Kari Jay Hunter has been part of the SANCA coaching team since the school opened its doors in 2004, but her life in the movement arts began much earlier.

 Kari studied dance and gymnastics  from  age three through college, and shortly after  moving to Seattle in 2001 began performing  with Circus Contraption. Through Contraption  she was introduced to SANCA co-founders Jo  Montgomery and Chuck Johnson, whose combined wealth of circus arts knowledge, generosity of spirit, and enthusiasm for the local circus community led Kari to seek a coaching position at the fledgling school.

Kari is currently the Assistant Director of the Youth Performance Company and the aerial lead for SANCA’s Professional Preparatory Program. Her supportive approach to coaching puts safety first and allows for a broad movement vocabulary and room for creativity. Along with general skill development coaching, Kari specializes in act creation and refinement and has assisted with successful audition pieces for ENC, the De L’Arte school in Blue Lake, California, and Teatro ZinZanni. In addition to coaching at SANCA, Kari has taught workshops and private lessons at Versatile Arts and Emerald City Trapeze in Seattle, around the Puget Sound in Bellingham, Tacoma, and Olympia, at Le Cirque Centre in Ashland, Oregon, and the Circus Center in San Francisco.

Deemed an “aerialist par excellence” by the Seattle Times, Kari has performed in over 30 major U.S. cities and internationally with:

• Circus Contraption
• Acrobatic Conundrum
• Animate Objects Physical Theater
• ticktock dance
• Seattle Opera
• Moisture Festival 2003-2013
• EnJoy Productions
• The Aerialistas
• Can-Can Presents
• UMO
• Edge Theater Ensemble
• Teatro ZinZanni,
  Seattle and San Francisco
• Palazzo Variety and Dinner cabaret circuit, Germany
• Friedrichsbau Variety, Germany
• Dog and Pony Show Productions
• Night Flight Aerial, Portland, OR
• Festival Burlesco, Portugal

Kari has previously coached and performed as Kari Podgorski and Sally Pepper.

My name is Thomas Evans, I am from Bothell, Washington.

At the age of 16 I found SANCA through the Internet and decided I would give circus a try. At the time SANCA was in a much smaller space than what it is now. I have watched SANCA grow so much since then, and I am so proud of Jo Montgomery and Chuck Johnson and everyone involved for keeping the dream alive.

Coming from a gymnastic and diving background, SANCA took me in with open arms and taught me so many things about the circus world and gave me the opportunity to train in their facility and under their coaching staff.

In 2006, Chuck referred me for a position as an acrobat in a small jump rope troupe to perform cooperate events for Cirque du Soleil. If not for Chuck referring me to this position, I would not be where I am today.

In 2007, I moved to Quebec City to train at The Circus School of Quebec. I would not have been accepted to the school if not for the training and help I received from the staff at SANCA. They helped me so much and supported me in all of my circus endeavors.

I am currently working for Cirque du Soleil in Macau, China, for their resident show at the Venetian called “ZAIA.” If it weren’t for Jo and Chuck’s vision to see circus performers grow and keep this dream alive I know that I, and I’m sure other performers from Seattle, would not be where we are today. I am truly thankful for so much that SANCA provides to the community.

Coming into SANCA is such a breathe of fresh air. I love to see them outreach to so many parts of the community. It really touches my heart to see the work that SANCA does and the ongoing dedication to providing opportunities circus arts to people of all ages.

SANCA provides a worry-free, fun environment for students to come and enjoy exercise in a fun and interesting way. Whether just for fun and exercise, or for professional training, I know that SANCA is the place to be for everyone interested in circus. I can truly say that I would certainly not be where I am now if it was not for SANCA. They have changed my life in so many ways and given me a way to express and perform my art form. SANCA will take anyone regardless of size, age, or social class, as long as you have the willingness to try something new.

I want to thank Jo and Chuck and all the staff at SANCA for giving me such a beautiful experience during my teen years. Looking back now I can fully appreciate everything I was given and how lucky I was to find an environment where I could train with other people who also loved circus in such a carefree, loving, and accepting space. I want to wish SANCA all the best in the future years and congratulations on opening the new flying trapeze program. This is a huge accomplishment for SANCA and all my admiration goes to everyone that was involved in putting it together. Thank you so much, you will always be in my heart.

Hey all,
I’m Terry Crane, and I am a circus artist. I specialize in vertical rope, and I practice a variety of other disciplines that I perform and teach for a living. I’ve performed in Canada, France, Scandinavia and Asia, appeared on National TV in a few countries, and done gigs for the king of Norway and the former prime minister of Thailand. I am presently in Helsinki, Finland, where I’m performing for Tansiteatern Hurjaruuth. I’ll be back in the States sometime next year performing an original collaboration funded by the Canada Arts Counsel entitled “The Sunlight Zone.”

But before all that happened….

I was a scared kid who just wanted to do a back handspring. Then I met Jo Montgomery. I showed up at the gym where she was helping coach an adult gymnastics class. Her eyes lit up when I told her that I’d been accepted at Montreal’s prestigious National Circus School (which accepts a smaller percentage of its applicants than any Ivy League University), despite having very little background in acrobatics. At that class and subsequent ones during the summer, Jo coached me attentively with the basic skills I was afraid I would lack when I arrived in Quebec on the first day of school. I think Jo and I had circus dreams that mutually reinforced each other. I was daring to think I could be a performer, and Jo was daring to believe in circus as a means of teaching empowerment.

After that summer I went on to NCS, while Jo went on to become the founder and Executive Director of the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts (SANCA).

Throughout my three difficult years at the NCS in Canada, Jo and SANCA’s Program Director Chuck Johnson were critical sources of support for me. I returned to Seattle, my home, each summer and was welcomed to a constantly burgeoning SANCA. Offering me teaching work, free instruction, and training space, and perhaps most importantly encouragement and praise, Jo and Chuck made it possible for me to continue at the school NCS.  A vivid contrast from the competitive, institutional sphere of performance in which I found myself increasingly enmeshed in Canada, I always felt the highest values at SANCA were personal validation, positive relationships between people, and being oneself—on or off stage. This is a message that stuck with me, and has kept me coming back.

It’s been three years since I finished at NCS, and as I’ve performed, I’ve travelled widely; yet SANCA stands out as a unique place. It’s hard to believe it’s only 6 years since SANCA opened; it seems like such a fixture in the Seattle circus community, and in my life. The team has expanded, and the student body has exploded in size, but the same values are clearly upheld. SANCA has continued to be an invaluable resource for me as a circus artist, though this is not part of its stated mission. I’ve benefited from the training space, from networking with producers and other artists, and from an environment that fosters creativity.

SANCA for me is a sanctuary, a dojo, a place of possibility and sharing, and a family. When I started down this career path, I was timid, and shyly yearned to brave the spotlight. The steps of this path are difficult and confusing; with all kinds conflicting messages involving unconstructive competition, egocentricity, and misplaced priorities. There have been many times I was ready to give up. But I’ve received at SANCA nonjudgmental support and encouragement to be my own artist. Without the sensitivity and warm vision of circus that Jo and Chuck and those who have rallied to their initiative share, I would not be the artist I am now.