Faculty
School Director Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi is a second-generation circus performer, a Master Teacher, a pioneering theater artist, and an award-winning choreographer. The Actors Gymnasium faculty hold degrees including Theatre, Dance, Musical Theatre, Kinesiology, Early Childhood Development, Design, Computer Science, and Engineering. Their circus credentials stem from training at The Actors Gymnasium, New England Center for Circus Arts, Circus Juventas, and National École de Cirque. They have performed with esteemed circus and theatre companies across the world.
Our teachers have brought their talents to the screen with movie stunts and motion capture work for video games, and include members of Actors Equity Association, SAG AFTRA, and the Society of American Fight Directors. They have worked on Tony-award winning shows, earned multiple Jeff Awards, and won silver and gold medals from international circus competitions in Monte Carlo, Germany and Cuba.
Adeoye / DÉO (he, him) is an interdisciplinary Performing Artist. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago, where earned his BA in Law, Letters, and Society, and of The George Washington University, where he earned his MFA in Classical Acting. He is certified as a Meditation Guide, as a Yoga Teacher, and as a Pilates Trainer. Having been a student at The Actors Gymnasium, it thrills him to join the faculty. Adeoye has performed in Regional Theatres across the country and around Chicago, including Lookigglass Theatre, where he serves as an Actor and as a Teaching Artist. Adeoye is also the Founder and Artistic Director of Quicksilver Shakespeare Company, an experimental ensemble of Artists committed to Diversity and Inclusion in Performance, currently producing #QuicksilverQuarantine in the digital Zoom Space. quicksilvershakespeare.org
Kylie “Ky” Anderson (they/them) is a physical actor represented by Stewart Talent, located in Chicago, IL. They have a BFA in Drama with an emphasis in Acting from the University of Oklahoma. Ky is EMC; a founding company member at Bramble Theatre, and has worked with a medley of other theaters in Chicago including Redtwist, Steppenwolf, Remmy Bumppo, and Lookingglass. Ky was a part of the Professional Training Program class of 2021 here at Actor’s Gym, where they were in the inaugural Clown Program. Ky has also trained at Stella Adler’s in New York for physical theatre and was in the School at Steppenwolf class of 2019. You can find even more info about Ky through their website www.kylieanderson-actor.com.
David Chervony (@DavidDrops) is a juggler and performer from Chicago. He has performed nationally with the Masters of Gravity, the Amazing Acrobats of Shanghai, Cirque Us, and locally with the Midnight Circus and the Actors Gymnasium, among others. When he isn’t juggling, he is either playing a board game, running around with his dog, or thinking about juggling. www.daviddrops.com
Michel Rodriguez Cintra is a Cuban born dancer, choreographer, and tumbler based in Chicago. He started training in gymnastics at the age of 6, later competing nationally and internationally as part of the Youth National Cuba Team. Rodriguez Cintra has a degree in Cuban Modern Dance and Afro-Cuban dances from the Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana. He was a Member of Danza Contemporanea de Cuba where he achieved the rank of Principal Dancer. After moving to Chicago he danced, choregraphed, taught and rehearsal directed for multiple companies including Hedwig Dances Khecari, Chicago Dance Crash, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. His choreography has been performed in multiple festivals and abroad. In 2010 he was featured as one of the “Men of 2010” by TimeOut Chicago. Rodriguez Cintra was featured as a “25 to Watch” in Dance Magazine, and was awarded a “3Arts” Award for outstanding accomplishment in his field in 2014. Michel served as an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago, and has taught master classes at the collegiate level nationally. Currently, Rodriguez Cintra is serving in his seventh season as an ensemble member with Lucky Plush Productions, and has been on faculty at The Actor’s Gymnasium for the past five years. In early 2020, he was cast as The White Rabbit in Lookingglass Theatre’s “Alice Through the Lookingglass”, and will appear in the role at a yet to be determined date in the future.
Jean Claudio (he/him) is a circus and physical theater performer from Puerto Rico established in Chicago since 2016. In 2013 he traveled to Argentina to train and learn more about the circus world. Co-founded his own circus and physical theater company along his spouse, Raquel Torre. In 2016 decided to move to Chicago to start the Actors Gymnasium Circus Program. Since then he has been working and collaborating with companies like, Emerald City Theater, Theater Oobleck, Actors Gymnasium, Cabinet of Curiosities, Barrel of Monkeys, La Vuelta Ensemble and many more. In 2018 entered the Cirque du Soleil Data Base as a clown and Physical Performer. He loves pistachio ice cream and green plantains.
