2022 Artist & Entertainers
Nicole Cooper
Nicole is Telluride‘s local mushroom and fire artist. Says Nicole, "I’ve been blessed to call Telluride home for the last 2 years and I‘m still a constant tourist in my own backyard." Her greatest time is spent hiking in the beautiful forests, foraging for mushrooms to make art, and spinning fire. Nicole gets her inspiration from the amazing mountain views around Telluride, She’s constantly encouraging everyone to join into flow arts.
Rebekka “Ember” DeLaMare
Ember brings a unique flow style to her performances that is deeply rooted in the original polynesian fire dance forms, from her years overseas in the South Pacific. From group to solo performances around the world, Ember is a flow arts and fire collaborator, custom prop designer and fabricator, teacher and artist. She brings her entire essence into her performances and tells a captivating story with her fiery Dragon Tails.
Rachel Wagner
Rachel has been healing her mind and body through dance for many years. Bringing the element of fire into play has helped her channel her inner warrior and goddess. She performs with rope dart, palm torches, and fire sword. Channeling both the feminine and masculine energies she surrenders to the flow of fire and dance.
Cie Hoover
Cie Hoover lives and creates his art in Ouray, Colorado. He’s had a passion for visual arts since the days of his youth. Cie worked in the Nashville music industry for over a decade, then he toured full-time in North America with You Knew Me When. Afterwards, Cie immersed himself in his love of the visual arts. His artwork is based in utilizing various types of wood to create wall-mounted works with depth and texture, and large sculptural work. Along with several public art installations throughout the state, Cie’s art can be found at Slate Gray Gallery in Telluride.
Erin “Devi” Feeney
Devi recently moved from Boston to Moab, UT where she continues to expand on her passion for performing. In 2020, Devi taught herself to flow with dragon staff, and shortly after began to add fire to the equation. She has been creating and performing fire with the desert soul collective, performing Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico as well as teaching a dragon staff workshop and performing at Burning Man 2022. She will be performing with dragon staff and rope-tied with a local Moab fire crew.
RJ Roush
RJ is a long-time lover of dance and physical/circus theater. He has been spinning fire for seven years in Moab, UT. Says RJ, “I like to play!” Watch him perform on Saturday night juggling torches or one of his custom-built Triads!
Musselph, LTD
You may remember Paphiopendulum, pictured above, which was showcased here in 2019. Musselph, LTD are Denver-based artists, fabricators, master electricians, and welders. They have contributed to the Colorado art community with large sculptural works for nearly seven years. They are coming back this year with his awe-inspiring Tree Of Life. Attendees will be able to make the leaves flame into the night sky on Saturday night.
Ashley Higgs
Ashley began her fire bending in 2020 when she fell in love with her dragon staff. She dabbles in aerial arts and other flow and fire props like levi-wand, contact sword, buugeng, and fire fans. She will be performing on stage Saturday night as well as teaching a free partner hooping workshop at the library.
Ryan Smith
Colorado based, DJ Harry was introduced to electronic music (EDM) via a Grateful Dead parking lot rave in 1993, He‘s been spinning his addictive style of organic beats throughout the U.S. since then. Straddling both the live and electronic music scenes, DJ Harry has toured the U.S. and Canada with many artists, including James Brown, Widespread Panic, Moby, and The String Cheese Incident. He’s also performed at festivals from Red Rocks to Bonnaroo. DJ Harry‘s collaboration with singer/songwriter Lissie lead to a hit single "All My Life", which receives worldwide radio airplay. He’s written numerous songs for film and TV, most recently writing two songs for Telluride MountainFilm.
Scorched Steel
The founders of this artist group, Joshua Birkmaier & Kelsey Sailsbery, hail from Denver, CO. Scorched Steel is a national collection of artistic professionals. They live, breathe and dream of art. Their vision is to inspire vibrant contemplation & reflection through other-worldly experiences.
Carrie Vickers
Carrie followed her passion for sport, running professionally for USA track and field at a world-class level for 12 years. Carrie retired to start a family and fell in love with flying after taking one aerial class. Her intensive training program, along with her background as a Pilates instructor helped her grow rapidly as an aerial performer. Carrie performs regularly with Mt Cirque Soarers. She’s the artistic director and an instructor for Sopris Soarers in Carbondale, CO.
John Beck
John Beck is a Circus and Fire performer who loves flowing in all ways! He started with poi and slowly fell in love with all flow props. He is a master in moving the body with aerial straps, cyr wheel, acro yoga, and partner acrobatics! John is grateful for the community and always learning. We are thrilled to have him back for 2022.
