River Circus People
UP UP UP Inc. is a touring crane truck circus ensemble!
Our goal is to do socially distant shows for outdoor gatherings, small farms, campesino & immigrant communities, dinner parties, nursing homes, women’s shelters, etc. to bring joy and levity into the air! We will be taking this show on a month long tour throughout the Pacific Northwest this summer.
What the heck is a crane circus show?!
Well, we bought a flatbed truck to serve as our stage as our stage, a baby grand piano for live music….and have mounted a 30’ hand cranked crane on the truck to serve as our aerial rigging point and point of interest for other shenanigans!
What will the show be like?
We are a collection of 7 performers from Bellingham, Seattle and afar. We are aerialists, musicians, acrobats, clowns and illusionists. This 1 hour all ages show will be whimsical, beautiful, hilarious and mostly word free so that it can be accessible for those of all languages.
How do you all fit in one truck?
We don’t!
For the first half of the tour, a few of us will be in the truck and the rest of the ensemble on BICYCLES, to reduce emissions and increase the fun!
How much is the show?
The majority of our shows are by donation or free. This year has been quite a doozy for people and communities everywhere. Our goal this summer is to bring the joy of circus to anyone and everyone, regardless of money.
MEET THE CAST!
Sadye Osterloh
Sadye Osterloh (she/her) has been a giant ham since the moment she was born. Or was it a turkey? As a nationally and internationally touring performer, instructor and choreographer, she has a passion for sparking joy and empowerment through movement and laughter. She enjoys dangling off of aerial apparatuses and other humans, dressing up like a hot dog, teaching Dorky Dance Fitness, eating crunchy food on stage and opening up jars that other people have previously loosened – and feeling triumphant about it.
dorkydancefitness.com
Poki
Matthew “Poki” McCorkle (they/them) creates mesmerizing & surreal spectacle. In the past few months Poki has spent countless hours tinkering, hammering, prying, degreasing, greasing, new-bearing-ing, and otherwise restoring this old crane. In the past, Poki has spent 6 seasons performing in Germany’s finest dinner theatre shows with PALAZZO. They joined Clowns Without Borders to perform for children in The Philippines (2013) and in Palestine West Bank (2019). They have been on 3 tours with The New Old Time Chautaqua to prisons, old folks homes, tribal reservations, and state parks. As well as the stuff mentioned above, for Poki, pandemic time has meant beard growing and self reflection. And Sourkraut making. And mushroom hunting.
mattpoki.com
Sari Breznau
Sari (she/her) is a music director, stage-craftsperson, and multi-instrumentalist best known for her work with Circus Contraption, Orkestar Zirkonium, Future Fridays, Beats Antique, Moonshine Revival Tent, Cherdonna, and the Singing in the Rain Family Choir.
Cuream Jackson
Cuream Jackson (he/him), 29, has spent years tumbling, dancing, spinning, and moving his body in the performing arts realm. He’s found his home in the circus arts specializing in aerials, acrobatics, and partner work. Cuream loves to leave no stone unturned when it comes to trying new disciplines and really enjoys the joy that the performing arts bring to the world. He’s always looking to share that joy with fellow artists and other incredible humans. You can find Cuream swinging from the rafters with Boise Circus Guild and the Red Light Variety show in Boise, Idaho.
cureamjackson.com
@cuream
Jill Marissa
Jill Marissa (she/her) is a seasoned performing artist with a passion for handbalancing, dance, wildly versatile character work and aerial apparatus of all sorts, especially other humans! She has had the privilege of performing on contracts internationally with the Aerialistas and as one half of the trapeze duo Two of Wands. As a co-founder ticktock dance, one of Seattle’s first circus companies to meld aerial arts with contemporary dance, she has presented work in the NYC aerial dance festival, Aloft! Chicago, the New Orleans Fringe Festival, and all over the PNW, including Moisture Festival, Emerald City Trapeze Arts, and FRED Wildlife Refuge. By far the most challenging trick she has attempted is being a mother, which she practices daily.
jillmarissa.com
Noa Schnitzer
Noa (she/her) is an Israeli-American performance maker. Driven by puzzles of the body and the human psyche, Noa is dedicated to the exploration of physical and mental growth through performing and teaching. She has been making work in the air and on the ground since 2009 after attending Sandciel:School of Dance and Circus Arts in Israel. Her audiences are invited into an intimate conversation on large questions as she uses her performance opportunities to magnify the delicate exchange that happens between internal composition, external reality and the poetry of their meeting. Noa currently lives at the Lookout Arts Quarry in Bellingham, WA where she teaches online, continues her movement research and grows food as well as healthy communal living practices.
Vimeo
Tanya Gagné
Tanya Gagné (she/her/it), pioneer, icon and innovator of punk rock circus and cabaret has been making genre-straddling work and performances in New York City and around the world for over 20 years. She is a choreographer, aerialist, teacher, dancer, writer, storyteller, MC and comedian. Her neo-vaudevillian collaboration with Adrienne Truscott, The Wau Wau Sisters, began in NYC in 1999 and has enjoyed an Off-Broadway run, sold out season at the Sydney Opera House, four seasons at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival as well as Brighton, Melbourne Adelaide Brisbane and Darwin Festivals. They have won several awards including Miss Exotic World Best Duo, the Herald Angel Award, and Best Cabaret show in Edinburgh and Brighton. Tanya is the founder and director of the Trapeze Loft & Big Sky Works in Brooklyn, NY, both multi-disciplinary circus and performance arts space and school 2000-2018. She is also a long-time veteran of Circus Amok, the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, La Clique, La Soirée and Briefs Factory.
@tbirdgagne
