The Cirque Aria Team
Dessany Romero
Studio Manager, Coach
About
Dessany Romero has been a lifelong lover of the performing arts and movement. Her sports and Theatre Arts events always clashed during high school. When finding Circus Arts at 23 years old she was finally able to combine her two loves together.
In 2021 Dessany and her Husband performed every weekend on aerial silks and trapeze at Paramour Rooftop Bar in San Antonio, Tx doing solo and duo acts together. She has worked for entertainment companies such as Aqua Acro, Breakthrough Entertainment, DFNTLY Entertainment, and Lateremore Productions and has traveled to New York and all over Texas to perform contortion, stilt-walking, and aerial.
Mrs. Romero now has 9 years of experience in personal training and nutritional guidance. Her certifications include coaching levels 1-3 in gymnastics, NASM CPT, and an ACE sports nutrition specialist. She received Aerial Teacher Training from the Institute of Circus Arts in Atlanta, GA, and is certified in their Circus Arts Therapy program. She also has her E-200 YTT and 50 hour Aerial Yoga Teacher Training from Circasana. She is currently training contortion under Amy Goh ( IG: missinkblot). Dessany is in the 1-minute handstand club, lovessss teaching mat pilates and gluten-free treats.
Dessany is so excited to be at Cirque Aria to share everything she has learned to help every student feel successful in their bodies and the art they create.
Jamiza Dar
Coach, Advance Fabric, Rope & Trapeze
About
In 1993, a young Jamiza returned home from their gymnastics class to find their brother playing BattleToads VS Double Dragon with their younger brother.
With the pain of this moment of FOMO festering deep within their psyche, Jamiza spent the next two decades of their life playing video games, doing parkour, and singing Dashboard Confessional songs really, really loudly, in a foolhardy quest to never feel like they were missing out on something again. Eventually they found the circus, and their acrobatic life’s course was corrected.
They were a regular collaborator with Stars and Garters Burlesque, and was a company member and studio director in San Antonio’s first professional circus studio and school, Aerial Horizon, until it closed permanently in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They still performs music with The Gulliotinas , and they plays Monster Hunter way more often than they should (he has the Fatalis armor to prove it).
Sometimes they writes extremely short fiction. Sometimes they pretends to write extremely short fiction, but it’s actually extremely short non-fiction. Sometimes they just pretend to write. Formally known as Josh.
Lee Fouquet
Coach, Lyra
About
Annellise Fouquet has been a lifelong lover of performing. She started performing on musical theater stages in middle school here in the hill country, and continued to sing and dance up until college where she changed her performance path slightly to focus on singing opera at Louisiana State University.
Upon graduating, she decided to try a new kind of performing and joined the circus life at The Dancing Horses Theatre in Wisconsin where she learned how to do acrobatics on horseback and in the air, as well as performing other equestrian arts such as liberty.
Over time, she became the Assistant Show Manager and began to train other people as well as the horses, discovering that she has a passion for coaching others and empowering them the same way she has been empowered onstage. When she’s not expanding her aerial knowledge or musical pursuits, she’s generally found spending time with her hubby or cuddling her cats.
Joe G
Coach Lyra 1
About
Joe is a self-taught juggler with nearly 20 years of experience. He has mastered over 50 juggling tricks and works with a variety of props beyond the standard balls, clubs, and rings. His skills also include diabolo, devil sticks, contact juggling, cigar boxes, and poi. With a deep appreciation for the art, Joe continues to explore the endless possibilities of juggling and object manipulation.
Joe is a programmer by day and a passionate gamer and community organizer in his free time. With a background in Unity development, creating small games was once a favorite hobby. A longtime DDR enthusiast, He recently modded his own arcade cabinet to include every DDR arcade song ever released. Always eager to pick up new skills, Joe has mastered solving a Rubik’s cube in under a minute. In the past, Joe competed in fighting game tournaments, ranking in the top 10 for Super Smash Bros. in San Antonio. Now, alongside his fiancée, Ansley, they focus on running tournaments and organizing gaming community events, including helping manage the gaming hall at San Japan, a local anime convention.
Sarah Craven
Coach, Silks,Lyra
About
Sarah has been training aerial silks and lyra for over three years. She somehow stumbled upon aerial while Googling ‘salsa dance classes’ and never looked back! Corporate woman by day, she loves how aerial arts allows her to express a more creative side.
With a strong fitness background and fascination with body mechanics, Sarah loves combining aerial with cross-training at the gym to create fluid, powerful movements in the air and unlock twisty new combos on silks. She has performed on several occasions for Cirque Aria on silks and lyra and for Aqua Acro Entertainment on stilts.
In October 2024, Sarah obtained her certification as an Aerial Phyisque Level 1 instructor and has fallen in love with teaching intro silks, lyra, and sling to her students.
When she’s not in the air, you’ll find her daydreaming about silks choreography, spending time with her very adorable cats, baking something sweet, getting out into nature, or catching live music with her partner, Eddie. Whether she’s teaching or training, Sarah brings a solid sense of humor, great music, and a love for movement to every class.
Tamara Weaver
Coach Lyra 1
About
Meet Tamara, a dedicated aerial lyra instructor whose passion for aerial arts has been soaring since 2018. Specializing in lyra, Tamara also excels in trapeze and duo lyra and trap, bringing a dynamic versatility to her teaching. As a Licensed Physical Therapist, she integrates a deep understanding of human anatomy and movement principles into her classes, ensuring not only the aesthetic grace but also the safety and physical well-being of her students.
Tamara’s love for aerial arts is matched by her wanderlust; she travels extensively to learn diverse techniques from a myriad of talented instructors. This continuous learning enriches her teaching style, making her classes a blend of international finesse and technical precision.
Beyond the lyra, Tamara shines as a model and an aerial model, embodying the elegance and strength of aerial arts. With her experience in front of the camera, she helps her students to not only perform beautifully but also to carry themselves with poise both on and off the apparatus.
Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refine your skills, Tamara will guide you through the mesmerizing world of aerials, ensuring that you leave her class not just with new skills but also feeling beautiful and confident in the air.
Maria “Cris” Morrell
Coach, Co-conspirator/Enabler
About
Angela Sanchez
Founder, Chief Instigator/Cat Herder
About
Hi I’m Angela and I’m the founder of Cirque Aria! I’ve been training aerial silks for about eleven years now with Julia Langenberg at Aerial Horizon.
Aerial is definitely a passion project for me and my goal is to make this amazing art form as accessible to as many people as possible. When I’m not at the studio you can find me at Jefferson High School where I am a science teacher or at home with my husband David and our passel of cats!