FLOWMOTION EVENTS - Key Persons
Adam Ploshay Acro & Yoga Team Adam discovered acro yoga and partner acrobatics in 2014, and in it, a way to synthesize his partner dance and juggling, by throwing other humans around! He completed certification with LIFT School of Acrobatics in summer 2017 and is always stoked to share a framework for safely exploring movement challenges and creativity in a wholly collaborative setting.
Anita DeCastro Keynote Speaker Anita is a movement educator and director, confidence coach, performer, and small business owner. She quit her job as the Programs Director at the Eskenazi Museum of Art to pioneer Bloomington's first Pole and Aerial Yoga Studio, Wild Orchid. Anita has been moving and performing since the age of 5 and has worked professionally in a variety of creative fields. Prior to Wild Orchid, she ran a mixed movement arts company where she directed and performed both locally and regionally. Anita has also worked as a stunt double for feature films, and was a nationally recognized EDM DJ in her teens. Currently she runs her studio full-time and is developing a second project, Movement Lab, based on her mixed movement arts experience. One of her dreams with this new pursuit is to offer fun and empowering retreats that get people out of their heads and into their bodies. Beyond her credentials, Anita loves to play, laugh, and bring people together to build meaningful experiences in their communities. She's an advocate for living a life driven by compassion, self-love, courage, and adventure.
April Choi has studied dance and movement arts almost all of her life. She is most well known for her whip skills with several Guinness Book World Records in Whip Cracking, and also as the creator and producer of the Fire Eating Tricktionary.
She has an expansive repertoire of skills with various types of dance, martial arts, and fire performance. She is currently a full-time performer and travels extensively around the country teaching and performing a myriad of dance and movement classes.
Her circus skills have led her to teach and perform on television and at events and festivals all over the planet.
Arianne Kelly Aerial Team Arianne Kelly discovered her love for aerials in 2012, as a freshman in high school. Her desire for adventure brought her into the air, has taken her around the world, and sparked a deep love for philosophy and journalism.
Cameron Robert, aka Reciprocator, is an object manipulator and flow artist of 7 years. He began spinning poi but, after a plateau, found an immense passion for multiple hoop manipulations. Cameron is heavily involved in the art communities in Chicago, his hometown. He is an instructor at the Frankfort Circus Center, where he teaches beginner ground act circus classes to all ages. Cameron also volunteers for the Chicago Full Moon Jam, and you can catch him at any of their events.
Job Titles:
- Website Design Consultant
Danny Rose Poi Team A resident of flowhio, Danny Rose has been spinning poi for 9 years and focusing on 3 poi for the last 3. Though only in the second year of his teaching journey, he hopes to become an excellent poi instructor and to help others go on to be amazing spinners.
Dylan Rodriguez began his Double Contact Staff practice in 2012 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and joined Pyroscope Entertainment in 2013. He moved back home to Ohio in 2014, and continued to hone his craft in SOSC. Dylan is passionate about finding fresh concepts and sharing playful ideas.
Gabriel Alexander Ford Sticks Team Gabriel began his love for the arts at the age of 5 while living the majority of his youth in California. Since then he has continued a path of progression for what has become his life's ambition and fulfillment. He has an extended 23-year martial arts, weapons, theater, and dancing background in which he continues to develop his style by fusing his personal blend of martial arts, dance, and traditional forms. He has also performed and instructed at many music, art, and flow festivals throughout the U.S and internationally as well. He has been teaching nunchaku for the past 17 years as his specialty. His teaching experience over the years has since led him to craft new and approachable ways to learning that his students enjoy and find easy and engaging to follow. All the while maintaining a balance of informative instruction combined with positive energy and a high regard for the individual student. With his introduction into the flow arts several years ago with poi and double staff, Gabriel fuses the techniques learned from these props along with modern and traditional martial arts weaponry into his classes of Martial Flow. Gabriel currently hosts a monthly Cincinnati Flow Arts meet-up and skill share for all prop and movement artists, new and experienced, in which he continually encourages participants to attend and improve their personal growth and skill.
