meet the team

Chris

Chris started gymnastics at the age of four, and at thirteen he began to focus on trampoline and tumbling. His tumbling career took off quickly, and he was the Canadian National Champion at seventeen, earning him a spot on the Canadian National Team. After leaving gymnastics and completing a degree in human kinesiology, his love of acrobatics led him to Club Med, where he taught and performed circus arts. Despite being terrified of heights, he fell in love with flying trapeze. Chris is a certified NCCP Level 2 Trampoline instructor and has taught circus and gymnastics and directed circus school programs in Mexico, throughout the Caribbean, and the United States. His passion for flying trapeze and circus arts inspired him to bring the experience back home to Canada, and share it with as many others as possible.

Victoria

Victoria is a life-long creative. She started performing music at the age of 11, and attended the University of British Columbia for Orchestral Performance with a specialization in percussion. She attended various summer programs, including one at Princeton University, and holds a certificate from Berklee School of Music. During a summer job working for Cirque du Soleil, she fell in love with the circus. She started with fabric (silks and sling) and quickly moved to straps and duo trapeze. Most recently she has fallen in love with corde and strap loops. Victoria has taken silks teacher training, Complete Aerial Anatomy certificate, and is currently enrolled in the “Instructor in Circus Arts” program at Ecole Nationale de Cirque.

Lindsay

After competing nationally and internationally as an artistic gymnast, Lindsay was first introduced to the world of circus arts at age 16 and has never looked back. In addition to teaching recreational circus programs in the lower mainland since 2009, Lindsay is passionate about social circus and has taught circus to at-risk youth locally as well as to displaced persons and children in or near conflict zones including communities and refugee camps near the Turkish and Jordanian borders with Syria.

As an advocate for social circus programs, Lindsay has worked alongside organizations in over 68 countries around the world, including those fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa, offering relief to children living in the Gaza Strip and helping children living in Kabul. Her interest in social circus is rooted in her belief that circus is for anybody, irrespective of age, sex, religion, socioeconomic status or physical ability. She has also written on the subject of social circus programming and been published in American Circus Educators magazine.

While she is first and foremost an aerialist, Lindsay believes her greatest circus accomplishment has been learning to 5-ball juggle. Her unicycling remains a work in progress.

Kelsey

Kelsey has been with West Coast for 5 years. She caught the circus bug as an adult and is passionate about sharing her love of circus. Kelsey coaches multiple aerial apparatus including silks, hoop, hammock, and trapeze. She enjoys coaching all ages and all levels and loves celebrating every small milestone any student achieves. Kelsey believes that circus is for every body. No matter ability there is something fun and different that every human can do that will either make them smile or think “I never thought I would do that.”

Geena

Geena is a retired national-level competitive gymnast who moved to BC from LA in 2015. Starting out at the age of 3, she quickly progressed from a compulsory level to an advanced competitive level. She competed in gymnastics for about 17 years before retiring. Not long after, she found another passion for pole dancing, which she has continued to this day. Geena hopes to share her love and passion of tumbling and acrobatics with all her students and looks forward to watching them grow!

Briony

Briony is originally from London, but moved to Maple Ridge in 2009 with her family. After having her second child, Briony was looking for a way to get fit that was fun and she found West Coast Flying Trapeze. In April 2016, she took her first swing on the trapeze and started training on the aerial silks. She enjoyed her circus classes so much that she decided to turn her hobby into a job, and in 2017 she began coaching at WCFT. She has completed her NCCP Gymnastics Level 1 training and NCCP Trampoline Level 1 training. Briony teaches aerial silks and flying trapeze classes.

Danielle

Danielle has been a part of the dance and acrobatic community for over 15 years, and continues to actively train. Growing up, she trained, competed, and performed many styles of dance including ballet, tap, hip hop, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, modern, stage, and acrobatics. In the fall of 2016, Danielle decided to take her ground skills up in the air, here at West Coast Circus, primarily focusing on aerial silks and aerial hoop. Danielle is constantly looking for new things to push herself with, whether it be artistic, fitness, or career-oriented, and she loves every moment of the challenge!

