ZACADA CIRCUS SCHOOL - Key Persons
Alexa Compare- is a dance Pageant title holder, has performed on a project with Cirque du Soleil and a technical dancer- began her journey into her arts at the age of 3 years-old. She is a professionally trained dancer in ballet, tap, acro, jazz, and contemporary. She competed internationally for 6 years as a soloist and group performer representing Rhythm Plus Dance Company. In 2011, she placed as the 2nd runner up in Petite Miss CCDMA Pageant. In 2012 she was crowned 2012's Petite Miss Dance of Canada in Simcoe, Ontario and competed on the North American stage for Petite Miss Dance of America in Los Angeles, California where she placed 3rd runner up. In 2015, Alexa was a part of the Cirque du Soleil team during the opening and closing ceremonies of the PAN AM games. She currently trains with industry choreographers at Millennium Dance Complex and The Underground Dance Complex in Toronto, Ontario in advanced hip-hop and jazz funk.
Alexa has been a part of Zacada circus' show team since 2013. She is trained in trapeze, acrobatics, aerial silks, skipping and dance. With her vast knowledge of choreography, meticulous technicality and exuberant personality, Alexa is able to showcase her professionalism as a Zacada dance teacher. She trains her students in both jazz funk and hip-hop combinations that reflect the modern artistry of the dance industry.
Cana has been a performer with Zacada Circus School since 2013 becoming one of the youngest performers to join Zacada's Show Team at 8 years old. Before transferring to the circus, Cana was a competitive gymnast in Hamilton and loved competing all over Ontario. At Zacada, Cana specializes in German Wheel and Silks, but training at Zacada for over half of her life she has required many skills on each apparatus. Cana is passionate about continuing to expand her knowledge in circus and passing it on to all the young aspiring circus artists. Cana is eager to get to know all of our new students and to help them grow as circus performers.
Christine and Kosta founded Zacada Circus School in 2007 in order to realize their vision of combining elements of fitness and artistic impression to teach the circus arts.
Inspired by their experiences with the Cirque du Soleil, Christine and Kosta Zakharenko left the tour together to pursue their vision of combining elements of fitness and artistic expression, by founding the Zacada Circus School.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Director
- Principal
- Artistic Advisor
Debra Brown is Zacada's Artistic Advisor / Director and most valued Choreographer.
Debra has been the principal choreographer for Cirque du Soleil since 1987.
Zacada's Co-founders Kosta and Christine had the opportunity to meet and work with Debra Brown back in 1996-2001 with Cirque du Soleil's Quidam and are honoured and so grateful to be able to have Debra as an Artistic Director.
Her credits include QUIDAM, ALEGRIA, SALTIMBANCO, NOUVELLE EXPÉRIENCE CIRQUE RÉINVENTÉ, and the permanent shows "0" and MYSTÈRE in Las Vegas and LA NOUBA in Orlando.
In 1999, QUIDAM's "Banquine" act, for which she did the choreography, won the prestigious Golden Clown at the 23rd World Circus Festival in Monte Carlo. Debra Brown won the prestigious Bob Fosse Innovative Choreography Award for her ongoing work with the Cirque du Soleil. In 1990, for her work with the Cirque's Four Contortionists, Ms. Brown won the first ever Soviet Press Award for Most Outstanding Choreographer at the World Circus Festival in Paris. The dancers of MYSTÈRE were presented with the "1997 Best of Las Vegas" award by Las Vegas Entertainment Magazine.
A winner of eight national choreographic awards in gymnastics, she has choreographed for individuals and teams across North America, including 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in Rhythmic Gymnastics Lori Fung and, most recently, with the 2000 Canadian Olympic Synchronized Swimming Team.
In 2000-2001, Ms. Brown choreographed Aerosmith's video JADED as well as their performance at the American Music Awards. She directed / choreographed Creative Overdose of Kinetic Energy (C.O.K.E.), a multi-disciplinary dance cabaret, the gala per- formance held in honour of the eighteen heads of state attending the APEC Conference and directed The Summit of the Americas spectacular.
Debra won the OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY EMMY for CIRQUE DU SOLEIL performance at THE 74TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS in 2002. She also created and guided Madonna's aerial feats for her Drowned World Tour (for which she was also nominated for Outstanding Choreography at the 54th Annual Emmy Awards)
Brantford being Debra's hometown, her knowledge and talent can be shared with the Zacada's Show Team providing them with a unique and magical experience.
Jasmine started dance classes at 4 years old and from there moved to train in gymnastics. She continued to build her strength and flexibility before joining Zacada's Aerial Team. She worked hard and was soon invited to join the Show Team to further improve her skills. Jasmine specializes in the Spanish Web and Hula Hoops, but also has experience performing on many apparatuses.
She is eager to continue learning so that she can pass on her knowledge to others. Jasmine is energetic, enthusiastic and loves working with kids of all ages. She loves helping others and is excited to see her students develop their skills and learn new techniques!
Jessie has been a member of Zacada since 2015. After enrolling in dance and gymnastics from the ages of 3-7, she attended a birthday party at Zacada and instantly fell in love with circus. Jessie spent the next eight years building her strength and flexibility in the recreational class, acro class, aerial team and eventually worked her way to a spot on the show team. Jessie has been performing with the show team since 2019, specializing in the aerial cube, aerial hoop, hula hoops, and acro dance, but Jessie strives to continue the growth of her knowledge of all apparatuses. Although Jessie continues to perform with Zacada's show team, she felt ready to pass down her knowledge to other aspiring circus performers. Jessie is honoured to be a Zacada coach since 2022, and can't wait to continue to impact the lives of up-and-coming performers!