Chuck Coyl (he/him) started teaching stage combat for The Actors Gymnasium in 1997. Recent credits include Fight Direction for: August: Osage County, Superior Donuts, The Crucible (Steppenwolf Theatre), Gas For Less, Magnolia (Goodman Theatre), Private Lives (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Porgy and Bess, Carmen, Tosca (Lyric Opera of Chicago).Broadway credits include the Tony Award winning production of August: Osage County. Internationally he has staged fights for productions at the National Theatre, London and the Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney, Australia. Film and Television credits include stunt work on Moments in Time, Murder in Greenwich and Eyeborgs.
Adrian Danzig (he/him) was Producing Artistic Director of 500 Clown, a Chicago-based Clown Theater ensemble that toured nationally. He performed the shows in the 500 Clown touring repertoire: 500 Clown Macbeth, 500 Clown Frankenstein, 500 Clown Christmas, and 500 Clown Trapped. More recently he performed as a Dancer / Actor / Clown with Lucky Plush Productions The Better Half and in The House Theatre’s A Comedical History for Mr. Punch, he payed both Antipholi, in California Shakespeare Festival’s production of A Comedy of Errors, Caliban in The Feast : an Intimate Tempest at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Medvedenko in The Seagull at Lake Lucille Chekov, Orlando at The Court Theater. In addition he has performed in shows at The Goodman theatre, The Second City, Steppenwolf Studio, Berkeley Rep, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Public Theater, and with Shakespeare & Company and Lookingglass Theatre Company. He has performed his solo works at The Kitchen, P.S. 122, The Ontological Hysteric Theater and Soho Rep. He was an early Neo-futurist and a founding member of Redmoon Theater. He has studied clown with Ctibor Turba, Philippe Gaulier, Ronlin Foreman, Dominique Jando, Els Comediants, David Shiner, Avner the Eccentric and was a clown with Big Apple Circus Clown Care for 7 years.
As a teacher, in addition to hundreds of workshops and master classes around the country and internationally, he was on faculty at The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University for 7 years where he taught Movement, Acting, Comedy, Circus Arts, and directed devised works. He has created 500 Clown based workshops for doctors, business schools, hotel employees, division 2 athletes, incarcerated youth and Chicago-based performers, social workers, and other interested types.
Scott Dare (he/him) joined The Actors Gymnasium in 2015. He is a physical theatre and circus artist working as a director, deviser, choreographer, and educator. Outside of Chicago he has performed and directed in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Phoenix, and London. Locally he has collaborated with The Actors Gymnasium, Theater Unspeakable, Filament Theater, Mudlark Theater, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, American Theater Company, and Imaginez Ensemble. Scott is an ensemble member with Theater Unspeakable and Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble. He holds a Master’s degree from Royal Holloway, University of London and a Black Belt in traditional martial arts from the ISKA. See more at scottjdare.com
Madie Doppelt (she/her) is a theater and circus artist based in Chicago. She’s a recent graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University, as well as an alum of Actors Gym’s beloved Teen Ensemble.
Dahlia Fatale (she/her) is an internationally traveling, award winning contortionist and burlesque performer. A dancer her whole life, Dahlia fell in love with the bizarre, super human art of contortion about a decade ago, and has been hooked ever since. As an instructor, Dahlia brings together a unique perspective built on years of movement study, as well as circus training and anatomy education (yes, she’s touched muscles from the inside too!). She believes that movement is for all humans and loves watching students have aha moments when all their hard work pays off! To find out more, please visit her website: www.dahliafatale.com
Danielle Gennaoui: Since she was a little tater tot in St. Louis, MO, Danielle Gennaoui loved to direct plays in her parents’ basement, climb every tree in sight, and spin around in circles until she fell over. Fortunately, not much has changed (though the falling over is fewer and further between).
Danielle began training at the Actors Gymnasium in 2008 and immediately fell in love with Circus. Danielle specializes in theatre, aerial arts, and partner acrobatics. Danielle graduated with Bachelor of Arts in Theatre directing and performance from the Jordan College of Fine Arts at Butler University and is a graduate of Aloft Circus Arts Full-Time Training Program (Major: Lyra).