Jenn

Jennifer is an aerialist and contemporary dancer. She started dancing at the age of 3 and has trained and performed across North America and Asia. She was part of a contemporary Chinese dance company for a number of years before leaving the arts to become a lawyer. She quickly discovered the practice of law was not for her and returned to life as a dancer, expanding her practice to include silks and pole. She is active in the local arts scene and serves on the board of Future Leisure, a not-for-profit performance organization. She has been a feature aerialist for The Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret and La Maison Lust. In 2019, she presented a contemporary piece for Shooting Gallery Performance Series 7. She is the producer of Circus After Dark, an outdoor cabaret cirque showcase hosted by The Beaumont Studios. Jennifer teaches Pilates and aerial silks, and believes in creating a welcoming class environment for all her students.

Bri

Bri is a dynamic member of our team. Her circus journey began in 2019 when she discovered WCC while searching for admin work. However, Bri soon realized that her true calling lay in teaching kids circus. With over a decade’s experience working with children, she has a natural connection with young students and her innovative teaching methods have allowed them to develop new skills, strong connections, and self-confidence. Bri has played a pivotal role in establishing a number of programs: TinyTop, catering to young children; Adaptive Circus, for people with disabilities and special needs; and Parents’ Night Off, a safe and creative space for parents to leave their children while they enjoy some alone time. She is also involved in training new coaches. Bri’s passion and dedication have helped us expand our programs while maintaining a space for fun, connection, and development for every body.

Tara

Tara has always loved movement-based activities. She has trained in gymnastics, dance (including ballet, modern, and jazz), cheerleading, kickboxing, and spinning poi. Tara has a fear of heights so she never thought she would try flying trapeze, but she loves to challenge herself—she and her daughter Skye started setting aside time to come to flying trapeze as a mother/daughter activity, and now Tara is one of our coaches. We love climbing up to the platform and seeing her giant smile! She also fits right in with the creative side of the circus world too; her day job is as a costumer for film and TV.

James

James was born and raised in London, England. He played football from the time he could walk until age 14, when he discovered waterskiing, wakeboarding, and kneeboarding. James was late to the circus party, firstly taking a Ninja Warrior class at WCFT, before finding an interest in handstands. It snowballed from there, and James fell in love with all things circus—he now takes up to 6 lessons a week, from flying trapeze to trampoline and everything in between. James works in the banking industry, but coaches flying trapeze when he’s not working or taking all those lessons!

Skye

Skye’s bio coming soon

Beatrix

Beatrix first fell in love with flying trapeze while on vacation at Club Med in 2015. Though she still travels to tropical destinations for trapeze once a year, she is thrilled to fly and coach year-round without needing to leave town. Beatrix grew up dancing and swimming, and has trained in kickboxing and Crossfit—she loves everything to do with health and fitness! In the summer you’ll find her kayaking or hiking locally, especially with her dog, Tikah. Beatrix is also a grade seven teacher, and loves to challenge herself and share her passions with people of all ages and skill levels.

Julia

Julia’s bio coming soon

Michael

Michael is a born-and-raised Vancouverite, who spent years practicing martial arts and many other types of sports. Though he didn’t grow up in the circus world, he fell in love with it while going to Club Med and learning the flying trapeze—coming close to realizing his lifelong dream of flying. Michael is one of our regular flying trapeze coaches, though he teaches other types of trapeze and partner acro as well. Michael loves creating new circus tricks, and spending time with his daughter, who is following in his active footsteps.

Paula

Paula spent her life playing soccer competitively before trying aerial silks for the first time in 2017. She was looking for another fun way to stay active and knew immediately that she had found her new passion during that first class. Having always been in awe of Cirque du Soleil acrobats, Paula was excited to give circus arts a try! Paula graduated as a rehabilitation assistant in 2019 and started coaching aerial silks in 2020; she joined the West Coast Circus team in 2022 where she teaches aerial silks and aerial hammock. Paula enjoys sharing her love of circus and helping others achieve their goals!

Ryan

Edmonton born and raised, Ryan began his circus career after being enamoured by his brother’s first circus performance in 2012. Having no sports or artistic background to his name, Ryan was eager to learn and quickly fell in love with all aspects of circus. He dabbles in a bit of everything—from juggling to acrobatics to aerials of all sorts. You can find him up on the flying trapeze board, sending our graceful fliers off, as well as on the other end to catch them! (Not at the same time.) Always a cheerful, helping hand, Ryan is excited to help build the circus community that WCFT has cultivated.

Kierra

Kierra’s bio coming soon

West Coast Circus Foundation
411-19055 Airport Way
Pitt Meadows, BC, V3Y0G4
Canada