The Artist Athlete Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode #15: Animals Change Things with Equestrian Aerialist Claire Beer Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

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

Claire and Shannon sit down for the most epic of interviews! Horses! Aerialists! Falcons! Weird pronunciations of southern towns! Claire shares how she used her love and deep knowledge of riding and caring for horses to make a name for herself in the circus industry.

Find her on instagram: @claire_beer

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 #14: Circus Psychology with Dr. Kip Matthews Jul 09, 2018

Show notes

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

Dr. Kip Matthews has been a sports and performance psychologist for 20 years treating dancers, musicians, and high level athletes. He talks to Shannon about how circus artists at all levels can improve their performance, get rid of audition nerves, and deal with injury.

For more about Dr. Kip find him online at http://www.drkipmatthews.com

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: http://www.theartistathlete.com Facebook: The Artist Athlete Instagram: @the_artist_athlete

Episode 13: Circus And Motherhood Jul 02, 2018

Show notes

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

How does becoming a mother alter a career in the circus industry? Today's guest, Anke Van Engelshoven, has a company that addresses this topic in their new show, Raven. In the interview, Anke shares her life before and after having children, how her country views working mothers, and the unexpected responses to a recent showing of Raven in Berlin.

Find Anke's company online!

website: http://www.still-hungry.net

instagram: @stillhungry_raven

Episode 12: Cirque du Social Media with Brandon Scott, Acrobat! Jun 25, 2018

Show notes

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

Today’s show is about the intersection of circus and social media, and my guest is the world famous, Brandon Scott, Acrobat!

Brandon has the traditional resume of a young professional aerialist- trained high level gymnastics at a young age, discovered aerial arts in college, and then moved to Las Vegas to pursue making a full-time career as a circus artist. What makes Brandon different, is that during his journey, he has built up a following of 60 thousand at the release of this episode.

In this interview, I talk to Brandon about how he got started, his views on the world of social media, and what tips he has for the rest of us about growing our accounts.

Instagram: @brandonscottacrobat

Episode 11: Big Breaks and Practicing Presence with Laura Stokes Jun 18, 2018

Show notes

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

Laura Stokes and her artistic partner, Cohdi Harrell, got their big break when their full-length show, Smoke and Mirrors, won top awards at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. But what did it take to get them there? Shannon and Laura swear up a storm in this interview (don't worry, it's been censored- except on my website, http://www.theartistathlete.com/podcasts) and talk about what it's like to perform a personal creation for years and how Laura practices the internal aspects of performance during rehearsals.

Show Notes:

Laura Stokes: http://www.laurastokes.com

The Ricochet Project: http://www.thericochetproject.com

Episode 10: Producing Circus with Doug Stewart, founder of Cirque US Jun 11, 2018

Show notes

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

What does it take in this day and age to produce circus in the United States? Doug Stewart, a recent graduate of Columbia College in Chicago, talks about how he used his degree and earned a degree in Business of Live and Performing Arts and his experience touring with an American youth circus troupe to found his company Cirque US. Cirque US creates an original show each year and tours New England for the summer. At the end of the episode, Shannon takes a few key pieces of wisdom and translates them to practical business advice for individual artists.

To Find Out More About Cirque US visit: http://www.thecirqueUS.com

My Website: http://www.theartistathlete.com

SHOW NOTES:

Visit: http://www.thecirqueus.com

Instagram: @thecirqueus

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cirqueus/

Episode 9: The Creative Process with Fred Deb Jun 04, 2018

Show notes

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

Shannon can’t speak French but you know who can? Aerialist, choreographer, and master teacher Fred Deb. Fred is one of the founders of aerial silks as an apparatus and has been called a “precursor to French contemporary circus.” In this episode, Shannon asks her about her career, the evolution of her teaching, and her creative process. Stay tuned after the interview to hear Shannon wrestle with the question of aerial dance vs circus... http://www.theartistathlete.com

Show Notes:

Fred Deb:

Find her on instagram: _fred.deb_

About her company, Drapes Aerians:

http://www.drapes-aeriens.com

Information about the French Aerial Dance Festival: http://www.lesrencontresdedanseaerienne.com/en/2018-aerial-dance-festival/

Promotional Footage for a 2003 Documentary about Compagnie Les Arts Sauts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VCfnqsoXAg

In the summary, I mentioned an interview with Lewie West on a different podcast. Unfortunately, it seems like all of the links to the episode are dead, BUT here’s a blog post with some additional information about it:

https://antranik.org/horizontal-vs-vertical-skill-development/

Episode 8: Circus Gets Better With Age With Contortionist Philipp Tigris May 28, 2018

Show notes

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

Philipp, one of the top contortionists in Europe, discusses how his training mentality has changed over his almost 30 year career and why being a contortionist is one of the easiest disciplines to perform. Shannon just kind of sits in awe. http://www.theartistathlete.com

Philipp Tigris

Website: http://www.tigris-hulahoop.de

Instagram: @philipp.tigris

A link to Tsatsral Erdenebileg breaking the world record for holding a Marinelli Bend:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1C5RWWgzG4This 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.

***

Episode 7-Part 2: Physical Therapy for Circus Artists with Cirque Physio May 21, 2018

Show notes

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

Welcome back to the interview with Dr. Jen Crane of Cirque Physio. In this show Jen explains how to overcome plateaus in flexibility, aging in circus, and talks more about all of the resources she has created to help educate circus artists.

www.theartistathlete.com

Show Notes:

Find Dr. Jen Crane online:

http://www.cirquephysio.com

Instagram: cirque_physio

How to eat a duck tongue: https://onthegas.org/food/duck-tongue-recipes

Episode 7-Part 1: Physical Therapy for Circus Artists with Cirque Physio May 14, 2018

Show notes

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

How do you know if your circus pain is a mild irritation or a major problem? And if it is a problem where can a circus artist go to find help? Shannon asks Dr. Jen Crane of Cirque Physio all about treating the circus population and the competitive ping pong population.

http://www.theartistathlete.com

-Show Notes:

The letters behind Jen's name are:

PT: Physical Therapist

DPT: Doctor of Physical Therapy

OCS: Othopedic Clinical Specialist

ATC: Athletic Training Certification

If you are looking for a physical therapist who is also a body worker, you want to look for a:

FAAOMPT: Fellow of the American Academy of Othopedic Manual Physical Therapists

You can find Jen Crane on Instagram @cirque_physio and at http://www.cirquephysio.com

Tune in next week for Part 2!