2024 BIOGRAPHIES

Cirk’ Alors!

CONSTRUCTION GUYS

NACS PRODUCTIONS (CHRISTINE MOYNIHAN)

Christine Moynihan has spent the past forty-five years actively working in the performing arts as actor, producer, technician, administrator and executive director. From 1976 – 1988, she worked as an actor in theatres across Canada. She was the Artistic Producer of Equity Showcase Theatre (EST), from 1988 – 2002 and the Executive Director of the Dance Umbrella of Ontario (DUO) from 2002- 2012.

She has received both the Brenda Donoghue Award for Outstanding Service to the Theatre Community and The Harold Award, also for Outstanding Service to the Indie Theatre and Dance Community. In 2016, she was the Rehearsal Director and PM for the Art Monastery Project in Caramanico, Italy and, while there, created The Wild Boars project. She recently returned to the performing life, creating and performing in a one-woman clown show, Outside Ethel: Inside in Toronto and Montreal in 2019 and 2020. In 2022, Moynihan (and Ethel) returned with a sequel Inside Ethel: Outside presented at the 2022 Toronto Fringe Festival. 

CANDY ROBERTS

Candy Roberts is a Canadian Comedy artist and fifth-generation European-Canadian settler based in unceded Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səlílwətaɬ(Tsleil- Waututh), and xwməθkwəyəm (Musqueam) territories, also known as Vancouver. Her original works encompass physical theatre, music, and clown to investigate the humor and heartbreak of our social and human conditions. She is a somatic practitioner and an avid researcher of CREATIVITY, and the connections between self-expression, mental health, and community. Candy tours internationally with her award-winning solo show LARRY, a “daring, provocative and hilarious” gender-bending feminist comedy. She is also the artistic director of CANDY BONES THEATRE which devises and tours innovative, immersive, and original theatre for young audiences. Watch out for IDEAS BOBERT, a ridiculous family comedy in the likes of Charlie Chaplin and OOPSIE, a physical comedy about the ART OF FAILURE!

Sonia Norris

 Sonia Norris (Director, Larry) is an LA-based Canadian theatre director specializing in the development of new work with theatre, circus, clown, mask and puppetry companies internationally. Recent projects include: Anthropic Traces (Crows Theatre, Toronto), Larry (Vancouver Fringe), Reckless Sea of the Brain (Rogue Artists Ensemble, Los Angeles), Olifantland, and Renosterbos (Handspring Puppet Company, South Africa), Cymbeline (Stratford Shakespeare Festival), Taj (Luminato Festival), Mistatim (Red Sky Performance), Cyborg E.R.I.N. (LEGacy Circus), The Three Girls (Cirqiniq Arctic Circus, Kangiqsualujjuaq), When You Stand Alone, and I Have a Dream!… (HIFA Festival, Zimbabwe), Transformations (Banff Centre Indigenous Dance), Carnival of Life (SoCirc Social Circus), Ballad of Weedy Peetstraw (Common Boots Theatre) and Masks of Madness (Workman Arts). 

Alexandre Gagné-Greffard

Alexandre Gagné-Greffard is a clown specializing in magic and physical theatre. A graduate of the Clown Conservatory of San Francisco, they deepened their apprenticeship in clowning with various contemporary masters including Les Foutoukours, Dolorèze Léonard, René Bazinet and Avner the Eccentric.

Since 2017, Alexandre has spread laughter and wonder wherever an audience presented itself, whether in the streets or on traditional stages.

As a humanitarian clown, Alexandre has worked with several international organizations such as The Flying Seagull Project, the Caravane Philanthrope, Clowns Sans Frontières Canada, ClownCorps, and The Gesundtheit Institute.

LaboKracBoom

Driven by a sprawling team of artists, the company has developed a unique hybrid signature by integrating the circus arts, dance and physical theatre. Working in a wide variety of venues, the company has presented its creations on the street, in theatres, schools and corporate settings in Quebec, Canada, South America and Europe. Over the years, LaboKracBoom has won several awards and recognitions and, since 2015, has been one of seven permanent resident companies at the Centre des arts de la scène Jean-Besré in Sherbrooke.

Alec jones-Trujillo

Alec Jones-Trujillo is currently playing the iconic, comedic host The Gazillionaire in the hit Las Vegas show “Absinthe” at Caesar’s Palace. Jones-Trujillo has performed over 1700 shows in this role, using expert improvisational skills to tailor-make each show to fit that exact audience night after night. 

Jones-Trujillo moved to San Francisco in 2007 where he started performing stand-up at night while attending clown school by day.

He co-created the underground San Francisco hit comedy group “We Are Nudes” with John Gilkey. He later moved to LA and with Gilkey was a founding member of the disruptive “Wet The Hippo” comedy group. This group, and the subsequent Gilkey-directed project, “The Murge”, helped define a style and usher clown into the comedic fabric of Los Angeles. 

Jones-Trujillo worked with fellow Gazillionaire, Gabe McKinney, to create “Old God”. “Old God” is Alec Jones-Trujillo at his fullest and most expressive. The character incorporates mime, language, absurdity and rapid-fire improvisational feats of language that leave audiences bewildered and enlivened all at once.

The Variety Show

JAMie adkins

Jamie Adkins began his career at the age of 13 in San Diego, California, where he delighted passers-by as a street performer. Later, in San Francisco, he joined the Pickle Family Circus. The eclectic clown, juggler, balancing artist and all-round poet then joined Montreal’s Cirque Éloize. With his many talents and years of experience, this multidisciplinary acrobat was soon a full-fledged member of the Cirque Éloize family of artists, making an invaluable contribution to the show Excentricus. In over 500 of these productions, Jamie’s unique style faithfully and humorously conveys the essence of the ordinary man.

Jamie again teamed up with Cirque Éloize to create and produce Typo, which toured the world giving over 200 performances over 2 years. Throughout this process, he won the admiration of critics and the adoration of circus audiences.

AVNER Eisenberg

Avner’s one-man show, Avner the Eccentric, was a hit of the 1984–1985 Broadway season. He co-starred in Lincoln Center’s production of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, and returned to Broadway in 1989 in a principal role in Ghetto. In regional theatre Avner has played both Estragon and Vladimir in Waiting For Godot, played the title role in R. Crumb Comix, and co-starred with his wife, Julie Goell, in the world premier of Zoo of Tranquility.

In addition to a busy performance schedule, Avner has taught master classes in clowning and Eccentric Performing in the United States, France, Germany, Finland, Belgium, Japan and Spain. He has developed silent theatre skills as a therapeutic tool and also teaches workshops for students and professionals in health care, education and counseling, as well as theatre.

Laurette & Arlette

Soizick Hébert and Marie-Hélène Côté are Laurette et Arlette, the hilarious and inventive female duo. Free-spirited, eccentric and adventurous, they share their original music and creativity. The duo enjoys deconstructing structures to punctuate clownish punchlines, synchronized choreography and other deliriums. They also produce shows and events and work with circus artists and companies on artistic direction and staging. laurettearlette.com

L’AUBERGINE

Since its founding in 1974, our Aubergine has moved from one garden to another to delight both the young and the young at heart. L’Aubergine has carved out its unique niche by cultivating a specific artistic vision combining the art of clowning, circus, music, and theatrical and movement techniques.

Directed by Krin Haglund
MC Patrick Léonard

Featuring: Jamie Adkins, Joel Baker, Moshe Cohen, Amrita Kaur Dhaliwal, Emily Jeffers, Dolorèze Léonard, Marie-Pierre Petit, Raphaëlle Pépin

Krin Haglund, Director

Krin Haglund is a Montreal-based circus performer, actress, and director. In addition to her role as “Ms. Martel,” on the TV series Big Top Academy and Big Top Academy Schools Out Edition, Haglund has performed around the world with many of today’s most exciting circus companies, including the 7 Fingers, Cirque Éloize, and Cirque du Soleil.

