Tricia Riel (Clowning) has been involved in creative pursuits of all kinds since her first big role as a snowflake at age 5. She has a Bachelor's degree from the Visual & Performing Arts School at Syracuse University in NY and a Masters Degree in Acting and Theatre Arts from Humboldt State University in CA. For over 11 years, she has worked as a drama teacher for kids at "Kids on Camera." She spent years in the performance art scene in San Francisco and has worked on numerous films (Acting, in Voice-Over, Dialect Coaching, and as an Assistant Director on features). She has been a physical coach at "Circus Smirkus" in Vermont, directed the Circus camp at Island Gymnastics on Martha's Vineyard, and has headed numerous theatrically based after school programs in Northern California, Rhode Island, & in the SF Bay Area. She juggles, works as a clown, a voice-over, a bodyworker, and an Astrologer. She does contact improvisation, practices gymnastics, and speaks German (as well as some Spanish). She is the author of "Zephrum Gates & The Mysterious Purple Haze," she has the most amazing dog in the world, and she can write while she sleeps. She also has a trapeze in her living room.

Emily Butterfly (puppets) is a Puppeteer, Muralista, Storyteller and Illustrator who has been gracing the stages, classrooms and galleries of the San Francisco Bay Area since 1995. It is especially her pleasure and honor to work through the medium of Puppetry to inspire healing, peace and practical knowledge in her audiences. Her work is symbiotically healing for herself as well as those with whom she shares it. The most cherished moment that she can remember in her career was when she finished performing at an elementary school, and she overheard a group of children incorporating the messages from her characters and stories into their free time on the playground. Weaving her inspiration into the context of their imaginative worlds with joy and empowerment. What a blessing!

Stephen Bass (stilts) has been a professional improviser and physical actor for 10 years. He has taught for Young Audiences of the Bay Area, The French American School, and Kids on Camera. He is a member of Pacific Playback Theater, and the Director of All-Star Stilts and Comedy. Stephen has just completed his teaching credential for elementary education from New College of California.

Vicki Virk (Bhangra) was born and raised in Punjab, India, where Bhangra originated. She has been dancing to Bhangra all her life. Though she became an attorney, her love and passion for dance inspired her to start her own company called Dholrhythms, which allows her to share her enthusiasm for Bhangra through classes, workshops, performances, and events all over the Bay Area. She currently teaches as many as 10-14 weekly classes at different studios, health clubs, organizations, after school programs, and kids camps.

Takami Craddock (Modern/Bhuto) is the director of DancEsteem, and has been teaching her original method combining Creative Movement, Ballet and Modern Dance in the Bay Area since 1995. She also teaches as an artist in residence for SF public schools. She has been professionally teaching and performing in the U.S. and Japan for 20 years.

HoopGirl fuses theatrical world dance and gritty urban moves with hooping! HoopGirl has performed for an international audience, including Cirque du Soleil, Jockey, Pac-Bell, Sony, Warner Brothers International Television, and Girl Scouts of America. HoopGirl's mission is to help people discover hoopdance as a path to fitness, joy and wellbeing.

Bruce Ghent (Taiko Drumming) began his study of Taiko (Japanese Drumming) under Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka in 1993. As a principal member of the San Francisco Taiko Dojo, he has toured internationally and performed with some of the great masters of Traditional Japanese Folk Music. In 1999, Bruce created and directed Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble, a professional touring Taiko ensemble, and performed with the group until 2004. Currently, he serves as resident Taiko Instructor/Composer at Dance Mission for GRRRL Brigade, and Dance Brigade for whom his work was nominated for a 2000-2001 Isadora Duncan Award. He earned his degree in Modern Dance/Choreography from CalArts in 1990.

Leila Baradaran (Hip-Hop) was born in Iran, and moved to the US at age 5. She began to dance Persian dance at 16 and by 19 was learning Modern and Hip-Hop. She attended S.F. State, where she was exposed to many different dance forms through their Ethnodansology department including Capoeira and Salsa. She is a natural dancer who absorbs material through osmosis. She now teaches dance around San Francisco.

Tracy Welsh (Music) is a multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter who has traveled the world as a musician, educator and environmentalist. He has multiple degrees from New York University and has received training from numerous art centers, Master Teachers and Music Therapy programs. He has been teaching all age groups for over fifteen years. For the past seven years, he has been the principal teaching artist on the Understanding Cultures project, an artist in residency program that integrates SFUSD curriculum standards in social studies and the arts, with Music In Schools Today. Tracy is truly what one would call a musical cross-training teacher. By incorporating the complementary styles and techniques of theater, dance, circus arts and storytelling, Tracy has mastered an approach to teaching that is both dynamic and magnetic.