For the last 30 years, Jeff Raz has performed nationally and internationally with circuses and theaters including Cirque du Soleil, The Pickle Circus, Song Circus, Lincoln Center Theater, Vaudeville Nouveau, Dell'Arte Players, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin and S.F. Shakespeare Festivals, TheatreWorks and Marin Theater Company. He has written 10 plays, directed many others and is the founder and director of the Clown Conservatory, a program that has trained some of the top young clowns who are currently performing around the world. (www.jeffraz.com)

Diane Wasnak is a diminutive dynamo who brings with her many varied talents including mime, trick biking, acrobatics, and dog training. Diane has studied with Master Trainer Lu-Yi from the Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe and the Circus Center San Francisco, and the highly-acclaimed Dog Trainer's Academy of the San Francisco SPCA. She is a former star of the Pickle Family Circus in which she and Jeff Raz performed as the legendary duo - Pino and Razz. She was also a principal physical comedienne in the Cirque du Soleil show Mystere in Las Vegas. She continues to perform around the country on stage and on screen. (www.dianewasnak.com)

Chloe is a native San Franciscan and began her studies in the arts from a young age at the SF Circus Center as a student of flying trapeze. While performing and studying with the SF Youth Circus she honed many skills such as hand balancing, tumbling, and several aerial disciplines. Chloe loves to travel to Japan for work and is a fierce and lovely solo hoop artist. She loves her dog Totoro and sunbathing.

Natalie Banfield has been performing aerial arts with the Les Arielles youth troupe for the past two years. Her first specialty was the single trapeze and more recently she has been performing on the double trapeze and tissue. In addition to Circus Arts, Natalie plays the saxophone and has an intense love for drawing and painting. She is currently a sixth grader at the School of the Madeleine in Berkeley.

Marcie Brown has a Master's Degree in classical cello. She has performed with lots of world class artists such as Luciano Pavarotti and Andreas Bocelli. She was in the Ray Charles Orchestra for awhile, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and also, with the Cirque du Soleil for two years, in the "O" show in Las Vegas. Ms. Brown teaches cello, violin and piano in her home studio in Alameda. www.marciebrown.com .

The Clown Conservatory is the only year-long circus clown training program in the United States. The program includes instruction in classic clowning, circus skills, acrobatics, mime, dance, character development, business, the creation of original clown material and more. Students also explore the history and current practice of clowning and its relationship and responsibility to society. Our Advanced Program gives continuing students the opportunity to create an act of professional quality while training, performing and working with community groups. (www.clownconservatory.org)

Shirley Clem has worked in education for over 16 years as a teacher and school administrator. She received her bachelor's degree in Human Development from UC Davis, and her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Mills College. She lives in Alameda with her terrific husband, 2 daughters, and a 3 year-old goldfish. Dr. Clem is a former gymnast and cheerleader. She loves being the principal at Otis School!

Tristan started her performing days when she was only ten, and toured with Vermont's own, Circus Smirkus. After touring with them for eight years she decided to change her focus to acting and recently graduated from S.U.N.Y purchase with a B.F.A in theater arts and film. She feels strongly about Circus for the Arts and is thrilled to be apart of it.

Jan Damm is a multi-talented performer and circus artist based in San Francisco. He has studied clowning with some of the modern masters including Avner Eisenberg, Julie Goell, Jeff Raz, John Gilkey, and Master Lu Yi. Jan has performed with LA Circus in Japan, Circus Zoppe, The New Pickle Circus, and Cirque Magnifique in Houston. He has recently returned from 'MoistureFest' variety festival in Seattle. Jan will appear all summer with Circus Bella in their tour of Bay Area parks (free circus! CircusBella.com!). He is thrilled to be appearing on stage with Circus for Arts in the Schools.

Keith has a BFA in Acting from Boston University. East Coast theater credits include: Dead End, Huntington Theatre Company, dir. by Nicholas Martin; Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot; social awareness theater tour with Equalogy Inc. Keith has recently been studying and training as a clown at the Clown Conservatory, San Francisco Circus Center. West Coast credits include: Tony n' Tina's Wedding(Tony); New Pickle Circus JCC Show, dir. by Joan Mankin. Keith, a proud product of NYC public school art programs, believes this is a vital cause.

Elliott Gittelsohn was raised in Vermont. He has worked with Circus Smirkus, New Pickle Circus, Vau de Vire Society and Barnaby's Boylesque. He is a graduate of the Clown Conservatory ('06) and The Professional Circus Program at Circus Center ('10). Elliott is proud to perform in Circus for Arts in the Schools for a second year.

Judy Goodwin, Principal of Chipman Middle School is an accomplished musician, singer and songwriter. In 1997, she released her first CD entitled Until Now. Her career in education has spanned 20 years working as a principal, teacher and music teacher. Her fondest desire as a child was to run away and join the circus. This could be the fault of too many Wonderful World of Disney episodes. She also was known to her family as "The Rec Director" due to her tendency to "organize" the itinerary for vacations. For the past 11 years Ms. Goodwin has enjoyed working in Alameda Unified as an administrator, thereby combining a love of adventure with her natural leadership ability.

Nathan Holguin is honored to be part of the Circus for Arts production. He is a veteran of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus where he worked as a Clown and Rigger. Prior to running away with the Circus he worked with Multiple Theater, Dance and Puppet Companies in the San Francisco Bay Area where he performed, wrote, directed and built props, puppets and masks for shows in Theater, Vaudeville, Burlesque, Circus, Outdoor Festivals and the humble street. He is a graduate of The Clown Conservatory, the San Francisco School of Circus Arts and the school of hard knocks. He would like to thank Jeff Raz and the cast and crew for their patience and assistance as we built the show.