Jay Jay Juggle Team With 5 years spinning and juggling, Jay Jay is here to pass you the torch!! Learn the basics, develop variations, and find your own unique style!
Kali the Courageous Discussion & Social Circus Team Hailing from the greater Dayton FLOHIO- Kali's been a major hoop nerd for the past 6 years and teaching hoop workshops across the midwest for the past 3. Although fire hooping is one of her favorite things, she also enjoys playing acoustic music, dogs, magic and occasional craft bartending. Catch her in the fire circle, showcasing some tricks and concepts she will be sharing in her workshops this year. Also come say hi, she's kinda shy.
Kelsey Jean Aerial Team Meditative Movement in any form allows the body to express and experience emotions long forgotten or locked away. An avid lover of all movement forms, Kelsey enjoys nothing more than teaching others how to tap into our bodies' fundamental purpose. Over the past nine years, she has delved deep into lyra, sling, floor movement, hula hoop, choreography, performances, and instruction.
Laura Pence began her aerial journey in 2012, co-founding Aerialogy in 2015. She loves to share the thrill of flying and builds her classes around flow and endurance.
Job Titles:
- Media & Vendor Coordinator
Lee Mai Juggle Team Lee Mai went to his first flow festival "Flow Camp" in summer 2013. He enjoys club juggling and props in general and currently performs and workshops with Louisville-based company CirqueLouis for kids and adults. He likes the outdoors and stuff. He was the 2019 Cincinnati Juggling Festival face balance champion.
Logan Black Sticks Team Southern Ohio-based professional performance artist and instructor, bringing the spirit of yoga to the flow arts, moving through space with smooth grace, Logan Black is an elder dragon (master fire breather) as well as a dragon staff manipulator who likes to get dirty doing groundwork. Be prepared to be swept off your feet because he is also an acro yogi who likes to combine flows.
Maggie "Magpie" Lasher has been a devoted movement artist her entire life. She began dancing at a very early age, ended up with a B.A., M.A., and M.F.A. in dance, and now is a dance professor and dance program coordinator in Houston, Texas. Wearing her dance hat, Magpie has taught dance professionally for over 20 years and has presented more than 50 fully produced choreographic performances ranging from single pieces to evening-length works. Magpie discovered the flow arts in 2002 when someone handed her the first pair of fluffy poi she had ever seen, and a lifelong love was forged. Although her flow journey began with poi, Magpie has delved into a variety of props and through many years of dedicated practice is now happy to call herself a buugengster. Since 2008, Magpie has been the founding and artistic director of Holding Space/Spacetribe, a contemporary dance and flow arts company, and Magpie and the company perform original choreographies in a variety of settings throughout the year. In fall 2018, Magpie offered what may be the first flow arts college class for credit, has featured buugeng and hoop choreographies in college dance program concerts, and has taught flow arts classes for dancers at the American College Dance Conference for multiple years. In addition to teaching a number of flow arts classes for the community, Magpie has taught and performed at Playthink, Flowstorm, SoFlow and Quasar, and has presented on the flow arts at the National Dance Education Organization annual conference.
Matchstick Merryweather, "Matches" Dance Team Matchstick Merryweather Director of Tomfoolery Producer, Whiskey City Burlesque Known as the Dapper Napper of Burlesque, this narcoleptic showstopper manages to keep themselves busy. Matchstick Merryweather, or Matches, is a pure-bred sideshow wildfire who loves spending their time connecting the arts communities that surround them. Today, "Matches" performs, produces, and directs for Whiskey City Burlesque. They also sit on the Board of Directors for Central Illinois Ballet and occasionally perform with this professional company. Using their 20+ year background of theater, music, dance, flow arts, and overall "feminine mystique" (they are from the same city as Betty Friedan after all), they charm the pants off of audiences as much as possible. Matches enjoys infusing glitterblood into everyone they meet and hopes that others find as much joy, extreme self-acceptance, and ridiculous silliness as they do from the great art that is burlesque.
Matt is a dedicated flow artist from Ohio who focuses on nunchucks and single/double contact staff. Going on five years in flow arts, he's instructed at a number of flow fests in the Midwest, and continues to explore and push the boundaries of what is possible with his props of choice.
