My first fascination with juggling began after watching a fellow counselor at a summer camp balance a ladder on his chin while juggling. This image really struck me, an unusual, magical, absurd image of someone performing such a feat clearly requiring practice, a pure crystallization of dedication to the fantastical on display. That summer I was inspired and I began to practice balancing a broom on my chin as a way to entertain students after my nature classes. Before long, my father (who had learned to juggle from a German mime in San Francisco) taught me how to juggle three balls and I found myself swept up with a sudden affinity, beginning to practice and explore the world of juggling endlessly.

I continued my practice and began performing small shows while attending university. It wasn’t long before I met others who juggled and performed various circus arts, inspiring me to learn as many disciplines as I could - partner acrobatics, fire breathing, wire walking, unicycling, trapeze, and more. It became crystal clear to me that I wanted my life to follow the circus road, and that while I loved all of the disciplines of circus, it was juggling that really held my heart captive. At school I would study ancient Greek philosophy, Buddhism, phenomenology and modern existentialism, and I found myself inspired by these same themes in my continual exploration of the universe of juggling.

After graduating with a philosophy degree, I traveled to India to pursue an interest in studying classical sitar. While studying in Mysore the Great Bombay Circus came to town and invited me to perform with them. This was one of the strongest developmental periods of my circus life as I did two hundred and seventy shows in three months and received a solid base in the art of performing and act creation. It was here that I began the practice of sword swallowing while juggling as a finale to my act, later earning a Guinness World Record for “Most Things Juggled Whilst Sword Swallowing.”

I returned to the USA to find work as a professional juggler with the Wanderlust Circus based in Portland, Oregon, deepening my versatility in performance and practice while touring. In 2012, I was invited to perform with the Freedom Family Circus at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. My circus worldview was blown wide open when I saw, for the first time, both the vivid scene of international street performance and the artistic depths of contemporary circus. Until this point most of my experience with circus and juggling had been very traditional. Seeing the magical spontaneity of performing in close contact with the audience on the street was deeply inspiring for me and I began to learn the art of street performance. Seeing the power and depth of contemporary circus shows and theater, and learning about the large network of contemporary schools and performers in Europe, prompted me to begin traveling more to discover these networks and communities, and to deepen my understanding of the art form. I toured this way for four years across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the USA, working on stages and streets and taking periods in between for artistic residencies and developmental periods.

Touring continually as a lifestyle was an important and unforgettable part of my career, teaching me how to relate in the world to other cultures and people, and helped me to examine a lot of my own worldviews, both in general and around art and performance. But I began to crave something more of a home base in which to work more specifically on the creative process around my juggling and performance, and less around the technicality and skill. I found this in New York City and settled there at the end of 2016. 

In New York, I found the space to bring together the skills I had cultivated for years within the immersive artistic environment. Performing regularly all over the city: in art shows, circus companies, libraries, corporate events, outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and more. I also began to teach juggling and movement at a dance studio in Manhattan, at after school programs around the city, and tutored students of all ages independently. 

I continued to develop this work in movement and expression while in this city of dance and became a regular student of Daria Faïn, a qi gong and dance teacher who greatly influenced me with her work and methodology. 

In 2020, I relocated to my home state of Iowa. It was a welcome change of pace from the city and a chance to focus deeper and more regularly into the creation of new work. I have always been blessed with a lot of support and inspiration from my family, friends, and hometown community, and it is a gift for me to share the fruits of my travels with them. 

Since May of 2022 I am traveling and performing again, based between the United States and Europe. My special blend of movement and artistic juggling has brought a reputation that regularly carries me to new places to share my fresh approach and personal spirit within my visual and cathartic performances.

I am endlessly fascinated with juggling and find that there are entire worlds to be discovered through the art of throwing, catching, and dancing with objects. In this I am first and foremost a juggler, but through this, I am also a dancer, a musician, a philosopher, and a magician. Through juggling I find the means to express across disciplines and to delve deeply into my own human experience and to share this with others. I believe that the relationship between a juggler and the objects they use can create powerful images of the universe and our place in it. My goal is always to paint pictures as powerfully as possible, using the juggling balls as my paintbrush and the sky as my canvas. This, as performance, is a shared experience with the audience, as we marvel at the projection before us.