I grew up in England where I studied acting and movement with Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and with Fourth Monkey. My dark thoughts lead me to acting, acting lead me to my breath and meditation has allowed me to be happier and to approach work with ease. For almost 2 years I have been sober from alcohol, due to acting and meditation and looking at myself and my past problems.

I have always been goofy, making my brothers laugh, also in my acting training I did a lot of clowning which I think has really influenced my attitude to rehearsing and training to try, try, try and accept failures, and therefore be able to learn from them.

I take inspiration from Charlie Chaplin and other physical performers. I love his ability to say so much with so little words. I joined Espace Ouvert to train physically and to learn to create my physical work. My buddy Megan described me as a ‘curious, open minded, happy dude’, and moving and learning to dance makes me very happy and curious to learn more in storytelling.

I came to Canada because I wanted to play a handsome, posh English guy and last year, I did, in my first professional theatre job in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. After that I took part in my first Netflix role in a miniseries ‘James Wan Presents: Erie Hall’ where I got to physically replicate my character because he was a real person that I found on YouTube. For a very long time I have wanted to play a soldier and in April I got to, I was a soldier in my first feature film role in ‘Blackbird’ where I learnt and sang a song in Russian.

Looking forward to developing my physical storytelling more and more in future work :)

Rhys Alexander Phillips

Vanessa Cardoso -Whelan (she-her) is a playwright, multidisciplinary artist, street performer and clown from Brazil, with a passion for contemporary theatre and body movement awareness, especially related to Flamenco dancing.

Graduating in Theatre Arts in 2004, she has performed with several artistic groups onstage and in street productions, as an actress, Flamenco dancer, puppeteer and fire flow dancer.

Vanessa has been actively engaged in the local arts scene since moving to NL in 2014, participating in diverse artistic workshops and festivals.

Currently wearing different hats she’s involved in theatre productions, Tv shows, dance adventures and clown studies.

Vanessa also loves to “play with fire” and perform as a Living Statue in the streets when the weather is nice.

Mr. Tendai Mudunge is an active member in the community of Newfoundland and Labrador. His prowess in the arts scene, circus, cricket, and engineering has helped him to acquire an incredibly unique skill set.

Although his passion for excellence is unmatched, his greatest strengths are his charming personality and a burning desire to always make a positive impact to the community. He is well known for promoting diverse cultures and some of his work has been previously featured on CBC radio, CBC television, City of St John’s Celebrations and VOCM.

Kai Bryan is an award-winning visual artist and drag clown. Kai's movement practice includes aerial circus, dance, contortion, and clowning, all of which become tools for decadent, serious, and silly drag performances. As an installation artist and garment designer, Kai is keen to explore the ways these movement repertoires interact with their environment. Kai is a regular host and performer with many organizations and festivals including Lawnya Vawnya, Neighbourhood Dance Works, Wonderbolt Circus, and the St. John's International Circusfest. They are the recipient of the VANL-CARFAC Emerging Artist Award (2014) and Milestone Award (2021), and of grants from the City of St. John's, ArtsNL, and the Canada Council. Kai adores collaborative practice, and is a member of St. John's most bizarre drag collective the Phlegm Fatales. Kai is inspired by science fiction, horror cinema, and aquatic creatures.

photo of Kai Bryan by Scott Humber

Keely is a circus artist who has recently returned to Newfoundland after spending the past 5 years in Montreal and Toronto. In the decade since she shifted her life-long dedication to trickery from the gymnastics club to the circus scene, she has graced stages and studios across Canada and abroad. She honed her skills in St. John’s Newfoundland, where she was the head instructor at iFly Aerial Arts, toured extensively with Smokeshow and Wonderbolt, and worked with many other dance and theater companies. She then spent several years teaching and performing with the artists of Toronto, and developed a virtual training program to help grounded aerialists retain the necessary skills to return to the air safely. She ultimately moved to Montreal to pursue a doctorate of Humanities at Concordia University, researching phenomenological considerations of circus movement and pedagogy. She is on a mission to cultivate the local circus community in a sustainable way by creating new spaces to practice and innovative methods to introduce people to the wonders of the air!

Amy is an independent Newfoundland artist who is fascinated by all types of movement. With a background in partner dance, she has in recent years expanded her view to include a multitude of new partners, such as fabrics, silks, ropes and even stone.

She has an insatiable desire to find new ways to flow and fly, and to connect with the world through movement. Her dream is to continue creating and inspire others to be fearless in their pursuit of joy.