Meghan Halaburda Acro & Yoga Team Meghan began her acro yoga practice in 2017. Coming from a background in figure skating and dance, she enjoys performing and sharing her love of flow movement with others. She also dabbles in juggling, rock climbing, and petting dogs.
Mervyn Alphonse has taught and practiced Hatha and Kundalini Yoga extensively and is certified to teach ‘Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan.' He is a certified Reiki Master and utilizes a 34" gong in his Sound Healing practice.
He has also sat Zazen for several years and has presented Yoga workshops and healing sessions at many festivals across the country. He currently teaches Hatha and Kundalini Yoga in Bloomington, Indiana.
Olivia Miller: When she's not running her aerial business in Indianapolis, Olivia is with her Aerialogy family in Bloomington. Though her first love is aerial silks, she also enjoys specialty apparati such as aerial net, chandelyra, and aerial frame.
Poppe Tsunami Aerial Team Though hoops were her gateway circus props, aerials officially stole her heart in 2016 when Poppe started training at Aerialogy. Currently, she coaches at Cirque Indy in Indianapolis. She has a love for the constant creative and physical challenges of aerial movement, loves cultivating community, and sharing her passions with others.
Ryan Dushwam Poi Team In 2012, Ryan discovered dance and flow arts. In 2015, at Campfire Retreat in Minnesota, he discovered how much they meant to him and decided to never ever stop. He began teaching, organizing spinjams and attending more retreats. All of this was in a concerted effort to facilitate all of Wisconsin's movement arts communities as best as he could. These works have lead him to his longtime goal of helping direct and organize Wisconsin flow arts events and retreats like Frostbite and Rock and Flow! To date, nothing makes him feel more fulfilled than teaching workshops and hosting flow jams.
Senora Loop Aerial Team Senora Loop passionately believes in having students ponder and reevaluate the concept of "possible" with the hope that aerial training will teach students to defy pessimistic and "grounded" mentalities.
Shelby Rihm Aerial Team Shelby Rihm: A childhood full of gymnastics and dance were a great segue for Shelby's aerial journey. She took her strength into the air, and quickly fell back in love with movement. Her goals in life are to run away with the circus and to help others find their own appreciation for all kinds of movement.
Skip Peters Acro & Yoga Team Sarah (Skip) has been teaching yoga since 2016 with a specialization in Hot Vinyasa Yoga. She brings an understanding that every body is different and yoga can be adapted to fit a person's specific needs. She instructs clients from the ages of 18-90. She enjoys the creativity of Vinyasa flow and all the possibilities for freedom of personal expression through movement and increased self-awareness. This made acro yoga a natural addition to her personal practice. Acro provides a playful opportunity to create movement, flow, and challenge what you are truly capable of while working with others to accomplish a mutual goal. While yoga is a very introspective practice, acro yoga requires clear interpersonal communication. She hopes to facilitate space to increase awareness of mind and body with each breath as it guides you throughout your own practice so you can live mindfully on and off the mat.
That Hoop Guy Hoop Team Michael Hayataka, That Hoop Guy Mike has been hooping for over 10 years and in that time has fallen in love with hooping and teaching object manipulation skills. With his unique style and liquid flow, he's now taking his over 8 years of teaching experience to the flow community. His analytical teaching style informs intuitive, hard-to-explain concepts through single technique-based breakdowns. With a successful international and domestic workshop portfolio, he has taught at over 60 flow and hoop events over the last 6 years. Just back from a tour with The Wandering Circus in Australia, Mike is ready to teach the stuff and things to all the hoopers.
Vince Brown has been training parkour/freerunning for over 7 years. In 2014, he began teaching parkour classes and individual instruction in the Ninja Zone program at Wright's Gymnastics in Indianapolis. He then traveled to Taiwan and taught parkour classes both at private gyms and for public school's extracurricular programs, all while teaching English as well. That being said, he has had much experience failing and falling; learning through the process to find comfort in chaos, to acknowledge the resilience of the human body, and about the psychology of getting back up again.