Volunteers
Clowns Without Borders Volunteers make things happen! This is just the beginning of a long list of dedicated, enthusiastic and talented volunteers who support Clowns Without Borders in many ways. We are forever grateful for all the smiles and laughter they bring to children around the world.
Adrian Mejia
Adrian Cervantes Mejia began his formal theatre training at Humboldt State University, earning his B.A. in Theatre/Acting in 2003. Before then he was an athlete and a breakdancer. His continued dedication to rigorous work and training lead him to the Dell’Arte International School of Theatre where he earned his MFA in Ensemble Based Physical Theatre in 2006. Adrian has since toured up and down the West coast with The Dell’Arte Company performing as a guest artist and ensemble member. He has traversed the jungles of Chiapas Mexico with Clowns Without Borders, and performed in street festivals throughout Northern Europe with Teatro Pachuco. In 2008, he joined the San Francisco Mime Troupe for their summer tour, and is presently a teaching artist with their Youth Theatre Project. Adrian also teaches for literacy through theatre to inner city youth with StageWrite. Adrian is a mask maker, and creates custom deigns to fit clients faces and needs, as well as project specific sculptures. This spring, Adrian will be a guest lecturer for UC Riverside’s Department of Theatre.
Alice Nelson
lice's first gig was telling knock knock jokes with her mom at the kindergarten talent show. She is an actor, clown, improvisor, director, producer, writer and artistic bohemian. She graduated from the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre. She has worked with different theatre companies all over Alberta, Canada including; Evergreen Theatre, Green Fools, Trickster Theatre, Calgary's Shakespeare in the Park, Quest Theatre, Theatre Prospero, Young New West and plays as a company member with Loose Moose Theatre.
Her passion is humanitarian work with the international organization Clown Without Borders. She has volunteered on three projects in South Africa, clowning and teaching children who have been affected by the HIV/AIDS virus. As well she did an expedition to New Orleans with Selena McMahan. She is a representative for the organization and spends her free time raising awareness and funds to continue, "sending in the clowns" to places where children need joy and laughter.
Andrew Pheonix
Andrew Phoenix is from Longview, a small town in North East Texas. He has a BFA in Theatre/Acting from Texas State University and an MFA in Ensemble Based Physical Theatre from the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre. Along with acting and directing numerous plays, Andrew has performed and taught in India with Clowns without Borders, U.S.A.; has directed and taught at Intiman Theatre in Seattle and Dallas Children's Theatre, and developed and performed an original dance theatre piece based on Indian mythology with Chakram Theatre.
Anna Zastrow
Anna Zastrow went to Thailand and Cambodia in October-December 2008 and worked with street kids, victims of trafficking and other disadvantaged youth! Anna grew up in Sweden but has spent most of her adult life in New York City. She studied physical theater at Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris, France, and has performed her clown work at various variety venues in NYC and as part of three productions with Cirque Boom. She premiered her solo clown show Breathe… Or You Can Die! for the 2006 NY International Fringe Festival, and will be performing in the international women’s clown Festival de Pallasses in Andorra in May 2009. Anna was once a ringmaster for a circus in France, where she had to brave a berzerking bear and 3,000 panicking spectators! She holds a B.S. degree in psychology, culture and the creative arts from The New School.
Barnaby King
Barnaby King is a clown performer, researcher and teacher, originally from the UK. He completed his MA in Theatre Studies at Leeds University in 1998, after which he spent eight years working in the UK as a professional theatre director, specializing in clown, improvisation, and social interventionist theatre. He is currently undertaking a PhD in Performance Studies at Northwestern University, where his research revolves around multiple clowning practices and how they interrelate with social, political, and cultural scenarios within which they are located. He performs clown whenever and wherever possible, in theatres, cabarets, bars, city squares, hospitals, academic conferences, or in his living room, and he loves every minute of it! He trained with Sue Morrison, his wonderful clown mentor from Toronto, who also directed his acclaimed one-man show, Flawed Genius (which may still be seen from time to time)
Brendon Gawel
Brendon Gawel is a clown/puppeteer/actor/director based in Philadelphia, PA. He is the founder and director of OMBELICO Mask Ensemble which brings free outdoor commedia dell'arte to 21st century Philly. Brendon can also be heard as the voices of Curtis and Chica on the PBS KIDS Sprout Network. In 2007, Brendon joined Clowns Without Borders USA on a two-week expedition to Haiti. He's also been a bike messenger, horse-and-carriage driver, airplane polisher, and Listerine bottle safety seal inspector.
