It's incredible to be able to say that I am a seasoned circus creator, manager and performer with nearly two decades of experience.

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I began my circus journey at the age of 12 after years of national-level competitive gymnastics. Tired of the competitive nature of gymnastics, I was drawn to the collaborative spirit of the circus. At the San Francisco Circus Center, under the tutelage of Master Lu Yi, I found a new family and a new passion. For the next six years, I trained and performed at NBA half-time shows, school talent shows, and on summertime tours to theaters around the San Francisco Bay Area.

Unsure if circus could be a sustainable career, I attended Colgate University after high school. There, I immersed myself in theater, participating in six out of eight theater department productions. My talent and dedication earned me the Howard W. & Anne T. Pike Memorial Prize for outstanding achievement as a Theater Major. Despite my success in theater, I missed the physicality of circus and decided to audition for the National Circus School in Montreal. I was accepted into the cohort of 2017, specializing in Chinese hoop diving and ground acrobatics.

The next three years were filled with intensive training, including performances with Cirque du Soleil at the Pan-American Games and various local shows. However, a month before my final exam in 2017, I tore my Achilles tendon, delaying my professional debut. I managed to graduate with my class and begin an intense rehabilitation to get me back on-stage.

My first contract post-rehabilitation was with MonLove Productions for a stage production of "The Nut Job." I also worked on smaller, experimental productions with Yonder Window Theatre Company and Cirque Eloize. In 2018, I booked a year of work with Quatuor Stomp for GOP Varieté Theatre in Germany, and with Cirque du Soleil for their “Cirque at Sea” project, but tore my ACL and meniscus early into the contract, leading to another year of rehabilitation.

Returning to Montreal, I faced the challenge of rebuilding my career. Thankfully, the connections I had made in the circus world began to come back to me. I began to look at roles behind the scenes, working as a Circus Coordinator for Yonder Window Theatre Company, designing and organizing the installation of the acrobatic aerial points and working backstage for the run of shows.

Around this time, Cirque du Soleil approached me with the opportunity to join in a new creation, their first Christmas show titled “Twas the Night Before…” A whirlwind experience, my cast and I would mount the show in six weeks and perform at the Chicago Theater and the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden to sold-out crowds. I returned to Montreal with great optimism, even continuing to fill in for MonLove for the presentation of their new show on television in March 2020. A few days later, the world shut down.

During the pandemic, as the circus industry faced unprecedented challenges, I participated in a Live Performance Entrepreneurship summer workshop organized by the National Circus School. This program aimed to inspire current students and alumni to think creatively about sustaining innovation in the circus arts. Drawing from my own experiences with injuries and rehabilitation, I envisioned a project called "The Ziz Nest Creation Studios,” which focused on holistic physical therapy and mental performance coaching to better support circus artists during a creation residency. Although the project remains a future goal, the workshop reaffirmed my commitment to innovation and my desire to enhance the well-being and resilience of circus performers.

I returned to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021 when my work visa expired. I began coaching at the San Francisco Circus Center, elevating the skills of the San Francisco Youth Circus and teaching adult classes. I also collaborated with Felicity Hesed as Acrobatic Designer for "The Secret Garden,” a circus-play based on the book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, allowing me to blend my theatrical background with circus expertise.

At the same time, Gypsy Snider of The 7 Fingers was working on their newest project “Dear San Francisco” and invited me to come work with her as an assistant, where I was Gypsy’s second brain, helping her organize her choreography, assist the performers with anything they needed, and even give my two cents here and there about the storyline and structure of certain acts. I also trained as an Assistant Stage Manager and ran shows when the General Stage Manager was out.

I continued to perform with “Twas the Night Before…” for the next few years, and whenever I returned home to San Francisco, I would continue coaching and designing. Felicity and I also remounted “The Secret Garden” at the Children’s Creativity Museum.

In 2022, I got married to my husband and  moved back to Montreal in the summer of 2023. Today, I remain active in the local circus community. I train, coach, and pursue new projects while planning to expand my expertise by getting certified as a personal trainer and circus trainer.