Tamara Horton
Silks/Stretching
Tamara's aerial journey began in 2009 after moving to Portland from Eastern Washington. With 10+ years of ballet training, she was intrigued by the possibility of taking dance into the air and soon fell in love with aerial silks. She has since trained and performed primarily with Night Flight Aerial and as a member of The Circus Project's Training Company. Tamara's repertoire now includes sling, lyra (hoop) and corde lisse (rope) in addition to silks. She is also an amateur albeit enthusiastic handstands student. Most recently Tamara performed in MF Motion's production of Dark Matter and at the 2016 Fertile Grounds Festival in Between Worlds.
Tamara continues to teach ballet and believes in incorporating many of the same strengthening and stretching exercises into her aerial classes as you would find in a dance class. She can often be heard reminding students to straighten their legs and point their toes while in the air. She believes in good technique and is therefore always ensuring students understand not only what they are doing but also why. She loves helping people grow and get stronger, especially that look of satisfaction and accomplishment when students master a new step.
Fun fact: In her "free" time, Tamara works at a Biotechnology company in Hillsboro manufacturing oncology medication.
Amanda Warren
Stretching/Silks/Netting
Amanda Warren has been passionate about physical activity & performance ever since she was a little girl. From climbing trees, to exploring the wilderness around her childhood home, to preforming in a variety of productions such as the Nutcracker, she has always been happier in movement.
Her love for aerial arts however started much later, as she was introduced to this brand of acrobatics while dancing with snakes & performing Burlesque at Dante's, back in 2009. Amanda immediately fell in love with the physicality & challenges aerial arts presented her. In 2012 she got the opportunity of a lifetime, to move to Japan and feature at Universal Studios in Osaka, where she became the lead female performer on a very rare circus apparatus called Sway Pole. After that, it was official, she had the touring bug and continued to travel all over the world with companies such as Nock Productions, Opportunity Nock's, Wanderlust Circus, and Super Geek League. She is also proud to have flown high in the air on many wonderful/wild apparatuses including Aerial Silks, Aerial Net, Aerosphere Aerial Balloon, Rope, Trapeze, and The Wheel of Death.
All of these wonderful opportunities have brought Amanda back to the classroom, as she is passionate about sharing her technique & the knowledge she's accrued along the way. She is excited to help her students grow as performers and watch them soar to incredible new heights!
Fun Fact: There are only 23 people in the World who are trained to perform on SwayPoles, and Amanda is one of them.
Cory Sylvester
Handstands/German Wheel
Cory’s circus career was sparked in 1996 during a hike, upon seeing a chipmunk flip around a branch, do another flip in the air and land on the ground. A simple moment of nature’s playfulness had a profound impact. Shortly after, Cory went to see Cirque du Soleil’s “Quidam,” where he witnessed a warrior- in his eyes, move and manipulate the German Wheel around the stage. Filled with inspiration, what at first was a small spark now was fueled and the flame was ignited. Cory was presented with a fire strong enough to run with the inspiration to be a professional circus performer.
Slow going at first, Cory’s process would take him on a ten-year journey of training, stick-to-it-tiveness (that’s a made up word) and a series of serendipitous events to eventually land him the same role that had inspired him once upon a time ago before.
He cried for twenty minutes when Cirque du Soleil called him to offer him the solo German Wheel act in the now ten years old “Quidam.”
And thus began the next ten years of Cory’s journey. Traveling around the world, performing for thousands of people each night, Cory honed his craft and fulfilled his warrior role through the closing of Quidam in February 2016.
He brings over twenty years of experience to pass on. He hopes to have a role to play in the development of skills and passion for others who want to learn.
Fun fact: Cory enjoys oil painting Bob Ross Style.
Mary Elizabeth Tindall
Silks, Hammock, Stretching
Mary Elizabeth is a circus enthusiast. Having practiced various dance and movement classes on and off since childhood, she has a deep love and appreciation for choreography and performance art. Early in 2012, Mary began learning aerial silks from Jolene Dickerson, it grew to be one of her biggest passions and she never looked back. No other discipline had provided as much challenge, reward, or confidence building.
Mary has performed in many Afterglow Showcases, Who's The Ross (a local late night talk show) & The Umbrella Festival on both Silks, Corde Lisse (rope) and Aerial Hammock. Her favorite part of teaching is encouraging students to believe in themselves and watching them progress throughout the series. Mary is also a Licensed Massage Therapist, her training in anatomy and kinesiology is utilized in class with a focus on proper alignment and enhanced proprioception.
Fun fact: As a kid Mary once climbed to the top of a light pole.
Shaina Sky
Silks/Stretching/Hula Hoop/Character
Miss Shaina is a performing artist and educator based in Portland, OR. She specializes in circus/variety acts galore, performing with troupes such as Wanderlust Circus & Dante's Sinferno. More recently performing on big stages such as Symbiosis Gathering and Umbrella Festival. As a dedicated student of mind and body training, she pays close attention to intricate details in motion, costuming, and character building to bring the mystique of imagination to life!
Shaina is a hula hoop extraordinaire, fire phenom, and an aerial dance enchantress, among other extraordinary characters and feats of magnificence! She has received training and performed alongside numerous renowned artists/instructors across the country, continuing to learn from her peers, and helping spread the joy of circus arts to audiences and aspiring students alike.
