PERFORMERS
CARI DELAPLANE, Assistant Director/Dancer/Aerialist
Cari is a Chicagoland native who has been dancing for the better part of her 27 years. She majored in dance at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and graduated with honors in 2002. Within the past year Cari has performed in El Salvador, Costa Rica, New York, San Diego, and San Francisco with Dance Ceres, Kate Mitchell and Dancers, Maxine Moerman Dancetheatre, and Capactior. When she isn’t performing, Cari operates the dog walking service Four Legged Fitness (4leggedfitness.com). She also serves as a certified Ashtanga Yoga instructor. littlecari.com >>
MAYUKO HOSOAI, Dancer
Mayuko Hosoai, a native of Japan, was first introduced to modern dance at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2005. In 2007, she was selected to spend one semester studying in a conservatory setting at London Contemporary Dance School. Upon graduation Mayuko moved to San Francisco. She has danced with Anne Bluethenthal and Dancers, Dance/Theater Shannon, Here Now Dance Collective, Project B. and RAWdance.
MICHELE WONG, Dancer
Michele received her first dance training from Contra Costa Ballet. She worked with choreographers Charles Anderson of Company C Ballet and Michael Smuin. In 2009 Michele graduated from UCSB with a BFA in Dance and was granted the Tonia Shimin Award for a promising future in dance and The Corwin Award for choreography. She toured California and China with the UCSB Repertory Company, performing Lar Lubovitch's, Marimba. She danced with Santa Barbara Dance Theater, touring to Busan, Korea before moving to San Francisco to dance with Capacitor.
ELLIOTT GITTLESOHN, Contortionist
Elliott Gittelsohn resolved to join the circus at age 12. Through persistence and passion, the next decade brought him an apprenticeship with Circus Smirkus Academy, a degree in the art of clowning at The Clown Conservatory, and over five years of training at Circus Center. At 19, Elliott expanded his repertoire to include contortion, training under his mentor, the award-winning Mongolian contortionist Serchmaa Byamba. Elliott has since performed for New Pickle Circus, Velocity Circus, Earth Circus and Circus Finelli. He is currently a member of Capacitor, the Vau de Vire Society, Barnaby's Boylesque and the resident contortionist at Supperclub SF.
INKA SIEFKER, Contortionist/Hand Balancer
Inka spent the first years of her life training both artistic gymnastics & classical dance. As a young dancer, she competed in Paula Abdul's Company Dance, the Roland DuPree Convention, Tremaine Dance, and Dance Masters of America. She currently trains beneath Mongolian contortion legend, Serchma Byambaa and Nanjing Acrobats hand-balancing Master, Lu Yi. With Capacitor, iNKa feels she has at long last found a niche in her realm of art, where she hones the powers of peculiar posture and vigorously explores new dimensions of object interaction.
NAOMI HUMMEL, Aerialist
Naomi Hummel is an aerialist and an actor from Seattle. She graduated from Chicago College of Performing Arts with a BFA in Musical Theatre. She trained in circus arts with Aloft Aerial Dance under Shayna Swanson. Naomi has also trained with Laura Stokes and Cohdi Harrell of Ricochet, Elsie Smith of NECCA, and San Alvarez in aerial fabric.
Maggie Powers, Dancer
Maggie trained in ballet and jazz on the east coast before graduating from university with a double major in Communications and Theater. After college she moved to London and produced the The Mike Dickin Show at TalkSport Radio. When she moved to the west coast she joined Savage Jazz Dance Company, studied aerial arts at the San Francisco Circus Center, and began clowning for Gooferman and Sisters of Honk. She also performed burlesque with Hubba Hubba Revue. She currently performs with Vau de Vire Society and Capacitor and helps people attain healthier lives through personal training.
Ismael, Dancer / Aerialist
Originally from Sonora, Mexico, Ismael received his dance training from Escuela Superior de Musica y Danza de Monterrey. After graduating he danced with the Ballet de Monterrey until 2009. Ismael performed with Cuerpo Etereo, a modern dance company, throughout Mexico and the USA until 2012. He received aerial dance training when he joined the company Circus, Danza, Teatro & Performance in 2005. Ismael recently moved to San Francisco to become part of the bay area dance community including Capacitor.
ANKA DRAUGELATES, Vocalist/Violinist
Anka Draugelates is a German improvisational voice artist and musician, who composes both experimental and classical pieces. Draugelates studied music therapy in the Netherlands at Hoogeschool Nijmegen and received her masters in 1996. She trained with master voice teachers Jonathon Hart Makwaia, Jean-Rene Toussaint, Bobby McFerrin, and Lisa Sokolov. Draugelates has participated in solo and group shows throughout Europe and the United States. She has received residencies and fellowships from the Oberpfaelzer Kuenstlerhaus, Djerassi Artist Colony and Helen L Bing. She has worked extensively with a variety of filmmakers, visual artists, dancers and musicians.
JULIA OGRYDZIAK, Violinist
Julia Ogrydziak began playing the violin at the age of 3 and made her solo debut at age 6. She has performed throughout Europe and North America, including the Tanglewood Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, with a specialty in contemporary/live electronic music. She has studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the New England Conservatory of Music, and in Paris. In addition to her violin studies, Ms. Ogrydziak has a Masters of Design degree with Distinction from Harvard and graduated from MIT with dual degrees in Music and Physics, receiving the AMITA award for most outstanding woman graduate. Ms. Ogrydziak is also an award-winning artist and designer, having exhibited in MOMA in NYC and receiving four Webby Awards. She is a Founding Partner of the design and technology firm Blacksquare. julia-o.com >> blacksquare.com >>