Who Are We?
Rainbow Militia is a performing arts and circus collective working with live music and creating unconventional events across Denver. The core militia of Amber Blais, Cerene Shepard, Elizabeth Smith and Staza Stone is joined by countless members of the circus community, musicians, photographers, videographers and visual artists in pursuit of their mission:
To broaden the love and accessibility of circus and live music through unique and exciting collaborations across the arts. To create fantastical immersive worlds through cross-disciplinary partnerships, and to support Colorado's artists through paid opportunities to create, perform, and excel in the arts.
Rainbow Militia Owner
Amber dreams of one day growing wings and learning to fly. She is a Founder and Producing Director for Rainbow Militia Circus, and has over 15 years of PR, marketing, donor relations, theater, event planning and production experience.
Amber has been practicing the aerial arts for over 10 years, with fabric as her favorite apparatus. When not in the air, she is a tarot reader, bottle walker, actor, and public speaker. She has performed all over the front range but thrives when she is able to perform with live musicians. One of her favorite collaborations was with Chimney Choir at the Levitt Pavilion in a space themed circus extravaganza.
She has been featured in 5280 Magazine, Denver Post, and Denver Westword as one of Colorado’s Creatives and as one of 9 People to Watch in 2021
RAINBOW MILITIA ROLES
Executive Producer, Director & Performer - Thief Queen - Beer Quest - 2021
Producer, Director & Performer - Nemesis - Celestial Chaos - 2021
Producer, Director & Performer- Death’s Unraveling - 2020
Producer, Director & Performer - Las Sombras de las Brujas - Gnome Away from Home - 2020
Producer, Director & Performer - Bride of Frankenstein / Ghost - A Very Victorian Monster Soiree - 2019
Producer, Writer, Director - Zabiti - 2019
Skills
Aerial Silks, Tarot, Stilt Walking, Aerial Duo, Aerial Bartending, Rope & Harness, Invented Apparatus, Rock Climbing, & over 20 years of theater experience.
Photo by Michelle Christiance
Rainbow Militia Owner
Staza Stone does stuff. Swinging stuff, spinny stuff, stilt stuff, sparkle stuff... all the stuffs. She is a multi- faceted performer based out of Denver, CO. She is an aerialist, stilt walker, hula hooper, fire dancer, burlesque artist, and clown. She graduated from Frequent Flyers Productions Professional Aerial Dance Program in 2014 and has been perfirming professionally ever since. Currently Staza can be found performing both nationally and internationally in a variety of circus extravaganzas. Highlights of 2019 including stilt dancing in Japan for EDC Japan and being contracted with Cirque Dreams. She is co-director of Rainbow Militia, a unique circus collective aimed at bringing the community together through artistic collaboration. Staza also teaches locally at several studios. She is known for her short but notorious career as a shopping cart drifter in Tokyo.
RAINBOW MILITIA ROLES
Producer, Director & Performer - Barley-tholomew The Bard - Beer Quest - 2021
Producer, Director & Performer - Aite - Celestial Chaos - 2021
Director, Performer, Curator - Death’s Unraveling - 2020
Director, Performer, Curator - Our Room in Their Room - Gnome Away From Home - 2020
Mischevious Fairy - A Very Victorian Monster Soiree - 2019
Marya - Zabiti - 2019
Skills
Hammock, Stilts (Stilts + Aerial, Stilts + Fire), Lyra, Fire (hoop, fans, poi, palm torches, fire eating), Hooper, Aerial Silks, Rope, Trapeze, Rope & Harness, Aerial Duo, Theater, Clowning, Miming, Aerial Bartending, Invented Apparatuses, and much more!
Photo by Nina Reed Photography
Rainbow Militia Owner
Liz fell in love with aerial fabric at a traveling circus years ago, and once she took to the air, there was no turning back! Since discovering a wonderful aerial community in Colorado in 2008, she has been passionately studying, performing, teaching, and obsessing over silks, rope, lyra, and whatever weird apparatuses she can get her hands on. She was a finalist in the Aerial Fabric Acrobatics Festival in 2013, and over the past few years has performed with artists such as String Cheese Incident and Elephant Revival, and in productions such as Cirque Side of the Moon and the 1940’s ball. She’s passionate about sharing her love of aerial work, has taught in a variety of programs in Denver and Boulder over the years, and you can currently find her classes at Moth Contemporary Circus. In her spare time, Liz writes software and plots adventures with her favorite unicorn musician and their circus toddler Avi.
Rainbow Militia Roles
Vampire Queen - A Very Victorian Monster Soiree - 2019
The Tinker - Zabiti - 2019
Skills
Aerial Silks, Rope, Hammock, Lyra, Duo-work, Rope & Harness, Aerial Bartending, & Flute
Photo by Nina Reed Photography
Rainbow Militia Owner
Cerene Shepard is a performer, production manager, and event coordinator. Born in New Orleans and raised in Salt Lake City, Cerene could never sit quietly...unless she was in a theater. The juxtaposition of the conservative state she grew up in, paired with her passion for live performance, fueled Cerene to become a professional who can understand any client's needs. She has nearly a decade of experience in weddings, live events, and immersive theater and has come to be recognized as a "go-to" Production Manager amongst Event Planners and Directors in Los Angeles.
As a performer, Cerene is an actor, clown, dancer, and character designer. She is a co-founder of LA-based clowning troupe, The Narrators, and has performed with companies such as Lucent Dossier Experience, Meow Wolf, Cirque Berzerk, Nova Han Productions, Electric Forest, Coachella Music Festival, Insomniac Events, and many more. In 2019 and 2020, Cerene was contracted as Lightning In A Bottle's Performance Art Coordinator. She coordinated up to 40 people and curated over 10 hours for programming for multiple stages.
In an age where "insta famous" is the trend, Cerene believes powerful entertainment lies within its roster, working with dedicated artists and building detailed, relatable moments within a production.
RAINBOW MILITIA ROLES
Performer, Costume Designer - Mira - Beer Quest - 2021
Performer, Curator & Producer - Hermes - Celestial Chaos - 2021
Performer, Curator, Stage Manager - Death’s Unraveling - 2020
Performers & Curators - Quarantine Siblings: A Hansel and Gretel Follow-up - Gnome Away from Home - 2020