Jessie has had several years of dance and gymnastics experience before finding her passion in circus and trained and performed in the aerial
program at Zacada for 3 years before she was invited to join Zacada's elite performance team. Jessie specializes in trapeze and is Zacada's Hula Hoop expert. She is constantly researching and bringing in new skills to perfect and teach. Jessie's upbeat and lively personality brings a positive energy into the gym. She is a certified NCCP instructor and is very enthusiastic and excited about passing on her knowledge of circus.
Katherine has been involved in many different sports since she was 3 years old. She started ninja when she was about 6 and has been doing it ever since! About a year and a half ago, she joined the competitive team. Ninja is her favourite sport, so she loves teaching others about it! Seeing kids complete an obstacle that they have been working on makes her smile! Katherine believes it is important for kids to be active, so they keep those habits as they grow older. Ninja is a great way to be active while having fun. She loves the community, the friends you meet, and the skills you learn. Ninja is a sport unlike any other and Katherine is excited to be a part of Zacada's coaching team.
As a Zacada Circus School performer and coach, Kayley Pettit draws from her extensive and varied dance career.
Throughout her competitive dance career, Kayley has held numerous titles. These include 'Teen Dancer of the Year' for the American Dance Awards, 'Canadian Champion' for the Canadian Scot Dance Canada Championship Series, as well as many regional and national group titles. Kayley has been training and coaching Aerial Arts/ Circus since 2008. She is trained on a wide variety of apparatus'. Kayley has worked multiple contracts with Royal Caribbean Productions for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line where she worked as an Aerialist, Dancer, Aerial Coordinator, and Guest Specialty Act. She draws from her extensive competitive dance and acro career. She is a certified Gymnastics and Alixa Flexibility coach. She loves working with students of all ages and helping students to reach their full potential.
Layla Nussey has been involved with Zacada Circus School for many years now. From the ages 6 to 11, she attended the summer camps. At age 12 Layla was asked to join Aerials. It was then that she realized that circus was forever going to be a big part of her life. She worked very hard to earn a spot on the Zacada Show team. And after two years of focused training and dedication in the Aerials class, she was invited to join Showteam. Since then, Layla has performed in multiple shows and at events such as the Peach Festival. In the time since she has started coaching, Layla has learned how to properly teach children the art of circus in a fun and safe way. Layla loves working with children and passing on her circus knowledge to the young students at Zacada.
Lily first joined Zacada in 2019 where she trained on the Aerials team for 2 years before joining Zacadas Showteam where she currently trains and performs. Lily specializes in duo trapeze, aerial silks, hoop and partner acrobatics but enjoys exploring all apparatus'. Her passion to preform can also be seen through her dance career. Lily has been dancing competitively since age 7 in ballet, jazz, lyrical, hiphop, musical theatre and contemporary. She has won several overall 1st place soloist titles and has competed in the Canadian Dance Finals in Niagara. She continues to compete with group and solo dance pieces, representing her studio: The Edge School of Performing Arts. Lily now passes on her knowledge to aspiring circus performers as a Zacada coach since 2022!
Melanie Fletcher is a former gymnast, training in Grimsby, Ontario for several years. She uses her experiences to contribute to her technique and skills at Zacada, attributing her initial success to her base knowledge gained as a gymnast. Melanie first joined Zacada in 2018 through the aerial program, moving up to the show team in 2022. She has been a coach at Zacada since 2023 and is extremely passionate about circus arts, specializing in aerial silks. She also has experience training and performing jump rope, spanish web, juggling, and cyr wheel. Melanie is dedicated to the circus, spending her time training at Zacada to learn, improve, and share her knowledge. She is very excited to see her students benefit from her teachings and grow as artists, performers, and people.
Coach Richard, started with Ninja as a cheering parent when his oldest son showed flair on the obstacles, he was quickly swallowed up by the sport and fell in love with the excitement of new obstacles, longer laches and bigger climbs. Richard is a natural handy man that can build anything and happily crafts new obstacles for the gym at every opportunity. Coach Richard has two ninjas of his own, but cheers for each ninjas success. He is there to celebrate the wins, comfort the challenges and work on technique. Coach Richard is always the guy in full Zacada gear with a hearty fist pump as Ninja's challenge themselves and conquer new skills. Outside of Ninja Richard rebuilds motorcycles, plays guitar and cycles thousands of KMs a year.
Selah has been a performer with Zacada Circus School since 2012 and has been coaching since 2015. Before circus, Selah spent 8 years training as a competitive gymnast in Hamilton and competed all across Ontario. Currently at Zacada, Selah specializes in Cyr wheel, which she has been training and performing on for over 3 years, but Selah also has experience performing on and coaching trapeze, cube, hoop, and skipping. Selah is a certified gymnastics coach with a passion for seeing improvement and excitement in her students. If you cannot find Selah at McMaster University where she is beginning her undergrad in the fall, you can most definitely find her spinning, jumping, and dancing at Zacada circus!