortion classes in San Francisco. Her students range from 5 years old to 35 years. They perform in many local and international shows and circus’ and they train hard every day.

Episode #22: Communal Circus Conundrums with Terry Crane Sep 10, 2018

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Please won’t you be a Patreon?: http://www.patreon.com/theartistathlete

Terry Crane is an acrobat, dancer, and default circus director. After years of having a solo career as a vertical rope artist, Terry wanted to start making his own work. This eventually led him to Seattle, where he currently serves as artistic director of his company Acrobatic Conundrum. He was kind enough to allow Shannon to come on the podcast and interview him about his approach to creation.

Website: http://www.acrobaticconundrum.com

Instagram: @acrobaticconundrum

Hear the uncut version by becoming a patreon: http://www.patreon.com/theartistathlete

Episode #21: Back to Circus School with Ron Oppenheimer Sep 03, 2018

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Please won’t you be a Patreon?: http://www.patreon.com/theartistathlete

There’s a chill in the air, friends, fans and enemies and that means it is time to go back to school- circus school that is! Shannon interviews to Ron Oppenheimer, who is currently going in to his third year at The National Circus in Montreal (ENC) about what it’s like to study at one of the premiere educational institutions for rising circus stars.

Episode #20: There are All Sorts of Ways to Move OR You Can Fix Stupid with Dr. Emily Scherb Aug 27, 2018

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Please won’t you be a Patreon?: http://www.patreon.com/theartistathlete

How do physical therapists diagnose inefficient movement patterns in circus artists? Dr. Emily Scherb sits down to discuss how being an aerialist informed her treatment and care of artists. She also talks about her new book, Applied Anatomy of Aerial Arts. If you’re a patreon of the podcast, look for the 35% discount code on the site!

Episode #19-Part 2: African American Legacy in US Circus with Veronica Blair Aug 20, 2018

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Please won’t you be a Patreon?: http://www.patreon.com/theartistathlete

While Veronica was performing as an aerialist with UniverSOUL, she met legendary but un-credited performer named Emanuel "Uncle Junior" Ruffin. This meeting inspired her to launch a project in which she traveled all over the US, seeking the stories of the artists who put stakes in the ground, so that she could shine in the center ring.

Follow Veronica Blair

Instagram: @veronica_blair_aerialist

The Uncle Junior Project: https://www.theunclejuniorproject.com

Episode #19-Part 1: The Creation of An Aerialist with Veronica Blair Aug 13, 2018

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Please won’t you be a Patreon?: http://www.patreon.com/theartistathlete

How does an aerialist get made? According to aerialist Veronica Blair, it’s all about hard work and sparkly costumes!

Veronica started her acrobatic career at the age of 14 with Make*A*Circus, and studied Chinese Acrobatics under Master Lu Yi at the San Francisco Youth Circus. She began her career at the age of 17, which at the time, made her one of the youngest professional African-American trapeze artists in the U.S. She was personally hired by Cedric Walker as a resident aerialist for UniverSoul Circus. During her five years with Universoul, she had the privilage working with celebrated and prominent artists including trapeze great LaNorma Fox and the Gérard Fasoli.

I split this interview into two episodes: In this episode, Veronica shares the stories on her career path to becoming a professional aerialist.

In next week’s episode, Veronica talks how her experiences launched her into an investigation of the history of people of color in American circus, ultimately leading her to create an ongoing work called the Uncle Junior Project.

If you’re a Patreon, you have access to both episodes right now!

Episode #18: Developing a Creative Obsession with Marvin Ong Aug 06, 2018

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Please won’t you be a Patreon?: http://www.patreon.com/theartistathlete

Marvin Ong is a flow artist who's obsession with one specific juggling trick led him to develop a whole style that is all his own. This episode explores a very different circus community from the one Shannon is used to, but contains a TON of universal lessons for all circus artists to consider.

Episode #17: Traveling as an Aerial Instructor with Jenn Bruyer Jul 30, 2018

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Please won’t you be a Patreon?: http://www.patreon.com/theartistathlete

Jenn Bruyer teaches aerialists across the world. Shannon sat down with her in Munich to eat chocolate and talk about what makes a good aerial coach, matrices, and finding balance when you're always on the road.

Find Jenn on the interwebs

instagram: @heelhang

website: http://www.heelhang.com

Join Shannon McKenna of The Artist Athlete and Jenn Bruyer at

The Southern Fried Circus Festival in Dallas Texas, September 29th-October 7th.

Tickets are at: http://www.southernfriedcircusfest.com

Or for a week long aerial intensives at Sky Candy in Austin Texas October 8th-12th

Episode #16: Clowning Around the World with Mandragora Circo Jul 23, 2018

Show notes

Please won’t you be a Patreon?: http://www.patreon.com/theartistathlete

When Mariana Silva and her partner Juan Cruz Bracamonte created the circus/theater show Mandragora Circus in 2003, they never expected that it would take them on a 14 year (and counting) tour of the world. They have delighted audiences from their home in Patagonia, Argentina, as well as in 40 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. Shannon was lucky enough to speak with Mariana about her life as a traveling clown. This is an inspiring interview you won't want to miss!

www.mandragoracirco.com.ar

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