Melissa Knowles
Instructor
Melissa Knowles lives for collaboration. And art. And is passionate about empowering and inspiring people through circus arts! Melissa loves performing – she has toured through five continents and has juggled in every state except Alaska (“I am coming for you soon AK!”).
After earning degrees in Art and Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Melissa took to the streets for a few years to play music, and ended up finding circus in Bellingham WA with Dream Science Circus. Impassioned, Melissa then went on to complete the Professional Training Program at New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) in Brattleboro, VT in 2010. Now they spend most of their time with friends, making art of all kinds, performing, and teaching circus. She is especially excited to be back in Somerville and teaching at Esh after a long hiatus of several years on the west coast. Their favorite thing about teaching and performing circus is the way it empowers people to do things they always thought impossible, but had just never tried.
