NEW WORKSHOPS WITH SARAH NORDEN
Sarah Norden (she/they) is an emerging circus performer, creator, and researcher based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. She is a graduate of École nationale de cirque specializing in aerial hoop. She also has significant experience with dance, clowning, and group acrobatics, and enjoys engaging with circus off-stage as a coach, dramaturg, and researcher.
Before pursuing circus professionally, Sarah earned a BA from Wesleyan University, where they studied the intersection of science, art, ethics, and the environment. Their approach to circus is shaped by this circuitous path: they like to think about movement and move about thinking. Their recent creative interests include discomfort, queer ecology, and the materiality of the body.
As a coach, Sarah is passionate about teaching aerial research skills, deconstructing mainstream circus aesthetics, and mentoring students to build sustainable, nurturing relationships with training and creation. She loves views that make you whoop and holler, books that make you stay up all night, and friends that make you feel at home in the world.
Intro to Dynamic Hoop
This workshop is for anyone looking to level up their aerial hoop practice by adding dynamic movements to their vocabulary. We’ll start by learning a few simple yet punchy moves, including a few classic rolls and beat tricks, as well as several less common non-release drops and twists. We’ll then break dynamic technique down into core pathways and principles to help lay the foundation for more advanced dynamic moves.
While the workshop will cover drills and progressions to give students tools to work towards their goals, it aims to relay these essentials in the form of bridging skills that offer students chances to succeed and add new tricks/transitions to their vocabulary in order to build confidence with dynamic movement in the air. Participants will leave the workshop with a few funky new moves to play with and a clear set of tools to help them progress towards advanced dynamic tricks.
Saturday, November 14, 2026 | 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Photo Credit: Caroline Thibault
Aerial Hoop Beyond the Textbook
Want to reinvigorate your lyra practice by breaking free from conventional pathways? Join us for a 2 hour dive into unconventional aerial hoop vocabulary! In this workshop we’ll explore a smorgasbord of twisty sequences and handy transitions to diversify your technical skills and expand your expressive range. Expect funky balances, alternative rolling pathways, and flows emphasizing non-back/split flexibility, and armpit-based dynamic moves. If you’re looking to have fun, work hard, and get a little funky, this workshop is for you!
Saturday, November 14, 2026 | 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
WORKSHOPS
Photo Credit: Caroline Thibault
Nathan Biggs-Penton
A creator, a multidisciplinary circus artist, and co-founder of Acting for Climate Montréal. He grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia but found his home in Montréal, after graduating from the Quebec Circus School in 2017.
He has worked with companies both large and small, including Cirque du Soleil, Les 7 Doigts de la Main, Cirque Éloize, Machine de Cirque, Festival Mondial Cirque de Demain, Jacob’s Pillow, Montréal Complètement Cirque, Carmagnole, Girovago, Impro-Cirque, and Circus Smirkus, among others.
His work is deeply influenced by his connection to nature and grounded in values of feminism, ecology, and anti-colonialism.
Juggling master class: Movement beyond arm’s reach
A workshop for jugglers, object manipulators and those excited to move and play with objects and gravity. We will learn structured pathways and methods for generating movement, develop an understanding of the technique behind the movement and apply each of them to a practice of play. In this workshop we will dissect what is necessary to execute a juggling movement from what can be added to enhance the movement and we will break down complicated technical pathways into attainable segments that empower creativity and playfulness.
Saturday, November 14, 2026 | 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Photo Credit: Andrew Miller
Cyr Wheel: Moving with Inertia
Moving with Inertia is for cyr wheelers of all skill levels. We will focus on understanding the inherent movements of the wheel: centrifugal force, rolling and pivoting, in order to augment personal ease and technical development with the apparatus.
My personal style in wheel combines a north american style of spinning with shapes and patterns with a non-linear european style. My goal with this workshop is for students to learn to move with the wheel with fine-tuned listening, to learn to play with inertia to move smoothly through unexpected pathways and to gain confidence in acrobatic pathways.
Saturday, November 14, 2026 | 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