In addition to working with Actors Gym, Danielle has been especially fortunate to perform, coach, and create with: Aloft Circus Arts, Circus Harmony, Chicago Center for Dynamic Circus, CircEsteem, MSA & Circus Arts, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Gravity Aerial Arts, Thodos Dance Chicago, Apple Tree Theatre, Sussurus Performance Group, and The Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. DanielleGennaoui.com
Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi (she/her) is Artistic Director of The Actors Gymnasium. She also serves as master teacher and director of The Professional Circus Training Program and is a faculty member at Northwestern University’s Department of Theatre. Sylvia is a second generation circus performer who grew up touring with various circuses, including Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey. In 2019, she and her family, The Hernandez Troupe, were inducted into the Circus Ring of Fame for their monumental contributions to the world of circus. Sylvia is an ensemble member of the Tony Award-winning Lookingglass Theatre Company, where she has worked on over 20 productions. She has received 4 Joseph Jefferson Awards for her work with Lookingglass (Lookingglass Alice, Hard Times, Baron in the Trees) and Marriott Theatre (All Night Strut), and a total of 5 Joseph Jefferson nominations. In 2018, she won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and a Robby Award, both for designing the acrobatic/aerial choreography of the South Coast Repertory staging of Moby Dick. Other theater credits include The Lyric Opera, Writer’s Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Chicago Children’s Theater and The Goodman. Sylvia is the recipient of The 3Arts Award for Design (2014), and also received an Award of Honor for Outstanding Contributions by The Illinois Theater Association.
Hayley Larson (she/her) is a multidisciplinary circus performer specializing in aerial arts, as well as Cyr wheel, and hand balancing. With a degree in Dance from Oberlin College, Hayley uses her background as a dancer to bring a crisp, complex style to her choreography that underscores the commanding stage presence so often found in her performances. As a coach Hayley strives to create self-sufficient, intelligent movers and thinkers through a focus on apparatus theory and healthy movement mechanics. Her recent performance credits include, The Ghost In Gadsden’s Garden (2020) with The Actors Gymnasium, and Brave Space (2018 —) with Aloft Circus Arts. When not flying through the air herself, she can be found playing collaborative board games with friends or snuggling a cat on the couch.
Marti Lyons most recently directed Little Women at Seattle Repertory Theatre and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and the world premiere of Galileo’s Daughter by Jessica Dickey at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, where Marti is Artistic Director. Marti directed Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon at Northlight Theatre, the co-world premiere of Wife of a Salesman by Eleanor Burgess at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Sense and Sensibility adapted by Jessica Swale at American Players Theatre and the world premiere of John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower at Studio Theatre in D.C. Lyons’s other productions include The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess at Writers Theatre; Cymbeline at American Players Theatre; The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe and both the stage and audio productions of Kings by Sarah Burgess at Studio Theatre; the world premiere of How to Defend Yourself by liliana padilla, a Victory Gardens and Actors Theatre of Louisville co-production; Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee at Victory Gardens and City Theatre; Witch by Jen Silverman at Geffen Playhouse and Writers Theatre (LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Direction); Native Gardensby Karen Zacarías at Victory Gardens; Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; I, Banquo at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Title and Deed by Will Eno at Lookingglass Theatre Company; Laura Marks’s Bethany and Mine at The Gift Theatre. Marti is an ensemble member at The Gift Theatre and a proud member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. martilyons.com
Megan Mallouk holds a BA in theater from Lake Forest College in Illinois. She has spent the last decade teaching and performing circus and theater in Chicago and across the US, appearing on stage, in the air, and in commercials and film. Megan is a former rhythmic gymnast who competed nationally and internationally, and spent several years coaching at the competitive level. She is a graduate of the Full Time Training Program at AirCraft Circus in London and NECCA’s 2 year Professional Training Programs. When she is not land based, you can find Megan working at sea, training aerialist for Royal Caribbean productions. Her focus of expertise is in lyra, static cloud swing, invented apparatus, flexibility, dance movement, choreography, and theatrical character work.