Haglund is the founder and artistic director of the non-profit circus company, The Radiant. With The Radiant she produced three original circus shows, including her one-woman show The Rendez-Vous. Haglund is inspired to share clown and performance techniques through coaching and directing motivated students from across disciplines. Haglund’s work, known for its profound connection between performer and audience, explores the intersection of character, comedy, and acrobatics. She is a graduate of Smith College, attended the San Francisco Clown Conservatory and is also the first woman to perform the Cyr Wheel apparatus. In addition to her love of the circus, Haglund is an avid pollinator gardener.

Pat LÉonard, MC

Co-founder and Artistic Director of the 7 Fingers, Patrick Léonard expresses his acrobatic and clowning talents with an intrepid, daredevil style. Trained as a chemist, this four-time figure skating champion and graduate of the École Nationale de Cirque de Montréal began his career as a diabolist and clown at the Casino de Montréal, then in German cabarets such as Pump Duck and Circumstances, the Wintergarten and the Freidrichbau, with the Swiss circus Knie, at the Teatro ZinZanni in San Francisco and with Cirque du Soleil. He won the Nicouline prize at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain.

Jamie Adkins

Jamie Adkins began his career at the age of 13 in San Diego, California, where he delighted passers-by as a street performer. Later, in San Francisco, he joined the Pickle Family Circus. Then this eclectic clown, juggler, balancing artist and all-round poet joined Montreal’s Cirque Éloize. With his many talents and years of experience, this multidisciplinary acrobat was soon a full-fledged member of the Cirque Éloize family of artists, making an invaluable contribution to the show Excentricus. In over 500 of these productions, Jamie’s unique style faithfully and humorously conveys the essence of the ordinary man.

Joel Baker

Joel Baker is a professional performer, circus arts coach, and director, with over two decades of industry experience. As a much-loved clown performing on stages worldwide, he is regarded as one of the best comedic animators around the world with a unique style of physical comedy, acrobatics and improvisation.

After graduating from San Francisco’s Circus Center and their Clown Conservatory program in 2002, Joel launched his career as an acrobatic clown by joining the legendary San Francisco New Pickle Circus. Joel went on to perform in shows across the globe including LOFT by The 7 Fingers and seven years with the award- winning Cirque du Soleil production, The Beatles LOVE, the latter with an additional role as Artistic Coach.

The desire to perform his original acts, and character work drove Joel to end his seven year show run with Cirque du Soleil. After leaving Las Vegas, Joel moved back to Germany to start a five year tour performing with Palazzo Dinner Theatre where he developed the classic bellhop who can’t stay out of trouble, making the most mundane moments irresistibly funny. What followed was the German show “La Folia” by Cirque Bouffon, and most recently ending a tour with GOP Varieté-Theater in the show “BOOKSHOP”.

MOSHE COHEN

Mr. YooWho fills the theatre with heart-warming laughter, delightful moments of absurdity, feats of amazement, visual poetry and spontaneous audience interaction. A mix of old American Vaudeville and European Clown Theater with a Yiddish twist, tastes of Circus, Japanese Kyogen and Butoh dance sprinkled throughout.  Mr YooWho invites the audience into a world of giant sunflowers that offer confetti blessings and wind-up penguins that high dive into buckets of water. Exuberant poetry, without words no less. Perfect for small and big people of all cultures and languages.

For 40+ years now, Moshe Cohen has pursued enlightenment through the elusive art form called Clown, seeking to bring more lightness and laughter into the world through his actions, be it as a teacher, performer or actor.