Bruce MacPhail
Bruce Macphail first got involved with Clowns Without Borders in the 2004 Balkans project which brought him to perform in orphanages, IDP camps, schools and hospitals in Kosovo/a, Serbia and Bosnia. His clown performance credits range from New York City’s Lincoln Center where he appeared in Comedy and Crumbcakes , various appearances in NYC off off broadway theatres as well as extensive street performance. He is the co-author of The Beak, the Sausage and the Axe, a multi-media clown fairy tale which played at the now defunct Chashama Theater on 42nd and Broadway in NYC, which the New York Times called “hilarious”. Bruce has taught a number of clowning/circus workshops in schools and colleges in the US and abroad. He holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, NY and an MA from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Currently he is volunteering as a project manager for CWB Project Sudan.
Cecelia Frye
Cecelia trained at Dell ‘Arte International School of Physical Theatre, in Seattle at Freehold Theatre Lab Studio and with the Art Theatre Puget Sound and in NY with veteran actor Ted Forlow (of The Actor's Studio). As an actor Cecelia has collaborated on original works for the Seattle International Fringe Festival, Northwest New Works at On the Boards, and many independent productions. She wrote and performed solo show entitled “I Am the Pirate King”, which won her a Seattle International Fringe Festival Artistic Pick Finalist award and juried entrance into ArtsEdge Festival and has appeared in numerous independent films in Seattle and New York. She was a founding member of Ardeo Theatre Project, an American company in residence in rural France, and was a Seattle team member of The Big Apple Circus Clown Care (SM) from 2005 to 2009. In addition, she is currently an Artistic Associate of Ear to the Ground. As an award-winning director and coach, Cecelia has co-created with numerous companies whose work was seen at 12 Minutes Max, NW Film Forum, Freehold Studio Series, Ladyfest, Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, The Farm Theatre in Charlotte, NC and at the NYC, Boulder and San Francisco Fringe Festivals.
Dan Roberts
Dan Roberts is a professional clown and circus performer from Chicago, USA. Raised around the world, Dan spent 6 years growing up in Jakarta attending Jakarta International School until his graduation in 2002. After leaving Jakarta, Dan moved to Chicago to attend university at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts, Theater Conservatory. He spent four years studying acting in Chicago, where he was introduced to Clown and the world of Circus. After Dan graduated he worked for many different youth circuses including; Circus Smirkus, Cirque du Soleil’s Cirque du Monde and Chicago’s CircEsteem. When Dan found out about Clowns without Borders he quickly submitted a proposal to create an expedition to Jakarta, Indonesia. He is now working hard to start his own non profit, the Red Nose Circus, to provide Circus skills and education to Indonesian children.
Deven Sisler
Deven Sisler was absolutely enamored with the concept of Clowns Without Borders during a benefit performance she attended while in her Professional Training year at Dell'Arte School of Physical Theater. She has since perfomed on expeditions to the Katrina stricken New Orleans/Mississippi area and most recently to Haiti. She continues to fall in love with the volunteer work, the children CWB reaches, the people who make it happen and most of all, the beautiful, silly and heartfelt way in which they make it happen. When she is home she is honored to to share the practices of yoga, Circus and AcroYoga with children, families and adults through classes and workshops in New York City. She would like to thank her super cool family, and friends for simply being wonderful and supportive of CWB.
