Special Skills
Miranda can do a lot.
Here are the highlights.
Whip Cracking
Miranda is practiced with double stockwhips. She regularly performs both target and rhythmic whipcracking in her outdoor shows. In 2020 she choreographed the staged whip voilence for The Colour Purple at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Canada.
The adjacent video is a bit of whip practice and improvisation while between shows in Melbourne, Australia.
Fire or LED Poi
Poi is a traditional dance of the Maori in New Zealand. This elegant object manipulation has since traveled around the globe and been taken up by circus artists. In 2013 Miranda studied traditional poi with Maori community members in Rotarua and Queenstown New Zealand. She has performed poi routines in clubs, resorts, festivals, and events around the world. Miranda carries appropriate insurance for fire manipulation and is trained in fire safety. She carries dangerous performance permits in 3 countries.
Theatrical Violence
Miranda has studied with Fight Directors Canada, the Paddy Crean Intensive (Banff Centre, Canada), and the Action Acting Academy (Sydney, Australia). She is an intermediate certified actor combatant. She has performed numerous theatrical fights on stage with rapiers, broadswords, staffs, daggers, shields, pole arms, and hand to hand. She has some fight direction experience, though she prefers to be in the action.
Stiltwalking
Miranda has been stiltwalking for ten years and in the last five has created and performed many characters with creative partner Elizabeth Hobbs. Watch the adjacent video to see their interactive, dance, and acrobatic performance.
Miranda has also performed with Clay and Paper Theatre in Toronto, the National Stiltwalkers of Canada, Empress Stilt Dance in Sydney, Australia, and studied at the Global Stilt Congress.
Pssst, Miranda built all the costumes in the video too!
Partner Balance
Acrobatics
Miranda is skilled with basic to intermediate acrobatics, especially partner acrobatics. She has trained with Firefly Theatre and Carpet Bag Brigade Physical Theatre.
Contact Improvisation
Miranda is drawn to the technical side of contact improv, the spiraling physics of stacking and connecting bodies, and the choreography that can be found through physical experimentation. She has studied with Gina Lori Riley, Mile Zero Dance, and Carpet Bag Brigade Physical Theatre.
Stilt Acrobatics
Yes, you read that right, acrobatics on stilts. Miranda was first introduced to acrobatic stilting at the Global Stilt Congress in Arizona. Through several years of training and private coaching she and Elizabeth Hobbs developed the Acro Aliens.
Miranda is also a skilled stilt dancer and spent a season as a company member with Empress Stilt Dance in Sydney, Australia.
Escapology
Miranda is an internationally acclaimed escape artist. In 2020, she appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us season 7, where Penn Jillette called her escape from a barrel of red wine “perfect”. Teller nodded in agreement.
Miranda can escape from cable ties, ratchet straps, handcuffs, shackles, straightjackets, chains, ropes, boxes, and barrels.
She has performed for the Mayor of London, the Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts, AMA Resorts, and many more incredible adventures.
Languages
German
Ich habe drei Jahre in der Schule Deutsch gelernt. Es gefelt mir. Aber ich habe im Laufe der Zeit viel vergessen. Wenn ich übe, kommt es schnell zurück. Ich hoffe, meine Straßenperformance ins Deutsche zu übersetzen und öfter in Europa aufzutreten. Dann werde ich vielleicht fließend.Basic German.
Spanish
Aprendí español en la universidad. Después, viajé muchas veces en Centro America con mi espectáculo. Creo que español es mi mejor idioma, después del inglés. Puedo conversar bien aunque mi gramática no es perfecta. Espero jugar en español algún día también.Intermediate Spanish.
ASL
I make no claims to sign well. However, in 2019 I was fortunate enough to live with a deaf artist for 3 months. I greatly enjoyed learning ASL. I now make the effort to integrate ASL whenever possible into my solo performances. I would be grateful for any further opportunities to continue learning.
Here is a video Miranda made in 2019 inviting people to her ASL interpreted performances at the Edmonton Street Performers festival:
Audience Interaction
It may sound simple, but not every performer is comfortable breaking the fourth wall, or skilled at meeting the audience where they are at. Through years of theatre, street performance, clown, physical performance, and paying attention, Miranda is incredibly good at dealing with those people we call audience. Whether you want to invite them in, make them comfortable, or spook and scare them, she’s got it.
Other Skills Include:
Costuming
All of the stilt costumes you see on this page and on the Pandoric Productions page are built by Miranda
Extreme Paper Mache
For real. Miranda worked for a giant puppetry company in Toronto. Now there is little she can’t build. Highlights include puppets, masks, and an entire functional couch.
Puppetry
As long as it’s not a marionette Miranda can bring it to life. If it is a marionette… well thanks to her escape skills she can at least untangle the strings.
Touring
It may seem like a strange skill to list, but after 10 years, she’s very good at it and still enjoys it.