Circus Artist
& Instructor

Philadelphia, PA

Mx is a genderqueer, anticapitalist rope artist with a passion for teaching. They dove headfirst and blindly into aerial arts in 2017, without any athletic background, knowledge of circus, or awareness of the way it was about to change their life. They learned their way around the air at Empyrean Arts in Asheville, NC and became certified to teach in every discipline EA has to offer. Craving a broader skillset and higher-level coaching, they decided to audition at Circadium so they could become the well-rounded, freakishly strong artist they were determined to be. In their graduating year they were able to lean into their pedagogical drive by majoring in Circus Education, where they got a deep dive into technique, rigging, accessibility, injury prevention, adaptive circus, anatomy, kinesiology, consent, artistic creation, prehab, and more. They have developed curriculum, created workshops, co-created 5 different teacher training manuals performed in the Hand to Hand Festival and Philadelphia Fringe Festival!

 

Some questions I ask myself are; How can I empower students to make their own choices? To steer the ship when they have an idea, and to be in collaboration with each other? Are we being goofy enough? What opportunities for creativity are we missing by floating in the soup of traditional influence? What rules can be safely broken in service of expression? Can making “bad art” be liberatory? I believe creating the container for learning requires more than technical proficiency from instructors. That hierarchy should always be examined so that it can be discarded when it is not serving the safety and functionality of the class. I believe that students should feel empowered to be curious, and explore the bounds of their agency. They should feel like there will be care for their bodies and that they will be listened to - always and forever!