Dan Gundrum
Dan Gundrum specializes in immersive digital art through projection mapping, lasers and special effects with his company, Pivotal Effects. He serves the community’s tech needs through his primary company Home Technology Group by installing home automation and lighting control in clients homes. He regularly shares his talent through artist workshops. Dan is the Technical Director and Ensemble Member with Telluride Theatre, helping direct the cogs behind the scenes to make the show go on seamlessly. He is a member at Deep Creek Experimental and fine tunes his plethora of creations in a studio built in an old limestone mine. Look for his creations at the Slate Gary Gallery.
Harry Antibus
Colorado based DJ Harry was introduced to electronic music (EDM) via a Grateful Dead parking lot rave in the Bay Area, and has been spinning his addictive style of organic beats in the US since 1993. Straddling both the live and electronic music scenes, DJ Harry has toured the US and Canada with a many artists, including James Brown, Widespread Panic, Moby, & The String Cheese Incident, performing at festivals from Red Rocks to Bonnaroo. His collaboration with singer/songwriter Lissie led to his hit single "All My Life", which continues to receive worldwide radio airplay. DJ Harry has written many songs for film and television, most recently writing two songs for Telluride MountainFilm.
Nate Robertson
Nate started building at age seven for family businesses. He completed a welding certification program in 2012 and has spent the past decade incorporating all he learned into fabrication methods and processes, building everything from roller coasters to 60-ton stainless steel pressure vessels and everything in between. Nate connected with the NM’s Burning Man Regional in 2019, and fell in love. Now, he is a Board Member! He says, “I’ll never stop making large scale fire art until the day I die if I have anything to say about it.” The Installation, Hex Machina comes to the Festival with his partner Garrett.
Katie Shewbridge
Katie, dancer with the Telluride Dance Collective, has been dancing since she was young, and recently rediscovered her passion for dancing when she moved to Telluride six years ago. She has performed, competed, and choreographed many shows in her dancing career. She is so happy to have joined TDC, as it is what she had been searching for all along—an empowering, supportive community of dancing for FUN with many opportunities to share her art. She will be performing Dec. 2! at the Palm Theater. Photo by Dustin Miles
Stacy Everson
Stacy Everson’s love for aerial dance found her on the island of Kauai, enthralled by spatial play upon witnessing the abilities of the human body through a Cirque de Soleil performance.
Searching for the new and innovative in aerial representation is her goal. However, her true joy comes from teaching others not to be merely spectators but actual participants.
She has been performing for seven years throughout Colorado in California and beyond at Envision stage in Costa Rica.
Emma Boone
Growing up as a gymnast and a dancer, Emma has always loved to be in the air and move creatively. She began her aerial training at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts and brings over 15 years of aerial and acrobatics to the Telluride Fire Festival. Her main disciplines include trapeze, aerial silks, lyra, hand balancing and partner acrobatics. She is passionate about building inclusive and creative communities through circus education and performance art. She’ll be performing Friday night at the Palm Theatre.
Aspen Perlick
Aspen was born and raised in Boulder Colorado where she now owns a private massage therapy practice focusing on energetic, heart centered bodywork. Aspen, a gymnast for 11 years, has dabbled in performing aerial arts, and landed as a dancer for the past 8 years. She has a deep appreciation for the human body, and the ways in which movement and expression heal us all. She is partnering with Ellen Bator at the Friday night performance at the Palm Theater.
Maciej Mrotek
Maciej Mrotek started “Dance of the Sacred Fire in 2001 after performing fire around the world. He and his team perform fire shows for events like the Ringing Brothers Annual Ball, Aspen Bud Light, RedBull and Ozzy Motley. This will be Maciej’s 8th year performing and directing our fabulous group of fire performers.
Niel Ringstad
Originally from NYC, Niel is distinguished as a 32-year Telluride local, living for his first 10-years in a ski-bum shack of 72 square-feet. Though a graphic designer at heart and an accomplished painter, Niel has graciously built six towering sculptural works (out of clean, salvaged lumber) for the Festival, which have been the cornerstones of Fire on the Mountain from 2016 to 2021. See his new creation "Still Ballet Treason" Saturday night at Resurrection. It is scheduled to burn at 9:30pm.
Val Russell
Val has spent more than 20 years teaching pilates, yoga, and aerial arts. An acclaimed circus-arts performer herself, she also owns and manages Alpine Aerial Acrobatics, a circus-arts school and performance company. Val has a deep appreciation for the trapeze and working with individuals with previous injury or limited abilities to gain confidence in the air! Val will be teaching four free workshops along with Emma and Ashley at the local library.
Rikki Morehouse
Rikki is a passionate and dedicated performer, teacher, and designer of things. She is also a contortionist-hand balancing-aerialist clown, and one of the creators of SacCirque, a Sacramento-based collective of circus and flow artists (saccirque.com). She currently lives in Paonia, CO, where she has formed a performance organization called Homestead Circus Productions with her partner Dominic Del Signore. You can read more about Rikki here: http://www.rikkimorehouse.com/
Homestead Circus Productions
Homestead Circus Productions is a Colorado-based company on the western slope focused on evolving circus entertainment, culture, and education, while pushing the boundaries of contemporary circus everywhere. This is their second year collaborating with Rocky Mountain Arts for the Friday, Dec. 2 show at the Palm Theater.
