Steven Santos is the founder and executive director of Simply Circus. During his time at Simply Circus Mr. Santos has has been a teacher, director, researcher and author. First and foremost, Mr. Santos is a teacher, teaching classes ranging from mommy and me circus classes, right through to classes for professional performers. Second, Mr. Santos is the director of Simply Circus, and is responsible for all aspects of Simply Circuses business. Mr. Santos spends a lot of time as as researcher, having researched and written 12 textbooks, over 1,000 articles, as well as countless other papers and resources on various circus arts, many being the only texts ever written on the subjects. Mr. Santos is currently working on developing textbooks for the Lyra, Aerial Silks and stacking chairs. Mr. Santos is the publisher of CircusNews.com, and has been helping people start circus programs since 2003.
Getting lost in India for a semester of Religious Studies at Hampshire College, then moving onto Teach-For-America in the Bronx, David Paris soon found his obsession with Salsa and unique title as the “White-Salsa-Lift-Guy.” Now Dave teaches and performs a unique blend of aerial acrobatics and New York style Salsa dancing with his partner Zoë Klein. Since studying 7 years under internationally acclaimed salsa schools (Eddie Torres and Razzmtazz), Dave has produced two instructional video series entitled "Salsa Lift & Aerials" and "Salsa For Gringos." By day, Dave teaches 7th grade English and runs an acrobatic-salsa kids team at M.S. 88 in Brooklyn; by night, Dave travels to all the major salsa congresses around the world. He dreams of designing a public school curriculum that integrates dance, acrobatics and trapeze within a rigorous academic program.
Zoë Klein has been dancing, designing lights and performing acrobatics in NYC since graduating Hampshire College 2001 (BA in Dance and Cultural Studies). Zoë is a lifetime improviser and modern dancer, and has made visible her solo work in NYC. While designing lights 2002 for an all women's circus company LAVA, Zoë became a 2-year apprentice. Since LAVA, Zoë was a co-founding member of the circus/theater company KIRKOS with Kate Magram having performed for Wachovia Bank, Rasa Music Label, Club Exit, Verbal Eyze Entertainment, and Bindlestiff Family Circus. Zoë’s adoption from Colombia has had her maintain a strong cultural interest in Latin culture, particularly Afro-Cuban dance and now Salsa. Previously, Zoë was Technical Director at Brooklyn Arts Exchange and Danspace Project Inc., but she is still found on high ladders and in lighting booths to pay her bills.
David Hunt, a Hampshire Graduate ('89F), is a professional performer and youth circus educator. In performance he has performed his slackrope act (as well as many other skills) with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Zoppe Family Circus, New Pickle Circus, and countless corporate events, stage productions, and film shoots. As an educator, he is currently a resident teaching artist with the Prescott Circus Theater Program in two public schools in Oakland, CA. He is the co-founder of the New Orleans School of Circus Arts, now operating through KidsmART (www.kidsmart.org) and is currently the Board President of the American Youth Circus Organization.
Stephanie Monseu is co-founder of the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. She is a multi-talented New York native. When two unrelated accidents left her with two broken arms in 1994, she put her jewelry business on hold and began performing with Keith Nelson as a fire eater— beginning a lifelong partnership and a commitment to circus and variety arts that has blossomed into a full time career as performer, booking agent, manager, production designer, director, and creative partner with Nelson. One of the greatest rewards has been working with the amazing and talented artists in NYC's variety community.
Keith Nelson: Born in Massachussetts and raised in North Carolina, he played Tuba in marching band, achieved Eagle in Boy Scouts, taught archery, and toured with the Grateful Dead. In 1988 Nelson enrolled at Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, where he studied social undecurrents and alternative politics, and luckily learned to eat fire and juggle. In 1992 he graduated and moved to New York City to work with Autonomedia, a Brooklyn-based small press. In 1994 he became the in-house fire eater at the Blue Angel Cabaret, and so began a career as a performer. That year he met Stephanie Monseu, taught her to eat fire and juggle, and thus began the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, a national touring non-profit variety arts troupe. Since then, Nelson and Monseu have devoted their lives to the growth of Bindlestiff and keeping live variety entertainment on the American stage. Nelson has swallowed swords at Avery Fischer Hall, spun guns at the Walter Reade, made balloon sculptures at the Apollo, and toured with the World of Wonders, one of the last sideshows on the carnival circuit.