Angela

Angela Kollmer is originally from Hillsborough, New Jersey and is excited to perform at Bloom again! Angela, a graduate of Northeastern University, participated in competitive cheerleading from 2nd grade until her senior year of college. After graduation, she served as an Airborne Field Artillery Officer with the 82nd Airborne for 4 years at Fort Bragg. While at Bragg, she discovered Aerial Circus with a friend that was a former gymnast. After her military obligation ended, she moved to Charlotte and continued her circus adventures discovering stilt walking and poi. She enjoys making her own stilt costumes, learning to dance on them, and creating fun characters. This is her first time putting together her own stilt performance!

Follow: @angelasaywhattt

Roses of the realm

Roses of the Realm are a bellydance troupe that perform at the Carolina Renaissance festival. Their bouquet is made up of many talented dancers from the Charlotte and surrounding areas, specializing in multiple genres of bellydance and fusing styles like ATS and Cabaret.

Follow: @rosesoftherealm

Photo Cred: Megan Flanagan

Emma Johnson

Emma Johnson delivers meaning through her strong, graceful & honest aerial hoop performances. It’s not just a circus act; it’s not just a dance routine. She combines both a strength of body and a strength of heart to reach into her audience and wring out an emotional & meaningful response.

Follow: @emmajohn_aerial

Photo Cred: @shotbymatty

Taylor

Taylor is a Charlotte-based circus performer. Having trained in circus arts since 2013, she is overall a generalist, though she currently focuses on contortionism, hand balancing, and Lyra – with straps on the side. In performance, they let theatrics shine, telling stories and captivating audiences. It is important to Taylor that she puts on a powerful performance while not overshadowing the story. Currently, they are working with the Nouveau Sud Circus Project.

Follow:

https://www.instagram.com/taylorcirque/

Photo Cred: Krysta Rogden

Taisir

Taisir has been teaching and performing Bellydance since 2005. She is influenced mostly by Cabaret and Theatrical styles. As a teacher, she focuses on building a love of dance through fun and encouragement. She currently resides in Jacksonville, FL and dances with Sisters of Sekhmet, but as Co-Owner of Studio 505 in Sylva, travels often to NC. Taisir is excited to be part of Bloom for a third time!

Follow: https://www.facebook.com/TheDesertDessert

Photo Cred: johnrennie03

Sylva Shimmy Squad

Sylva Shimmy Squad is SO happy to be performing at Bloom. Under the guidance of Crys, dancers practice SharQui fitness bellydance weekly to grow in body, heart, and mind. All SharQui Workout classes are designed for every level of dancer. Dancers performing at Bloom range in experience from just FOUR months to 13+ years and everywhere in between. Celebrating in movement, community, self love, and all the jiggly bits, welcome Mary, Brooke, Shay, Kim, and Crys

Follow:

https://instagram.com/studio505sylva?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://m.facebook.com/studio505sylva/

Photo Cred: 7 Dove Photography @turtledove.a

Spectre

Spectre grew up on a farm in Snow Hill, MD, and trained classical ballet and pointe at Salisbury Academy of Dance and Eastern Shore Ballet Theatre from a young age. Her dedication to the art led her to East Carolina University, where she fell in love with modern dance and first began choreographing her own work while completing a degree in dance performance. This lifelong passion for movement reached new heights when she first came across aerial dance in 2015. Spectre quickly attained skill and fluidity on lyra, straps, and rope, but her first and deepest love continues to be her darling silks.

No matter the movement medium, Spectre’s style is characterized by an uncanny ability to seemingly slow and thicken time itself as she stretches and spindles her limbs into endless, elegant lines. The power and sheer technical polish of her methodical movements gives her performances a hypnotic, unearthly quality, whether she is racking her arms into wings on the ground or recreating the classic, balletic shapes of The Swan weightlessly in the air.

Since moving to Charlotte, Spectre has performed with a whole host of dance companies, including Kinetic Works, THE MARK, and Taproot CLT performing arts ensemble. She has glitzed up the Charlotte Hornets’ halftimes as a Hive Flyer company aerialist and she has graced the stages of festivals including Loose Leaves, BOOM Charlotte, Charlotte Dance Festival, Charlotte New Music Festival, Bloom, Asheville Fringe Arts Festival, and LadyfestCLT. In addition to her prolific performing career in Charlotte, Spectre also teaches aerial silks to eager students at her home studio of Aerial CLT.

Follow:

@spectresndsablearts
https://youtube.com/channel/UCzj6hcVC4R4gCDVY0gPJgHg
https://spectreandsablearts.com/

Photo Cred: PhotoArtofTEC

Sobe Wan

Sobe is a modern-day renaissance woman with bachelor’s degree in sculpture and performance. Having been a visual artist her entire life, she pursued movement and performance through fire, flow, and circus arts in her 20’s. Throughout her creative career she has taken every opportunity to learn and share the skills she has acquired including stage makeup, costume/character creation, choreography, backstage managing, and is currently part of The Voice Project Circus. When she isn’t training, Sobe continues working creatively with her hands in clay, glass, metal, painting, and prop fabrication.

Follow: @sobe_wan, facebook.com/sobewan

Photo Cred: Mike Hauser, @mikehauser123