Eleni Zaharopoulos
Eleni Zaharopoulos is a multimedia artist currently living in San Francisco. As a child and teen, she attended the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York City. She received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in 2003. Largely focused on filmmaking, cultural studies, and poetry during college, Eleni sought to re-incorporate performance into her art practice and enrolled at the Dell’Arte International School of Theatre graduating from their Professional Training Program in 2007. Since graduating, Eleni has taught Commedia dell'arte at Idyllwild Arts Academy, co-directing her students in an evening of commedia entitled, Oh, The Humanity!, has toured with the Traveling Lantern Theatre Company, performing panto style theatre for children all over Northern California, and is currently overseeing a large scale mural by elementary school children in Novato, CA as a Mentor Artist with Youth In Arts. Eleni is so grateful to have been introduced to the Clowns Without Borders community through its volunteers, staff, and board, some of whom she has the honor to call her friends. Eleni has performed for CWB fundraisers and events in San Francisco and Humboldt County and looks forward to a future project.
Elisa Lane
Elisa has been leading the yearly Project Egypt expeditions since 2006. She also joined the Haiti expeditions (2006-2007) and New Orleans expedition (2007). She studied clown at Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre and also with Brazilianteacher Ricardo Pucetti, co-founder of Lume Teatro. Her love for the performing arts began when she was seven years old taking dance classes. She currently lives in Philadelphia where she still gets to dance from time to time. Her day job is renovating homes using environmentally-friendly products and techniques. One day she plans to build a straw bale/hobbit house for herself, her hubby, and their cat and dog.
Emilia Sumelius-Buescher
Emilia was born in Finland. She is a graduate of The Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theater. She was a Dell’Arte Co. member for 5 years and toured with the company nationally as well as internationally. With Clowns Without Borders, Emilia went to Nepal, performing for Tibetan and Bhutanese refugees in November of 2003. She hopes to do more spreading of laughter when her children are a little bigger. Plus, then they can direct her!
Gavin Stockden
Gavin Stockden is South African, born and raised and still living in
Durban. He has been performing since about 2000 as a fire performer,
juggler, unicyclist and magician. He has worked commercially around
South Africa and in Saudi Arabia and Dubai and is now a partner in a
small entertainment company in Durban that does birthday parties and
corporate functions. He is a founding member of CWB South Africa and
sits on their board. He is also a member of the South African Magic
Society. He has worked with CWB USA in Southern Sudan in 2009.
Gwendolyn Rooker
Gwendolyn Rooker has been a volunteer for Clowns Without Borders since 2006, when she and Elisa Lane organized CWB USA Project: Egypt. Since then, she has returned to Egypt twice to clown for Sudanese refugees living there. She also volunteered for Clowns Without Borders: Katrinaland, the expedition targeting children living in communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. Gwen received a BA in Theatre from San Francisco State University, and holds a Certificate of Training from The Dell’ Arte International School of Physical Theatre. She currently resides in Philadelphia, PA where she plays coronet and accordion in the band, Acres of Diamonds, creates puppet theatre, and plans more trips with CWB in order to bring more children more laughter!
Helga Rosenfeldt-Oslen
Helga Rosenfeldt-Olsen is a 26 years old woman, from Denmark. Helga graduated with an MFA in Ensemble Based-Physical Theatre from Dell´Arte. She lives in Denmark and works in theatre. Helga is currently working with the mask theatre troupe, Teatret Thalias Tjenere and Teater K, the side specific theatre work of Teater Gruppen Beaggle, street theatre, and a number of other small projects. Also, she is getting a BA in anthropology and fusing her two worlds of theatre and anthropology together.
John Leo
John Leo got his BA in Drama/Dance from Bard College (’97) but he wasn’t quite making ‘dances’ or ‘drama’ and so he ended up at the Dell’ Arte School of Physical Theatre (’99). He has studied with ruthless Clown mentors to whom he is grateful: Ronlin Foreman, Sue Morrison and Ricardo Puchetti. For seven years (2001-2007) he lived in Juneau, Alaska performing/creating with Perseverance Theatre, Kitschy Yum-Yum Burlesque and Wild Rumpus Clown Theatre (Best of San Francisco Fringe 2003). Mr. Leo has toured his solo clown work throughout Mexico, Canada and the ‘Lower 48’ and has received funding from the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Rasmuson Foundation. Mr. Leo is currently a member of the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit, as a Pediatric Clown in NYC area hospitals.