Fun fact: She has two metal rods in her back from a Scoliosis treatment as a child. She's bionic and that doesn't stop her from contorting!
Liz Schmitt
Lyra/Silks/Duo Lyra
Liz started her aerial training seven years ago in Tucson, Arizona, with what is now the Circus Academy of Tucson. Before she was introduced to the world of aerial art, she was a dancer. Liz began taking ballet and tap lessons at age 3 continued with pointe, jazz, lyrical, and modern dance lessons. She was a member of The Dance Shoppe Performance Company from 2004-2010 and competed in various national competitions. Liz has trained on silks, lyra, trapeze, rope, and numerous inventive apparatuses. She has performed at different events in Tucson, including being suspended 60 feet above Tucson on an inventive apparatus during the All Souls Processions. Liz also could be seen performing with Altitude Aerials in Phoenix, Arizona, including aerial bartending for the Super Bowl VIP Party. Liz has years of aerial teaching experience with The Circus Academy of Tucson and Altitude Aerials, where she taught kid's beginning and intermediate silks, adult's silks, and numerous workshops. She is excited to be in Portland with the Afterglow family and hopes to see you in class!
Fun fact: Liz has a Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology, a BA in Spanish & Portuguese, a BS in Environmental and Water Resource Economics, and she is working on her Juris Doctor! (busy, smart lady!)
Marina Karadjieva
Trapeze/Contortion/Lyra
Marina Karadjieva started teaching circus skills to her friends and their kids sometime in 2001 while being an active performer. She loved sharing her passion and knowledge with others. Since then, Marina has been teaching kids and adults all over California, Oregon, and Europe. Some of the companies she has worked with are Trapeze Arts, Kinetic Arts Center, Trapeze World, Head Over Heels Athletic Arts as a Circus Program Manager, Zippo’s Circus and more. In 2007 she co-founded Vagaboom! / Living Dream Arts and recently Circus In Motion. Marina is the co-author of a 2-week Circus Training Guide for teachers at Galileo Learning Center Summer Quest.
Marina has been flying for almost 16 years, claiming to like the metal apparatuses more because of the challenge and the bruises. She is passionate about watching students transformation and growth.
Fun Fact: She really likes conditioning. :)
Martina Oskarsson
Silks/Character Development
Martina came to America in 2000 from the beautiful countryside of Sweden. After her momentous move, she quickly merged with the movement arts and circus communities in the Pacific Northwest. Shortly after arriving in Portland, she found herself surrounded by artists and performers, being tossed up in the air and asked to climb on their hands, feet & heads. Since that magical moment, she has fallen more & more in love with this transformational art. From this deep love, Martina has been inspired to ceaselessly add skills to her growing passion. Her big loves within this realm are aerial silks, yoga, kids circus, and acro-balancing. Since realizing how important the movement arts are for everyone, young & old, and the positive social/physical impact that can manifest as a result, she has passionately been increasing her involvement in this community.
Martina has now taught circus for over ten years among many talented individuals in San Francisco, Sweden, and Portland. After graduating Dell Arte International school of physical theater in 2007 she started a non-profit organization in SF which is still running to this day under the name Living Dream Arts. More recently she has cofounded Circus In Motion LLC, and under that project has developed AIM, Aerial In Motion. Martina finds great joy in giving kids and adults what she wished she would have stumbled upon when she was young and desires to continue expressing her heartfelt enthusiasm through teaching and creating.
Fun fact: She is an Ashtanga Yoga teacher also
Jolene Dickerson
Silks/Trapeze/Corde Lisse
One of Jolene's greatest passions in life is to inspire other beings into unlocking the vast amounts of confidence and courage that is sometimes difficult to find within. She teaches through professional experience using play and creativity as tools on and off the aerial apparatus. Even through all of the fun & silliness, safety and technique are extremely important to her. You will often see Jolene strolling through the studio doing daily rigging checks or in a class saying, "point your toes!" or "straighten that back knee!" She strives for grace, beautiful lines, and finding your own creative spark.
Founding Afterglow Aerial Arts in 2014 is one of Jolene's favorite achievements. A performer down to the soul, she has been a dancer her entire life. Circus & aerial arts sparked her interest back in 2007. For the past 10 years, aerial has taken over her world. She has worked with many troupes, DJs, festivals, and circuses around the world and continues to keep the flame alive by creating up new and innovative ideas. She recently took a long break to bring her magical little baby, Miss Vivian Bloom, into the world. Stay tuned for what is brewing up next.
Fun Fact: She loves collecting vintage marbles, unique keys, and postcards.
Maria Malachikhina
Contortion/Hand-Balancing/Hula Hoop
Russian-American performer, Maria, has been in the industry of performance for over 15 years. Trained from a young age by her mother, a former high wire artist, Maria has been contorting since she was 8 years old. Her past employers include Circus Circus, LIGHT by Cirque du Soleil, and Les Folies Bergere in Las Vegas. She has a strong passion for performing, the art of movement, and is a professional at hands on contortion, spotting, & training on and off the ground.
Fun Fact: She is also a professional DJ.