He discovered his funny as a street performing juggler on Rue Prince Arthur in 1983. Moshe embraced the role of ‘amuseur publique’ (funnyman) and a pathway quickly opened leading to European Street Theater Festivals, Canadian Children’s Theater and Folk festivals; then Theaters, Varieté, Circus, and lately, Medical Clowning … Moshe has performed in hundreds of festivals and theaters around the world. He founded the US chapter of Clowns Without Borders in 1995 and has participated in 30+ projects. He teaches in a variety of settings, in Zen and Spiritual centers as well as Clown and Theater schools/settings. He studied clown with Richard Pochinko and Ctibor Turba, Butoh dance with Hiroko Tamano and Kazuo Ohno.

AMRITA KAUR DHALIWAL

Amrita Dhaliwal (she/her), daughter of Tehsel Singh Dhaliwal and the late Balbir Kaur Dhaliwal, is an award-winning Punjabi American comedian, arts leader, educator and devising artist based in Los Angeles, whose work spans multiple mediums, from stage to TV & Film. Her work explores the core themes of humanity, like death and love, through a lens of the current social-political climate. A few highlights include The Living Room, a comedy about death and grief, which one Best Comedy at the 2019 Melbourne Fringe Festival, she was the creator and producer of the hit LA show, Indian Wedding, featured in LA Weekly as “Top 15 Things to do in LA”, and more. Beyond the stage, Amrita has co-authored and curated an essay series for HowlRound about clown and activism. For more, go to www.amritadhaliwal.com.

EMILY JEFFERS

Emily Jeffers is an actor and clown based in Toronto. She has trained with Philippe Gaulier, Aitor Basauri, Deanna Fleysher, Pedro Fabião, John Gilkey (and other instructors from The Idiot Workshop), Jaime Mears, Eric Davis (Red Bastard) and more. Emily has performed at the Toronto Fringe Festival, Toronto Sketchfest, What the Festival and the Legacy Cabaret. She creates and collaborates out of Sweet Action Theatre in Toronto, producing shows like TIGHT FIVE and You’ve Been Warned: A Bouffon Cabaret, and facilitating a clown workshop called Into the Void. She’s excited to bring her beloved Bitty-Bat to Montreal for the very first time!

DOLORÈZE LÉONARD

Dolorèze Léonard, artist for 44 years.

She is the driving force behind the creation of “Cirque du Soleil”.

She brought her characters – Madame Zazou, Miss Linda, Samantha, Miss Dolly – into the world.

Dolly, and toured the world, always with the aim of spreading happiness.

She’s a clown, a jester, a trainer, an eagle-eyed director and a consultant.

An iron fist in a velvet glove, that’s her motto.

Marie-Pierre Petit

Born Deaf in Quebec, she grew up in a Deaf family. Marie-Pierre has always been an active member of the Deaf community. Thanks to her father, the clown Pafou, Marie-Pierre was introduced to magic and the performing arts at the age of 8. She created her own character, Clown Pafolie, and together they put on several shows. The day Pafou hung up his hat and retired, Marie-Pierre (Pafolie) took over on her own, successfully creating shows that were just as entertaining and magical. 

Marie-Pierre trained in clown theatre at Francine Coté’s Clown Comedy school and took further training with Deaf clown performing at Cirque du Soleil, Maxim Fomitchev. 

RaphaËlle Pépin

Raphaëlle Pépin, trapeze artist and clown, graduated from l’École de Cirque de Québec in June 2023. She has already acquired diverse experience in the circus sector, having worked with Flip Fabrique, Les GOP Variétés, Le Théâtre À Tempo, L’Aubergine, Machine de Cirque and many others.

In addition to her professional training at ECQ, she has specialized in clowning with several masters in the field, including Francine Côté, Geneviève Kerouac, Jean Saucier and Pedro Fabião.

More recently, Raphaëlle has been working with the Fondation Dr Clown as a therapeutic clown in hospitals. This brings her much closer to her mission, which is, without pretension, to change the world one laugh at a time.