Kali Quinn
Kali Quinn has directed, created & performed with The Pearl Theatre Company, Padua Playwrights (Los Angeles), PushPush Theatre (Atlanta), Telluride Repertory, Dell’Arte Company, MOTH Aerial Dance, and New England Center for Circus Arts, and at the NY International Clown Festival. Her solo show, VAMPING, about Alzheimer’s Disease, has played at PS122, HERE Arts Center, the Los Angeles Women’s Theater Festival, and Williams College. Kali has taught theatre, movement, and violin throughout the US and Brazil, is on the Board of the Network of Ensemble Theaters, and is a co-founding artistic director of GUTWorks, a theater and film company. Training: MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre from Dell’Arte School of International Physical Theatre, BA from University of Rochester.
Leah Abel
Leah James Abel sprang about in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has continued performing all over, including New York, Hawaii and Korea — dancing, clowning, stilting, twisting around trapezes, or parading around with someone standing on her shoulders. For two years she focused on frolicking with Portland, OR based mask and puppet theater Imago’s Frogz and Biglittlethings. Leah proudly worked as a company member, performer, and choreographer with two New York-based circus-theatre companies - Kirkos and Cirque Boom. Leah has been on one Clowns Without Borders trip to Haiti and loved each and every single, solitary, particular, specific, various moment of it; without exception. She looks forward to many trips to come. Lastly, Leah would like to take this moment to thank humanity, her friends, green tea and coco for inspiring her daily.
Les Rivera
Les has traveled the world as a core company member of Philadelphia based hip hop dance company Rennie Harris Pure Movement. Traveling the world for 12 years ‘opened up’ Les’ views of the world and his surroundings. Les works extensively with Philadelphia’s dance community documenting and creating work for a myriad dance performances. Les currently holds a position at Temple University documenting all their dance concerts. He has worked with highly regarded companies like Paule Turner/COURT, dance theater X, Headlong Dance Theater, Melanie Stewart Dance Theater, Nicole Canuso Dance Company, and many more.
Les has also worked extensively in the community teaching at risk youth filmmaking through the Youth Opportunity Center(Department of Labor). Les teaches teenagers how to shoot, direct, produce, and edit their own short documentaries and short films using digital cameras and final cut pro. Les is a frequent guest speaker at Bryn Mawr College for studies in race and sociology, where he has screened his short film "Glass Camouflage" as a teaching tool. Les was just in Cairo, Egypt the whole month of October 2008 doing shows for mostly Sudanese refugee children with Clowns Without Borders. Les hopes to continue to do work that will educate, inspire, and bring joy one person at a time.
Malin Öhrn
Malin Öhrn comes from Sweden and lives in Stockholm for the moment. Her education is in physical theater at Teaterstudion in Stockholm, Sweden and Dell´Arte International School of Physical Theatre. She has been involved with Clowns Without Borders since 2005 volunteering on projects in Mexico, Africa, the Westbank and India. She currently works as a hospital clown, which she loves. She also has her my own gigs now and then and works as a dresser at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm.
Nick Trotter
Nick Trotter has a BA in Geography from CU/Boulder, and an MFA (2008) from the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre. He specializes in Clown, Bouffon, and Commedia, and is a noted mask and prosthetic designer. With the theatre/music group Bonejesters, which he co-founded with David Leicht, he performed the original show Bonejesters in 2000 at LaMama ETC in New York, and later that year in Gogol’s The Nose at HERE Arts Center. Their other original repertoire includes Round and Obscurity Knocks. As a musician, he has performed as a solo singer/songwriter and as a guitar accompanist for mandolinist Charlie Provenza; as guitarist with the Celtic trio The Crooked Road; and with the Brazilian percussion ensemble Maracatu New York. As his clown Ferdinand the Magnificent, he toured Chiapas, Mexico in January 2008 with Rudi Galindo and Clowns Without Borders. He has worked extensively with David Ferney and Jackie Dandeneau on their outdoor spectacle Elemental, as a clown, composer and shadow puppeteer, and directed and co-wrote Ferney's one-man show The Misunderstood Badger. He most recently premiered Third Base, a clown and comic-duo show with Jerry Lee Wallace.
