Wren LaFitte
(aka, Ryan Barret)
Wren was born and raised in Marin county, CA, where he studied theater and dance throughout high school. Since discovering swing dance during his role of Baby John in the Mountain Play’s 1999 production of “West Side Story”, he has practiced and taught dance to countless individuals. He transplanted to Seattle in 2002 and attended the University of Washington for a year, at which point he decided to be done with school. Subsequently, he attended the Actors Theater of Louisville apprentice program appearing on stage in “Amadeus,” “Balm in Gilead,” and an original work for the 2004 Humana Festival, “Fast and Loose”. His travels then took him through western Europe, New York city and the east coast, and finally back to Washington to finish his BA degree in Drama and Dance. Since 2005 in Seattle, Wren, as he’s known to his friends, has produced, written, directed, choreographed and performed in full length and short films, works of theater and dance, fundraising events, public performance art and circus. He has been invited to dance with the Oregon Country Fair, NW Folklife, Dream Science Circus, The Moisture Festival, ACT Theater and Lucia Neare’s Theatrical Wonders. He is a proud co-founder of the Harlequin Source School, and is happy as pie to be dedicating his life to dance, music, connection and play.
Ginger LaRouge
(aka, Andrea Ives)
Ginger has been has been dancing all her life, in most places you can imagine, including public patios, pavilions and parades. She spent 4 years training as a figure skater, dreaming of the Olympics, and learning to twirl fire batons without burning her hands. She trained throughout high school and college at St. Louis Ballet, and performing in musicals including Gershwin’s Crazy For You. She graduated high school with the Multifaceted Talent Award. In college she found Modern, African, hip hop, and Indian dance, working with renown choreographers including Merle Holloman, Deborah Colley, Mimi Macdonald, Jerry Tassin and Marjorie Woodbury and graduated with the Dance Department Award. Since coming to Seattle she has joined Veronica Mendonca’s company, VAM, where she learns to dance upside down. Her newest obsession is making dance films including “Rule of The Dance,” under VAM, “PlaceFace,” with Bobby Bonsey and Todd Blubaugh, and choreographing a music video for Dirty Dog clothing line. But the real kicker? She has been liberated from the cloisters of the ballet/ modern world into the crazy creative collaborations of the social dance scene: lindy hop, blues and salsa. Ginger also sings, but mostly nonsense pirate songs with her 11 year-old sister.
Whisky Bliss
(aka, Whitney Fliss)
Whiskey is pleased to bring you dancistry and pianistry extraordinarily crafted for your fancy & amusement. She will tease you with the art of burlesque and tantalize you with a blues song on the ol’ piani. With over ten years of theatrical and dance training under her belt, she’s committed to keeping live entertainment thriving in our society so that people can keep smiling. She’s pleased & honored to be dancing and playing with the HH and preaching the connection of the human spirit through the art of dance and varieté. Thanks to friends, family, and Feast; all of which she could not live this fantastic life without.
Talon Arancione
(aka, Michael Jeppesen)
Born and raised in Redmond, Washington, Michael’s bubbling curiosity has driven him to pursue a life of magic, mystery, and adventure. His earliest endeavors into this extrasensory environment were facilitated with camera in hand. Michael has photographed a number of theatre pieces in and around the Seattle area, and has globe-trotted Africa, Asia, and Europe with a trusty “Light Capturer” in hand. However, over time, simply capturing moments of wonder were not enough. At the age of 22 Michael took his first acting class at the University of Washington where he began to animate a portion of his psyche he’d always knew existed, but had never learned to cultivate. He began to perform and never looked back. He graduated from the University of Washington with a B.A. in Drama and Comparative History of Ideas, with focuses in acting, light design, and identity studies. Only until recently, has Michael begun to delve into the world of dance and circus arts, but he hopes his slight obsession with juggling, and his unwarranted urge to dance will lead Talon Arancione, The Harlequin Hipsters, BootStrap JuiceBox, and The Travellin’ Family to a world where magic, mystery, and adventure are always right ’round the bend.