Julia Taffe
Artistic Director

Julia Taffe is a choreographer, performer and rock-climbing guide. Since 1999, she has created dances on 14 buildings, in six theatres, and on various BC cliffs and mountains. Before founding Aeriosa, Taffe performed nationally with Winnipeg-based Ruth Cansfield Dance and internationally with the aerial company Project Bandaloop under the direction of Amelia Rudolph. As a solo artist, Taffe collaborated with filmmaker Janet Roddan on the mountain-dance shorts Stone Soup and Granite Ocean. Both films premiered at the Banff Festival of Mountain Films and received screenings at mountain culture film festivals in Canada, USA and Europe. In 2002, the Banff Centre for Mountain Culture commissioned Taffe to create On Earth, a vertical dance stage performance to celebrate United Nations International Year of the Mountains. On Earth was created in residence at Cirque du Soleil in Montreal, the Banff Centre, and The Dance Centre in Vancouver.

Taffe’s site-specific choreography projects include the 5th Taipei International Arts Festival, Vancouver Library Square, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Her recent film credits include choreography for the Aliens in John Woo’s Lost in Space, the Wendigo in WB’s Supernatural and an animatronic collaboration with puppeteer Guy Himber as the Hero Wolf in the feature film Trick or Treat. Her recent dance performance highlights include guest appearances on skyscrapers in New York and São Paulo with Project Bandaloop. In 2003, the international NGO The Mountain Institute honoured Taffe as a mountain culture hero.

Please note: If you click on the cropped thumbnails on this page, you'll see larger and complete versions of the images.

Colin Zacharias
Safety Rigging Coordinator/Mountain Guide

Colin has been a certified Mountain and Ski Guide (IFMGA, ACMG) for the past 20 years. Besides rigging for Aeriosa, Colin has rigged for film sets, stunts and the EcoChallenge Race in Morocco, Borneo, Fiji and Argentina.

Colin specializes in mountain and avalanche safety and enjoys working with Aeriosa’s dancers whether on the mountain cliffs or in the dance studio. Colin’s company Quixotic Adventures offers guided adventures to exotic destinations around the world. Visit Colin on the web at: http://web.mac.com/quixoticadventures .

DANCE ARTISTS

Scott Buffett
Dance Artist/Teacher

Scott Buffett started dancing in Coquitlam, BC at the age of thirteen to complement his gymnastic training. He went on to join the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Professional Program in 1983, and the School of Toronto Dance Theatre in 1986. He joined Dancemakers as a company member in 1987 and also worked as a guest artist with the Danny Grossman Dance Company for three years. In 1995, Scott took a hiatus from dance to study yoga in Sydney and Byron Bay Australia.

Scott’s new yoga vocabulary, his previous dance training and his experience as a recreational climber, made him a valuable addition to Julia Taffe’s new aerial dance creation on the Scotiabank Dance Centre Building. Scott continued to work with Julia and to develop his aerial skills during a two-week residency with Cité des Arts du Cirque, dancing on the Cirque du Soleil Building. At the end of these rehearsals, he made his vertical mountain dance debut, performing on the 1500’ granite headwall of the Squamish Chief. He then returned to the stage combining his new aerial abilities and modern dance background in a new creation called On Earth, which premiered at the International Mountain Summit at the Banff Centre. Following the Banff performance, Scott danced on buildings in Vancouver, Nanaimo, and Taipei. Scott continues to teach dance and yoga in Vancouver and abroad.

Theresa Carroll
Dance Artist

Theresa Carroll is a dancer, visual artist and climber. She graduated in 2002 from Simon Fraser University with a BFA in Dance and Visual Arts. While there, she performed choreography by artists Judith Garay, Barbara Bourget, and D-Anne Trepanier, and danced in the Off Centre Performance Company. Her movement experience started off with 14 years of competitive gymnastics, and evolved through dance training in contemporary, ballet, and jazz.

Theresa's sport climbing background is invaluable to her dancing with Aeriosa; in 1998 she competed at the World Youth Climbing Championships in Austria as a member of the Canadian National Youth Climbing Team. Theresa first performed with Aeriosa in Dance Allsorts, 2004, with other performances including the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and FUSE at the Vancouver Art Gallery. She has continued to be fascinated by exploring the world of vertical, site specific movement on each new building and dance location. Theresa also works in the visual arts field as a program coordinator and develops educational curriculum for schools at the Burnaby Art Gallery.

