full CV and personal details upon request

 

Courtney Prokopas is a classically-trained ballerina turned aerialist and wire-dancer. Her acts reexamine and re-define the notion of apparatus.  She is cofounder of Moment Collective and lead organizer of Moment of Circus 2017, a six-day contemporary circus festival focusing on experimental, extemporaneous creation and intensive/immersive workshops.  Performing highlights include her international debut of her cord and bulb act at Circonvencion Mexicana 2015. 

 

RECENT PERFORMANCE

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• Circus Sessions, ensemble creation under direction of Sean Gandini of Gandini Juggling, May 2017

• “Liberation” Counterweight Loop Creation, ensemble creation under direction of Terry Crane of Acrobatic Conundrum, Festival Internacional de Danza Aérea Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica, May 2017

• Cuerpo Eléctrico (selection), Festival Internacional de Danza Aérea Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica, May 2017 - solo act

• 1st Convención Internacional de Alambre showcase, Museo Tertulia, Cali, Colombia, April 2017

• Prokoplantae, Mexico City, Mexico, November 2016 - duo full length show with David Orozco, Circo Plantae

• Varieté Demente: Cirko de Mente, Mexico City, Mexico, April, 2016 - duo tightwire act with David Orozco

• Zap!, Linares Festival International de Circo, Linares, Mexico, October 2016 - solo full length show

• El Circo Cheapo, Chicago, IL, July 2016 - solo performance

• Prokoplantae, Mexico City, Mexico, May 2016 - duo full length show with David Orozco, Circo Plantae

• Cuerpo Eléctrico, Mexico City, Mexico, May 2016 - solo full length show

• Varieté Demente: Cirko de Mente, Mexico City, Mexico, April, 2016 - solo act

• HOLD, Signs We Were, Chicago, IL, December 2015 - duo full length performance

• Circonvencion Mexicana, featured gala performer, Oaxetepec, Morelos, Mexico, November 2015 - solo performance

• Circus-In-Progress at Actor's Gymnasium, Evanston, IL, October 2015 - solo performance

• El Circo Cheapo, Chicago, IL, September 2015 - solo performance

 

ORGANIZING

Director, Moment of Circus - a six day contemporary circus festival in Chicago, IL during March 2017 - moment2017.com

 

EDUCATION/HONORS

• Circus Sessions 2017, invited artist, Toronto, Canada, May 2017

• Selection convocatoria de opera prima, Cirko de Mente, Ciudad de Mexico, 2016

• University of Illinois at Chicago, M.F.A. Moving Image, 2014 - Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Arts Award Scholar

• University of Chicago, A.B. in Visual Arts, 2006

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TRAINING

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• 1st Convention of Wire, Cali, Colombia, April 2017

• Gaga Intensive, Turino, Italy, September 2016

• 5th International Wire Walking Meeting, Arènche, France, August 2016

• Full-time interdisciplinary training program, Aloft Loft, Chicago, IL, 2014-2015​

 

SKILLS & ACTS

 

Circus skills

Tight wire, juggling, stilting, bungee/harness, aerial fabric, static trapeze, single-point trapeze, aerial hoop, partner and group acrobatics, clowning and walkabout

 

Dance

Contemporary, Gaga, classical ballet, jazz, modern, contact improv, jazz, aerial dance

 

 

FILMMAKING (selected works)

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• Co-director, editor: Venus from Flames, experimental documentary, 2015 - created alongside Lori Felker

• Director, editor: Am I Free to Go?, experimental documentary, 2013

• Co-director, camera work: Scrappers, documentary film, 2010 (named one of Robert Ebert’s top documentaries of 2010) - created alongside Aaron Wickenden, Brian Ashby and Ben Kolak

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LANGUAGES

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English and Spanish