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Circus act at a Port Moody park

Caretaker Ryan Mellors will oversee Rocky Point Park and share his craft, until Oct. 7, 2017.
ryan
Ryan Mellors is a performance artist.

Ryan Mellors feels like he has come full circle.

After travelling the world for the past 13 years — basing himself in England, France and the United States — the circus performer has landed a gig for the next year-and-a-half as the new artist-in-residence at Rocky Point Park.

"I learned to juggle here," he said during an interview in his Port Moody digs last month. "It's nice to come home."

As caretaker, the Port Moody secondary graduate (class of '98) will live rent free in the two-storey building to oversee the park activities. As well, he's tasked to reach out to park goers by showing his craft.

Mellors started his skill as a theatre student under School District 43 teachers Richard Dixon and Shanda Walters.

Later, he earned his BA in literature (with a film minor) at the University of Victoria, where he was the vice president of the UVic Juggling Club. There, he organized the first west coast Canadian Juggling Festival — an event that drew international artists and spurred him to make a living as a professional performance artist.

But after seeing the lack of opportunity in the Vancouver area, Mellors accepted a residency in London with the Hangar Arts Trust. "I busked in Covent Garden," he said with a smile.

Afterward, Mellors returned to Vancouver for three years before moving Europe, where he helped to build a touring show called Piryokopi with assistance from Cirque du Soleil, the French arts council, Maison des Jonglages and L'Asile Artistique.

In 2013, Mellors relocated again — this time, to Los Angeles, where he was employed as the resident manager of Runway Studios, a circus training studio. Two years later, he was back in Vancouver, where he won numerous awards for The New Corformity.



This past spring, Mellors was in Cambodia for the International Circus Festival and in Japan as a guest judge and presenter for a dance/juggling competition in Tokyo. Next month, he flies off again to perform at the 2016 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.

Mellors said he looks forward to settling down a bit to work with emerging and professional performance artists at Rocky Point Park. "It's a great way to meet people," he said. "I want people to come out and share their skills, too."

• To practise with Ryan Mellors, visit his Facebook page under Rocky Point Circus.

jwarren@tricitynews.com