Who Are We?

Our Mission: | Bios

Ben Sota started his professional path studying Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh. He finished with degrees in Studio Art and Architecture from this institution. Following graduation, Ben worked as a draftsman for Strada Architecture LLC. There he learned to organize, build in steps, and look at space. However, he couldn't rid his thoughts of an old expression that led him to change his career track to his current position as the Executive Director of The Zany Umbrella Circus. The saying is that it's not where you are that matters; it's whom you're with. Thus, it is not hard to understand Ben's belief that people make the community not the structures. This new found motivation led Ben to explore the human side of communities through the Arts, a method he knew and loved.

Erin Carey was born on the Central Californian coast, but raised in rural Western Pennsylvania. At an early age she discovered a love of performing arts and world travel. She began traveling the world performing with youth performance troupes at age 14, spent several years studying politics and marine biology at Seattle Pacific University, and then after seeing a performance from a nouveau cirque troupe, decided to join the circus. She traveled to Circomedia in Bristol, UK, the foremost school for circus with physical theatre in Europe, where she received an Oxford Cambridge Royal Society of the Arts Diploma in Circus Arts and Physical Theatre and a teaching certification in the same. She specializes in aerial acrobatics- tissu (fabric), corde lisse (rope), trapeze, lyra (hoop), bungee, harness, and any other means of suspension. She loves the strength, freedom, and exhilaration of ascending and descending great heights, and inspiring others to fly. She has performed with Zany Umbrella Circus since 2005.

Alberto J. Almarza is originally from Chile and has been living in Pittsburgh for the past five years. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2005 with a BA in communication design and minors in art and photography. Alberto has also pursued music as a serious medium; playing drums, guitar, creative handfarts and anything else that can possibly make noise, as well as collecting rare musical instruments from around the world.

Mitchell Kulkin has been a life-long performer. He has been involved in dramatic performance, music, and visual arts since he was three. He plays guitar, bass, hand drums, mbira, pots and pans, and his own body when necessary. In addition to his musical projects, Mitchell's interests have moved in the direction of circus performance (juggling, poi spinning, etc.).

Amy Green comes from a family of musicians, and music has been a consistent thread throughout her life. Having a curiousity for numerous instruments, she plays the saxophone, piano and accordion, among others. The drive to compose original music started at age 8, and is still her main method of musical expression. She loves to perform and affect an audience. The circus has been a fantastic opportunity to do that. She is currently finishing her BA in Music from the University of Pittsburgh, where she was a recipient of the Mildred Posvar Music Scholarship.

Ian Green is serious about painting, playing drums and being silly. Serious about being silly...yeah. So being a member of the Zany Umbrella Circus just makes good sense to him. He attended CAPA Middle and High Schools focusing on music. He studied drums privately under Roger Humphries and George Seranovich and for college, studied painting at Columbus College of Art and Design where he received his BFA. After earning an MFA in painting from Indiana University in Bloomington, Ian returned to his hometown of Pittsburgh and soon set up a studio in Homestead where he lives and works and eats and sleeps. He plays in a variety of musical projects and styles ranging from funk ( C.B. Trio) to experimental jazz(Dishwater Cocktail Trio) to ambient metal poetry(IFFF) to busking for stock tips.

Michael Carroll Originally from the suburbs of Washington DC, Mike always had a knack for getting himself into things that were a bit out of the ordinary. Shortly after meeting Ben Sota at the University of Pittsburgh, Michael started experimenting with the limits of what can be done in the circus medium. As an avid unicyclist, Michael has won competitions from Canada to France doing everything from jumping on cars to riding down stairs.

Jeff Gordon From the bright lights of Broadway to a dilapidated Bangkok amusement park; from a movie set on a cruise ship to a Pediatric Unit in a South Bronx hospital; and from the Big Apple Circus tent at Lincoln Center to the People's Gymnasium in Tianjin, China, Jeff Gordon's 28-year career as Clown Gordoon has celebrated our shared humanity and the power of laughter to heal, entertain, and reward. Utilizing circus skills, audience participation, improvisation and puppetry, Clown Gordoon brings joy and laughter to all. Clown Gordoon speaks the international language of laughter and delight in his one-man show Fools Foolin' - culminating in his signature "toilet paper act."