Olivia Lehrman
After co-founding the Vassar College Circus with two friends, Olivia flirted with office jobs, but they didn't like each other. Instead, she moved into a house of circus artists and pursued flying trapeze. This led to her first 'real' job, of teaching at the then-new Trapeze School of NY. Back in her hometown, she joined the circus theatre company, Cirque Boom, performing acrobatics, aerials, character work, stilt-walking, and animation. Clown workshops with the NY Goofs, the Actor's Center, and Michael Howard Studios, eventually led to an eight-month Profesional Physical Theatre program at Dell'Arte Int'l School of Phys. Theatre, which led to two amazing workshops with Giovanni Fusetti and teaching private pilates sessions in Boulder, CO.
Throughout this time, Olivia honed her teaching skills, jumped from jobs such as clowning on Royal Caribbean Cruises to leading student travel trips for Windsor Mountain Int'l Summer Camp, and touring for a year with Ringling Bros. Circus. Clowns Without Borders has given Olivia a chance to blend her love for performing, eclectic language skills, and desire to use circus & theatre to affect audiences.
Sarah-Jane Moody
Sarah-Jane Moody is a clown, activist, musician, and teacher who grew up in Venice Beach, CA amidst the wacky world of street performers and roller blading beach bums. She now spends most of her time in Santa Fe, NM working with the physical theatre/circus arts company, Wise Fool. She is a graduate of the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre (06'), and studied Women Studies and Performance Art at San Francisco State University, as well as doing intensive clown work with Avner Eisenberg and Giovanni Fusetti, among others. She has been on 3 CWB trips, two to Chiaps, and one to Juarez, Mexico.
Sayda Trujillo
SAYDA TRUJILLO is an actress, writer and teacher. Work abroad includes performing, teaching and directing in Guatemala, Singapore and Turkey. Sayda has worked on two expeditions with Clowns Without Borders performing physical theatre for thousands of children in the highlands of Guatemala. Sayda teaches Tai Chi Chuan, Contact Improvisation, Voice and Physical Theatre. Sayda is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts and the Dell’ Arte International School of Physical Theatre. She lives in NYC and teaches voice and movement at Pace University.
Selena Clare McMahan
Selena Clare McMahan first volunteered with Clowns Without Borders in Southern Africa (2005) while on a one-year fellowship from the Watson Foundation. Over the course of her fellowship, Contemporary Clown Circuit; Clowning Across Borders, she also apprenticed and performed with numerous hospital clowning programs, and taught with various social circus projects in Southern Africa, Europe, and Latin America. She has continued to volunteer with Clowns Without Borders, returning to Southern Africa, and participating in expeditions to Chiapas (2006) and Louisiana (2007). She has a B.A. in Visual and Performing Arts, and has studied clown with John Turner of Mump and Smoot and with the NY Goofs. After working as a teaching artist in New York City schools, Selena currently resides in Paris where she has been studying at the International Physical Theater School Jacques LeCoq (2007-2009). Her most recent project was directing an opera with 20 children and 4 professional singers, “L’Enfant et la Nuit,” about crossing the treacherous nighttime and finding laughter to bring back the day.
Shea Freedomhowler
Shea Love Freedomhowler is a professional circus performer, juggler and clown. Shea has performed his solo street shows and unique performances on four continents, eleven countries, across the US and extensively in the Pacific Northwest. Shea founded the Humboldt Circus in 2000, a student produced and directed ensemble-based production company and club at Humboldt State University. He was the president and coordinator of the Humboldt Juggling Festival from 2004-2006. Shea joined David Lichtenstien and Sayda Trajillo on a Clowns Without Borders expedition in response to the Hurricane Stan crisis in Guatemala in 2006. Since then, he has been producing annual CWB benefit shows in Arcata CA, originally started by Rudi Galindo in 1999. Shea is currently the manager of the FreeLove Circus which has appeared Internationally in Singapore, Hong Kong and most recently on a humanitarian mission to Kenya.
Suzanne Santos
Suzanne has recently performed with San Francisco's Pickle Family Circus School Tour in over 40 Alameda County Schools. She has been seen with her original clown piece "The Damsel's Demise" at the New York Clown Festival (Brick) and FOOLS Fury Festival (Traveling Jewish Theatre). As well as being a company member of 108 Productions, she has toured Terrence McNally's "Corpus Christi" internationally and off-Broadway for the last 3 years. Suzanne has worked with Dell'Arte since 2005 as a Stage Manager ("Flock", "Circo Stupendo") and Assistant Director for Dell'Arte Youth Academy (2006, 2008). This summer, she directed and taught the Youth Academy summer program. She is the resident circus teaching artist of San Francisco Arts Education Project, a lead Clown Therapist at Edgewood Center for Children and Families and has taught for the Circus Apprentice Program at the Circus Center. As a teaching artist and clown therapist, she gets to inspire a diverse population of students while forwarding the social circus movement for positive community change. Suzanne holds a BA in Theatre from George Fox Unversity, an MA in Theatrical Clowning from New College of California's Experimental Performance Institute, and she is a graduate of Clown Conservatory (2007) and Dell'Arte International (2005).
Yvette Feuer
Yvette Feuer is a theatre artists currently based in Budapest, Hungary. She has an MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College, NY, USA, where she studied as a recipient of the Fulbright Grant, and an MA in English Literature from the Eotovos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary. She is a certified yoga instructor. She has been an actor and clown for over fifteen years, appearing in more than a dozen plays in Hungary (Ophelia in Hamlet; Margarita in Master and Margarita, Elisabeth in Terrible Children, etc.), where she also worked with hospitalized children as member of the Red Nose Clowndoctors Foundation. Her New York credits include Helen of Troy in Wrecked, Little Girl in The Trial, Donna Elvira/Charlotte in Don Juan, etc. Yvette has appeared in the Lincoln Center as Voila, the clown in Comedy and Crumbcakes and as Smeraldina in the Servant of Two Masters by Goldoni. She co-created and played in The Beak, the Sausage, and the Axe, a multimedia clown tale that the New York Times called “hilarious”. Yvette has had two CWB-USA trips so far: in 2004 she traveled to the Balkans with The Ravioli Family Circus, and in 2006 to New Orleans and Mississippi with The Fantazmagical Rogers and Burgundy Show. Yvette has extensive experience as a teaching artist.
Zuzka Sabata
Zuzka Sabata is a performer, director, and teacher that has pursued the creation of new work since her introduction to the world of theatre 11 years ago as an initial member of the company Banana, Bag, and Bodice, now based in Brooklyn, NY. She has spearheaded numerous projects involving ensemble creation of street theatre as well as performed and taught in Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, and the Czech Republic. Growing up in the United States as a bi-lingual immigrant of Central Europe helped her develop a keen interest in the bridges and barriers of communication, which led her to investigate the sounds of animals and pre-verbal humans during her studies in Dell'Arte's MFA program in Ensemble Physical Theatre. She graduated in 2008 and is currently on staff at Dell'Arte as the Community Coordinator. Aside from teaching at a rural elementary school and getting dirty at local farms, she spends the rest of her free time practicing her saxophone with Humboldt County's premier community brass band, Bandemonium, and breaking hearts with the all-female housewife-punk outfit, The Brendas. Zuzka has traveled to Chiapas in 2003 and also Haiti in 2005 volunteering for Clowns Without Borders.
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