Michael Flynn
Technical Director and Rigger

Trained at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School for nine years, Michael toured and performed with the company from the age of 12. After apprenticing with the Alberta Ballet in 1998, he went on to dance with Ruth Cansfeld, Ballet BC, the Toy Castle, along with many independent projects.

As a member of Aeriosa he has combined a love of climbing and dance. As well as being a dancer, he has taken on rigging roles with the company. This is a double role he continued to play in his work with Cirque Phoenix, Sharum Borum Circus, and The Caravan Stage Barge. Most recently Michael returned to Vancouver after spending two seasons at the Banff Centre as a stage and scenic carpenter.

Chandra Krown
Dance Artist

Chandra Krown was born and raised in Vancouver, BC. As a child she competed at a national level in gymnastics. In her early twenties, Chandra joined the Main Dance professional training program where she trained in ballet, modern, contact improvisation, and other techniques. Later, Chandra performed with the Vancouver Moving Theatre, Mortal Coil Performance Society and Joe Ink. She diversified her skills to include stilt dancing and fire spinning and launched XtravaDance Productions – a company dedicated to providing entertainment to the special events industry.

In 2000, Chandra studied modern dance with Kathleen Hermesdorf. In 2001, she taught Modern Release Technique and yoga at the UBC and the Dance Centre in Vancouver. During this time she performed trapeze and hoop for the Stanley Park Rainforest Train. In 2002, she studied aerial dance with Flyaway Productions in San Francisco (via a Canada Council grant). During this internship she presented the dance/vocal piece Home at the ODC Theater and created a video entitled X becomes Y, utilizing natural settings for the dance. In 2004, at the invitation of Julia Taffe, Chandra performed in On the Fly and Dance Allsorts with Aeriosa.

Alisoun Payne
Dance Artist

Since 1992, Alisoun Payne’s professional path has encompassed an eclectic variety of dance arts. Alisoun has performed with Canadian companies Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Karen Jamieson Dance Company, Judith Marcuse, the Chien Lung Movement Artists, Mascall Dance, and MMHop as well as in independent and mixed media projects. Her most recent project was “Voices of the Fraser”, a musical review by Angela Brown. She has also brought her physical prowess as a trampoline dancer and aerialist to the work of Le Groupe Apogee under the artistic direction of Cirque de Soleil choreographer Debbie Brown.

As a soloist and original member of her company for ten years, Alisoun had the unique privilege of being a co-creator of a new discipline called trampoline-dance and also danced aerial ballet. She has explored film through the award winning “States of Grace”, by Daniel Conrad and Judith Marcuse, and most recently in the feature length “Catwoman”, with Halle Berry. In addition, Alisoun’s versatility is informed by the fact that she has a black belt Chien Lung, an internal/external Kung Fu form and coaches gymnastics, circus arts and ocean kayaking as well as teaching yoga. Alisoun has taught dance throughout BC, and in Montreal.

Abby Watkins
Dance Artist/Rigger/Teacher

Abby Watkins is an accomplished dancer and teacher as well as being an ACMG Climbing Guide and professional climber. Her combined skills and athletic abilities have made her sought-after by aerial choreographers in three countries. In fall 2002, Abby participated extensively in On Earth, working as a performer, a rehearsal assistant, and a rigger. In May 2002, she travelled home to Australia to work with choreographer Jillian Pierce and her company Y Space from Natimuk. Over a ten-day period, the company created a site-specific aerial dance installation named Colony, a work that saw the performers living and dancing daily on the Arts Centre Spire in Melbourne.

Previously, Abby had worked with Y Space on Pieces of E, with Julia Taffe for the Scotiabank Dance Centre Opening Ceremonies and with the vertical dance troupe Project Bandaloop in California. Abby received her dance training at the University of California, Berkeley, where she attended on a Full Athletic Scholarship for gymnastics. She had received this scholarship as a member of the Australian Gymnastic National Team, but gave up competition in order to explore a deeper passion for the language of dance and her then newly acquired love for rock climbing. In 2000, Abby moved to Canada and currently resides in Golden, BC. She looks forward to performing in the 2007/8 season of Aeriosa Dance.