Dominic Del Signore
Circus performer Dominic Del Signore shares the art of object manipulation in western Colorado. He has recently displayed his acts at Carbondale’s Mountain Fair and the Telluride Fire Festival. As Co-Founder of Homestead Circus Productions with his partner RIkki Morehouse, Dominic practices a multiplicity of skill toys. Constantly expanding upon the visually elusive practice of balance and isolation, he brings an element of mystery and playfulness to all his performances. Photo by Scott London.
Keith D’Angelo
Keith has participated in the fire festival many times. This year, the 10-year veteran of Burning Man join’s us with his 34-foot wide and 16-foot high LOVE, which will be transformed by fire Dec. 3. Roots run deep for Keith in Telluride; his family has been in the area since the 1880’s. He has been making public sculpture since his high school years and has public art installations in Carbondale, Aspen, and Telluride. He feels blessed for the fact that he can contribute to the Telluride Fire Festival again and looks forward to showing guests how to participate in fire artistry.
Casey Moore
Casey Moore has been creating magic full-time since 2018. "It all started with Leggos", he says. He designs everything from walnut tables, to interactive propane fired art, to printed scales and LED Shoulder Armor! His Truffu LED a Tree will be on display Saturday night at the Festival.
Beth Henshaw
Beth Henshaw is an accomplished hoop instructor, having taught for five years. Beth will be teaching partner hooping with Stephanie Brown at the library on Saturday at 1pm Participants will learn how to hula hoop with a partner— playing around with passes, jumps, and rolls.
Colin Sullivan
Colin, well-known for his years as the Telluride Theatre’s Executive Director, has appeared in Telluride Theatre productions since 2008. He’s trained at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville’s professional apprenticeship program, the Michael Chekhov Institute, Double Edge Theatre, and the SITI Company. He looks forward to entertaining you guiding you through Resurrection on Saturday evening..
Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown, a multi-prop flow artist based out of Denver, CO. She will be teaching the partner hooping workshop at the library on Saturday at 1pm with Beth Henshaw and performing on Saturday night.
Shan Thorpe
Telluride-based Gallery Director, Shan Thorpe, enjoys discovering fluid dance movement alongside roller skating and spinning poi. Since 2019, Shan has performed with The Telluride Dance Collective (Mass Movement), Telluride Aids Benefit Fashion Show, Telluride Theatre, and Koto Radio’s Lip Sync.
Wanda Valles
Wanda was born in Peru and currently resides in Denver, CO. She has been fire dancing for over four years and has been involved in the flow arts community for eight years. Wanda is also a painter, wood burner, climber, and a loving husky Mom. Our Festival will be her first stop in her adventure with her newly renovated camper. Says Wanda, “I’m excited to share my fire art with this amazing event.”
Ellen Bator
Ellen Bator is a dancer, choreographer, and visual artist, who currently resides in the Denver area. She began her dance training at Joel Hall dance studio in Chicago, IL, where she was inspired by the company’s ability to mix different styles of dance along with it’s acceptance of all identities, ethnicities, body types, and ages. Ellen spent 16 years performing and teaching in Chicago, Denver, Telluride, and Las Vegas, before she began to combine visual arts with her choreography, which is now an integral part of her elaborate and playful work.
Josh Beaudoin
A huge Star Wars fan, Josh was quick to get a fire staff and a few sabers to add to his collection of flow props, after getting into spinning staff four years ago. His relationship to spinning fire is deep. He prefers to make his own props so he can customize how much flame is produced with being as close as possible to the fire. He feels fortunate to have been able participate in many fire performances at events in Moab and Burning Man. He absolutely loves sharing his journey with others along the way is excited to return to the Telluride fire festival once again to put on a great show for attendees.
Máire Higgins
Máire (Mary) is thrilled to be working with the creative folks of the Telluride Fire Festival this year. A professional model and actor, Máire has worked across the United States and internationally with some truly kind and inspirational people, and is grateful for each new opportunity to promote artistic expression in our communities. She hopes you enjoy your weekend, and the show!
Garrett Briones
Born and raised in New Mexico, Garrett started woodworking with his father as a child. A knack for things running smoothly also inspired his degree in Flowology, focusing on making sure every aspect of life and work was streamlined for success. His true passion for fabrication began when he discovered tiny living, especially school bus conversions. Garrett currently helps with SunBurn, NM’s Regional Burning Man. He leads the DPW Dept. and creates large scale art for the event. Garrett and Nate are the team behind Hex Machina for the Festival.