Calvin began as a magic hobbyist and became an actor while attending the University of California, Santa Cruz. After receiving his BA in Theatre Arts, he spent a year at the Clown Conservatory of San Francisco. Now in his second year with the Clown Conservatory, he continues to discover how to use magic, acrobatics, and juggling in all of his performances.

Originally from the apple orchards of Sonoma County, Jonah Katz has been beating out rhythms with his feet since the age of six. Since then, Jonah has studied many other disciplines, including clowning, acting, acrobatics, and juggling. Currently a member of the San Francisco Circus, come summertime Jonah will teach at the Western Clowning Workshop in China for the second year in a row.

Christopher Keller, "Pan" is a 2009 graduate of the clown conservatoire. He has most recently been seen doing this character on Telemundo and at the Wu Quaio international circus festival in China. Christopher spends the rest of his performance time working with his clown partner Ralph, a carin terrier, and his monkey puppet Edward.

Fae Kievman is a clown, actor, singer, songwriter, circus skills performer, performance artist, street performer and all around entertainer who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a graduate of the New College of California and Clown Conservatory. He has performed at Bay Area events such as the 5th Annual Ryan's Ride, Alameda Entertainment Associates and The Packard Fund Foundation, and has worked internationally for the China Wuquiao International Circus Festival. . Fae Kievman has performed in the Clown Alley unit for Circus for Arts in the Schools for the past two years.

Paoli Lacy has been working with Jeff Raz in varying capacities for 35 years as a director, producer, clown, acrobat, aerialist, and less than perfect juggling partner; she is currently the Associate Director of the Clown Conservatory. Her yearly participation in Circus for the Arts is part of her life-long commitment to ARTS for everyone, especially her nephews in Alameda.

Bronkar is an internationally acclaimed beatboxer, drummer, juggler, musician, actor, funny man, and circus performer extraordinaire. He has taken his skills to thousands of colleges, festivals, corporate events, and theaters around the world. Bronkar's claim to fame is getting hundreds of thousands of Swiss people to beatbox with him using absolutely no words and only one microphone! He has been a featured act on NBC's America's Got Talent and was named 'Mr.Comediality' by San Francisco's Comedy Club House and was nominated for East Bay Express' Best Entertainer of the year award in 2009.

Trombonist Johannes Mager graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1973. Johannes has also played with the Oakland Symphony, S.F. the Brass Band, Spring Opera, Port Costa Players, the Lamplighters and the avant-garde chamber group the Arch Ensemble. Under the name Ghost Opera, Johannes gave his own performances of free-form musical/theatrical improvisation.

David grew up in Santa Cruz, California. He started clowning when he joined the First Year Program of the Clown Conservatory at the San Francisco Circus Center, then continued his training in the Advanced Program. David is also a juggler, dancer, and mime. Along with the faculty of the Clown Conservatory, he has trained with Avner Eisenberg and James Donlon. This summer he can be seen clowning around the Bay Area with Circus Bella.

Prescott Circus Theatre is an exciting and innovative after school and summer performing arts education program for youth at 7 Oakland public schools. The program was founded by Oakland teacher Aileen Moffitt in 1985. Participants work closely with professional artists to develop circus skills such as juggling, acrobatics, improvisation, balancing, unicycling, stilting, hip hop dance, hambone body percussion, and clowning. Students benefit through hands-on experiences that develop creative expression, stage presence, teamwork, focus, commitment, cultural awareness, and confidence. For more information, please call (510) 482-1674 or visit us online at www.prescottcircus.org

The Professional Aerial Program at Circus Center has been designed by Elena Panova for the training of aerial arts students who wish to pursue a professional circus career. The Program covers a variety of aerial specialties, including swinging trapeze, aerial perch, cloud swing, rope, and aerial hoop. (www.circuscenter.org)

This is Mr. Rust's third year of performing in the Circus for the Arts. It is a highlight of the year. He believes strongly in the arts and is delighted to support this incredible fundraiser. For his day job, Mr. Rust is the principal of Paden School in Alameda . Paden School is known for its partnership with Creative Education, outstanding educational programs, LifeSkills, dedicated staff, and Morning Ceremony.

Katie began her studies and work in the performing arts in the realm of ballet. She was trained under the Royal Academy of Dancing syllabus and earned honors under their evaluation system. She has had the opportunity while living in SF to delve into many aspects of performance including acting, singing,fire dancing, and of course aerial and circus arts! She loves to sew, dance and read.

Dale Tsang-Hall is a Paden parent. She earned her BM in piano performance from USC, her MM from U-Michigan, and her DMA from Rice University. She lives the crazy life of an active working musician, is a faculty member at Diablo Valley College and Laney College, and is a mom to two little kiddos.

Cassia YueChun Weigel joined the aerial troupe Les Aerielles, directed by Janene Davis in 2007. Her performance credits include the DeYoung Museum, the Mendocino Halloween Street Fair, You Tube Live, Lawrence Hall of Science, Children's Hospital and the premier performance of Toys. She is a third grader at St. Philip Neri in Alameda.

Performed by Ariana Cisneros, Sam McCann-Kingston, Madeline Oppett-Perez, Imani Payton, Azraa Muhammed, Kishria Caldwell and Ki'mani Evans Artistic Director: Joanna Haigood Company/Production Manager: Lizzy Spicuzza

Zaccho Youth Company (ZYC) presents dances that integrate aerial flight and suspension as a way of expanding the dancers spatial and dynamic range. Under the direction of Joanna Haigood, the company members collaborate in the creative process by contributing important conceptual and choreographic material. Since its inception in 2002, ZYC has performed at various venues and festivals throughout the Bay Area. Zaccho Youth Company is part of a larger Youth Performing Arts program conducted by Zaccho Dance Theatre in Bayview Hunters Point. www.zaccho.org 415-822-6744.