Hoop Artist
Natale Luma didn’t choose the circle life, the circle life chose her. She became dedicated to the cult of hoops over a decade ago, and has since built a full-time life of art, entertainment, creativity, and obviously, spinning in circles. Outside of her solo performance ventures she is the director of cirque-theater troupe Cirque Cadia, co-producer of The Gnomecoming Dance, an instructor online and at Cabaret Atelier, and Marketing Manager for the Bellingham Circus Guild. To connect or follow along, find her on Instagram @lumaflow or at lumaflow.net.
Fabric Aerialist
Emily is grateful to be a part of the Bellingham Circus Guild community and is thrilled to perform in this year’s My Circus Valentine show. She has been practicing aerial circus since 2015, specializing in aerial silks (fabric/tissue). Emily enjoys exploring the fluidity and depth of movement qualities while incorporating elements of modern dance into aerial work and movement practice. In addition to her own training, Emily has also had the pleasure of teaching aerial silks to beginners since 2019. Find her on Instagram at @emilyanncrabill.
Diabolo Artist
.Willem McGowan started juggling in 2006 in Oak Park, USA. After training with different youth circus organizations, Willem later moved to Quebec City, Canada, where he attended l’École de Cirque de Québec, graduating in 2017 with a specialty in Diabolo. Since then, Willem has performed around the world with various companies, including Midnight Circus in Chicago, Strut & Fret in Australia, and Circus Monti in Switzerland. Willem was also a part of the 2024 season of Shoestring Circus in Bellingham! He currently lives in Chicago with his girlfriend, Lindsay, and their chihuahua, Pogo. Find him on Instagram @willem.mcgowan.
Straps Aerialist
Leah Jones is a ballet-trained aerial straps artist who has been training, coaching, and obsessively studying straps for the past fourteen years. Leah received her formal straps training in Montreal and has performed with companies such as Stufish Asia, Quixotic Fusion, Teatro Zinzanni, and Acrobatic Conundrum. She also trains and coaches at the Bellingham Circus Guild. Leah is delighted to be participating in My Circus Valentine again. Find her on Instagram at @leahvjonesuphigh or at lvjcircusartist.com.
Carpet Spinning Artist
Sara Sparrow came to modern circus in 2005, holding a BA in Fine Art, with a background as a gymnast, an actor and performer in musical theater, and as a classically-trained singer and musician. She has performed professionally for two decades as a multi-disciplinary aerialist, an acrobat, foot juggler, chair stacker, singer, dancer, showgirl, and chicken. She is the founder and former owner of Sparrow Studios school for aerial arts in Olympia, WA, and currently resides in Bishop, CA. Her circus heart, however, will always belong to Bellingham. Sara’s innovative style has inspired and influenced the direction of contemporary circus in the Pacific Northwest. Locally, she has performed at nearly every venue in Western Washington, notably with Teatro ZinZanni, EnJoy Productions, and TEDx Rainier. Internationally, she has worked at the Friedrichsbau Variete in Stuttgart, Germany, and Teatro Circo Price, Madrid and Bilbao, Spain. She is the creator of a highly acclaimed solo show, Wee Small (2016). Her current project, Cirque de Crochet, marries her love of textiles and handcraft with performance. Find her on Instagram at @cirquedecrochet or at sparrowcircus.net.
Lasso Artist
Esther is a lasso artist and aerialist from Colorado, USA, and has the cowgirl experience to back it up. Having grown up riding and performing with horses, and more recently graduating from New England Center for Circus Arts in spring 2025, Esther performs lasso in a style completely her own. Adding dance and acrobatics to the highest level of rope spinning, she puts a new spin on this classic art form. Recently, Esther has performed for Spiegelworld, Cirque Us Stories, Quixotic’s Whiskey Dynamite, the Turbofest professional show, and she is looking forward to performing for Krystallpalast in Leipzig in the spring! Find her on Instagram at @esther.ropes or at estherropes.wixsite.com.
Contact Juggling Artist
Richard Hartnell is among the most distinguished North American contact jugglers. His grasp of juggling technique has earned him places as a coveted instructor and performer across the United States and another 13 countries beyond. He is a co-founder of the Bellingham Circus Guild, director of the Cascade Juggling Festival, and a resident artist emeritus at some of the San Francisco Bay Area’s premier studios of prop-based circus arts. Find him on Instagram at @contactballer or at gravitydefiance.net.
Live Musician & Lyra Artist
Dream Frohe is an aerialist with a passion for thoughtful and dynamic movement. In essence, she makes a practice of joyfully hoisting herself into improbable positions for the sake of honest expression. Using her background as a gymnast, in addition to a lifelong interest in dance and other art forms, she brings strong technique and a fresh style into her work as a performer, instructor, and choreographer. She has been teaching and performing aerial dance nationally and internationally for over 10 years and is a founding member of the Bellingham Circus Guild, where she currently teaches and trains. Find her on Instagram at @dreamefrohe or sign up for her classes here!
Live Musician
Casey plays in the Hot Tomatoes and played in The Wandering Seas. He also co-founded Telehamster.net, a local, private network for old-school analog landline telephones for kids and adults. Find him on Instagram at @caseyhconnor or at caseyconnor.org.
Live Musician
As a young commercial fisherman without a drug habit, Nat had a lot of time to practice his guitar, so sometimes he did. This led to him playing in local Bellingham bands like Hot House, Nuage, and The Shadies, which ultimately led to playing in the world famous Hot Tomatoes. His musical influences include Casey Connor, Dream Frohe, Lucas Hicks, Stephane Wremble, Jon Sampson, and Devin Champlin. Now in his golden years, Nat enjoys helping at the foodbank, sailing, ultimate frisbee, small motor repair, arguing with republicans, and hanging out with his girlfriend’s cat. Find him at @orcasislandsailing or at orcassailing.com.
PRODUCER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, & TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Anneka Deacon
CHOREOGRAPHER, CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTION, PRODUCTION ASSISTANT, & MERCH MANAGER
Jessika Houston
STAGE MANAGER
Hannah Smith
STAGE HAND
Allison Steele
LIGHTING TECH & DESIGN
Bootstrap Jeppesen
LIVE MUSIC SOUND TECHNICIAN
Sam Top
LIGHT & SOUND DESIGN MENTOR
Poki McCorkle
LIGHT TECH & SPOTLIGHT OPERATOR
Don Bates
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR, HOSPITALITY, & CE
Vanessa Gravenstein
BRAND DESIGN & VISUAL MARKETING
Vinny Casasanta
MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER