BIO

Mary-Margaret has always been drawn to the skies, from climbing the fridge as a child to her current profession as a circus artist. She is a static trapeze specialist, who actively trains lyra/hoop, handstands, and silks. Her love for trapeze is as love should be: passionate and irrational. When in the air, she has the ability to become anything imaginable, from a silly googley-eyed alien, to a sleek monster, to a beautiful woman in the air. Take that, chameleons. 

Mary-Margaret has had the pleasure of training with Toronto’s elite. Unable to stay still, she has also trained in Montreal, the international circus capital, where she trained with Cirque du Soleil performers and instructors. Her work has been funded by the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts. 

As a Toronto-based aerialist, she has performed for some epic events such as the Starlight Wish Foundation, CIBC United Way Fundraiser, Lunacy Cabaret, and Cirque du Zouk. She’s worked in some capacity with almost every Toronto circus company including Illuminair Entertainment, Zero Gravity Circus, Cirque Sublime, and Hit and Run Productions. One of her favourite performances was playing a science experiment in Frankenstein’s lab during a haunted house. Her most recent feat has been working with Illuminair Entertainment to create a circus film of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Choreography Performance Experience

2021 Ambient Aerial, Lollipop Lyra, Jungle Brunch, Toronto, ON

2020 Of One heart (4 min), Low Static Trapeze, 50th birthday, Toronto, ON

2020 Of One heart (4 min), Low Static Trapeze, Argyl Dock Series, Kenora, ON

2020 Let Them Eat Cake (10 Min), Performance Art, Impulse, Toronto, ON

2020 Ambient Aerial, Silks/Hoop, Impulse, Toronto, ON

2020 Ambient Aerial, Dance Trapeze, Reverie, Toronto, ON

2019 HENRY (5 MIN), Static Trapeze, The Ontario Contemporary Circus Showcase, Toronto, ON

2018 Kaleidoscope Workshop Production, Funded by the Toronto Arts Council, Toronto, ON

2018 Ambient Aerial, Single Point Trapeze, Blueberry Jam, Toronto, ON

2017 fly (5 min), single point trapeze, Big Shiny Nudes, Toronto, ON

2017 Haute Ennui: EN L’AIR (5 min+ character roving), syncro static trapeze, Circus Academy as part of Lunacy Cabaret, Toronto, ON

2016 The Earth’s Prelude (5 min), static trapeze, Circus Academy as part of Lunacy Cabaret, Toronto, ON

2016 Haute Ennui: Claudette’s Revenge (5 min+ character roving), low static trapeze, Aer Time, Toronto, ON

2016 Space Odyssey (5 min), static trapeze, Hercinia Arts, Toronto, ON

2016 I Love Rock N’ Roll (4 min), low flying trapeze, ROUND as part of Impressions, Toronto, ON

2016 Space Odyssey (5 min), static trapeze, Distillery District part of Cirque-It/Circus North, Toronto, ON

2015 HENRY (5 min), static trapeze, Theatre Pass Murialle as part of Body Brake, Toronto, ON

2015 HENRY (5 min), static trapeze, The Circus Academy as part of Lunacy Cabaret, Toronto, ON

2014 HENRY (5 min), static trapeze, Aer Time Toronto, ON

2014 Fragile (5 min), low flying trapeze, ROUND as part of the Contemporary Circus Arts Festival of Toronto, Toronto, ON

2013 Where Is My Mind? (5 min), static trapeze, The Circus Academy as part of Lunacy Cabaret, Toronto, ON

2013 Saloon Bebop (5 min), static trapeze, Steam on Queen, Toronto, ON

2013 Where Is My Mind? (5 min), static trapeze, The Circus Academy as part of Lunacy Cabaret, Toronto, ON

2013 Saloon Bebop (5 min), static trapeze, United Way Fundraiser, Toronto, ON

2012 Ambient Trapeze (5 min), static trapeze, Art Fusion, Toronto, ON

Collaborative Choreography

2019 Vivaldi’s Winter (2 min), Syncro Hoop, Archangel Summit, Toronto, ON

2019 Shadow and Shimmer (5 Min), Duo Lollipop Lyra, Women’s Shelter Fundraiser, Ridgeway, ON

2019 Star Sailors (5 Min), Duo Lollipop Lyra, Pretty Little Heroes, Toronto, ON

2019 Shadow and Shimmer (5 Min), Duo Lollipop Lyra, Zero Gravity, Toronto, ON

2019 Nebulous Desire (5 Min), Duo Frame, Cirque Du Zouk, Toronto, ON

2019 Shadow and Shimmer (5 Min), Duo Lollipop Lyra, Hercinia Art Party, Toronto, ON

2019 Shadow and Shimmer (5 Min), Duo Lollipop Lyra, Lunacy Cabaret, Toronto, ON

2019 Shadow and Shimmer (5 Min), Duo Lollipop Lyra, Impulse, Toronto, ON

2018 Silver (5 min), triple trapeze, Starlight Wish Foundation, Toronto, ON

2018 Any Other World (4 min), Duo Lollipop Lyra, Rendezvous With Madness, Toronto, ON

2018 Battle Of The Brides (5 minutes), aerial ladder, Cirque Du Zouk, Toronto, ON

2017 Seduction (5 min), Performance Art, PROCESS, Toronto, ON

2017 Haute Ennui: par terre (6 min+ character roving), dance, Long Winter, Toronto, ON

2017 Seduction (5 min), performance art, Hercinia Arts, Toronto, ON

2017 Haute Ennui: par terre (6 min+ character roving), dance, Circus Academy as part of Lunacy Cabaret, Toronto, ON

2017 Super Bexio World (5 Min), static trapeze, Circus Academy as part of Lunacy Cabaret, Toronto, ON

2016 Haute Ennui: par terre (6 min+ character roving), dance, Hercinia Arts, Toronto, ON

2016 Ambient Rope (5 min), aerial rope, Day Breaker/Pursuit, Toronto, ON

2013 Many Shades of Black (5 min), hand-to-hand, Art Fusion, Toronto, ON

2011 Salento (5 min), aerial hoop, Bokeh, Toronto, ON

2010 The Dark Dark Forest (5 min), triple trapeze, Alice: Through the Looking Glass, Toronto, ON

Performance

2019 Legends Of Horror (ongoing October engagement), harness and aerial work, Casa Loma, Toronto, ON

2019 Glaciology (45 minutes, 4 times), ground work, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, Toronto, ON

2015 Glaciology (12 hours), ground work, Nuit Blanche, Toronto, ON

2014 Cascades (12 hours), aerial rope, Nuit Blanche, Toronto, ON

2014 Cascades (2 hours), aerial rope, Art Gallery of Ontario as part of a Nuit Blanche preview, Toronto, ON

Film

2022 (RE)Composed, triple trapeze, hammock, synchro hoop, Toronto, ON

2017 the way back home, Executive Producer, Toronto, ON

2017 Glaciology: further conversations, self, Toronto, ON

2016 Being Inside The Glacier, self, Toronto, ON

2016 In The Vapour, aerial silks, Toronto, ON

2015 The Long Forgotten Circus Doll, static trapeze, Toronto, ON

Education

Academic Education

Certificate in Public Relations, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada

BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing, York University, Toronto, Canada

Aerial and Circus Arts

2008 - Current Focus on static trapeze with additional training in aerial hoop, silks, hand-to-hand, acrobatics, handstands, teeterboard, trampoline, straps, flying trapeze, movement and pole.

Instructors include: Brandy Leary, Anandam Dance Theatre; Angola Murdoch, Lookup Theatre; Meaghan Wegg, formerly Cirque Du Soleil; Michael Lanphear, Cirque Du Soleil; Chris Taylor, formerly Cirque Du Soleil; Elena Panova, Moscow Circus; Emily Hughes, Hercinia Arts; Dino Goncalves, Theatre Nova; Decker La Douceur, formerly ringing brothers; Alisson Toffan; and others.

2017 - Bad Dog Comedy Theatre Foundations of Improv (Level One and Two).