Austin Rambo is a professional clown and physical theater actor. Austin is a recipient of jeff awards such as best ensemble/play/new work from their performance in All Quiet on the Western front back in 2019. Austin joined the Actor's Gym family as a recreational student back in 2019 with his first class being acro yoga and has since taken the professional training 2 year program. Although Austin can do anything his primary focus is Clown, partner acrobatics, and chinese pole. When he is not training or gigging you can often find Austin streaming on Twitch and Youtube (Rambii70)
Jacinda Ratcliffe graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Dance and Psychology. Upon graduating, she trained on scholarship at Lou Conte Dance Studio under Claire Bataille. She danced with Project Bound Dance in their 2016-2017 season in addition to working freelance throughout Chicago. Notable roles include leading role of Lucifer in Striding Lion Performance Group’s production of The Great and Terrible Doctor Faustus as well as the titular role in Frankenstein AI: A Monster Made By Many which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2018. She currently dances as an ensemble member with Lucky Plush Productions. In addition to performing, she has worked as a choreographer for theatre companies in Chicago; in 2019, she choreographed Birch House Immersive’s production of The Ode at Pint’s End, and in 2020 she was the Movement Director for the Griffin Theatre’s Jeff-nominated production of Mlima’s Tale. She has taught for Lucky Plush Productions, Opportunity Knocks, Ruth Page Intensives, and is on faculty at Chicago Movement Collective.
Jordan Reinwald (she/her), is a dancer, performance artist, and choreographer currently based in Chicago. She has performed professionally, nationally, and internationally with Winifred Haun and Dancers, Khecari, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater, The Catskills Ballet Theatre, The Civic Ballet at the Ruth Page Center for the Performing Arts, Aerial Dance Chicago, C5 Create With No Limits, as a promotional performer for Theater Mama with Cirque Du Soleil, and as a Magician's Assistant in Jamie Allan's "Magic Immersive" which ran in Toronto, Canada, and in Chicago in 2021 and 2022, among others. In 2023 she was featured as the Bitter Assistant and other characters in Teatro Vista's silent musical, "The Dream King". The production went on to win "Best Production" in the Midsize Play category at the 2022-23 Jeff Awards. She was recently a featured aerialist with Q Productions Las Vegas. She currently creates work that has been featured at Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, Columbia College Chicago, LatinX Arts Festival, and at Northwestern University, and is the 2021 Choreographer for Midnight Circus In the Parks. In 2021, Reinwald was awarded one of two Artist In Residence positions at the Side Street Studio in Elgin, IL as part of the Going Dutch Festival. She is a 2019 graduate of the Actor’s Gymnasium Professional Training Circus Program.
Symphony Sanders graduated from Bradley University with a degree in Theatre Performance and has been a professional actor in Chicago since 2003. As a dancer and gymnast she always loved to express herself through movement; creating a narrative instead of just executing tricks.She began her circus journey in 2010 taking a aerial arts class at The Actors Gymnasium and found that she could both express herself creatively and do challenging stunts in a perfect marriage of her skills. Since then she has gone on to teach and perform and most recently graduated from the inaugural class of the Professional Circus Training Program. She also continues to perform professionally regionally at theaters such as Chicago Shakespeare, The Goodman,and Raven Theatre and worldwide with the critically acclaimed podcast Welcome To Nightvale!
Ayana Strutz is an island girl from Honolulu, Hawaii who resides in Chicago as a dancer and circus artist. Regionally she has worked with the First National Tour of The SpongeBob Musical, Goodman Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, Skylight Music Theatre, Short North Stage, Music Theater Works, Cocodaco Dance Company, and Diamond Head Theatre. She is a graduate of the 2018 Actors Gymnasium Protraining Program with a major in lyra and a minor in contortion and tumbling. She holds a BA in Sociology from the Ohio State University and is currently on track to start physical therapy school.
Oyunchimeg “Oyuna” Yadamjav is one of Mongolia’s premier contortionists with over 25 years of experience, performing internationally with the world-renowned Mongolian National Circus. She has won “SILVER CLOWN” at the global circus competition in Monte-Carlo (Presidency of the H.S.H. Prince Ranier III de Monaco) and gold medals at international circus competitions in Germany and Cuba. Oyuna is currently teaching for the Mongolian Children’s Performing Arts.
David Yip (they/them or he/him) is an ADAPT-certified parkour instructor who works also with Parkour Ways / Art du Déplacement Chicago, a Chicago-area parkour training and teaching organization. David has worked with groups across the country and abroad, including members of the Yamakasi, a French group widely acknowledged as the modern founders of parkour. David believes that parkour is primarily an exercise in introspection, and to that end enjoys learning, applying, and teaching different methods for improving control over the mind to let the body operate at its maximum potential.